Junior Rob Czarniecki announced on Wednesday September 25 that he will be continuing his baseball career at University of Kentucky. Rob played catcher and pitcher his freshman year, but switched from catcher to play outfield for his sophomore season. Last season, he had a .489 batting average, 38 runs batted in, and seven home runs. In 28.2 innings pitched, Czarniecki struck out 45 batters. Czarniecki had communicated with Coach Mingione after a very impressive first two seasons of high school baseball.
“They showed me around the facilities on Friday and on Saturday we went to a football game. I honestly just had a gut feeling that it was the right place for me,” Czarniecki said.
Coach Mingione has an impressive record in his time coaching stars, with 26 of his players making it up to the Major Leagues. The Wildcats went to their first ever College World Series under the coaching of Mingione.
“He’s a nice, very chill guy, and he’s gotten a lot of guys to the MLB so that’s big,” Czarniecki said.
Czarniecki has lots to look forward to in his preparation to play in the Kentucky blue, and the coaches at Kentucky have lots to look forward to when coaching Czarniecki.
“He’s always hyping our team up and providing good leadership to our team,” sophomore teammate Caden Hackett commented.
Teammates are excited to play alongside the Kentucky commit and see him continue to develop as a player.
“I think he’s a really well-rounded player and he’s got lots of potential and continuation with the game of baseball,” junior teammate Ethan Glassman remarked.
While he is very excited to wear a college jersey, he is still very thrilled to play in the maroon and gold. Chesterton won their sectional last year and has lost some important pieces from the team via graduation.
“We got some guys who I think are going to step up and fill some roles and I think we will win another sectional and compete in the regional,” Czarniecki said.
Coach Bogner took over coaching for the baseball team last year, and the team had plenty of success under him.
“In just one year Coach Bogner has helped my game so much, and I think he’s influenced me very positively,” Czarniecki remarked.
