The past month has gone about as well as Riley Ottesen could've hoped.
It was only the end of May when he helped deliver his American Fork squad a title for the first time since 1985. Now, the standout rising senior shortstop and pitcher has made a commitment to play baseball for the Utes, deciding to stick close to home on Friday.
"I was talking with my parents about it, and I thought about it a while," Ottesen said. "Utah is still home, and it's a really good offer to play baseball in the Pac-12. You get to play the best teams in the country."
The Utah coaches have told Ottesen he'll join the pitching staff in the fall of 2013. At the moment, the junior is playing for the Utah Bucks, and he has a fastball that sits at about 90 mph. He also has a curveball, a cut fastball and a changeup in his repertoire, one the Utes are hoping they can build.
Ottesen was one of the premier in-state baseball players this year, batting .460 as the No. 2 hitter for the Cavemen and going 9-1 on the mound with a 1.44 ERA. He had a strong playoff performance in particular — Ottesen earned wins against Jordan and Taylorsville as a pitcher, and had game-winning RBI in the semifinal and the championship.
Ottesen said Utah was his only current Division I offer, but he felt fairly confident committing early instead of waiting to see how the summer plays out.
"I called coach Mike [Crawford], and he was fired up," Ottesen said. "They said they can't wait to have me."
— Kyle Goon
Twitter: @kylegoon
