With just three months before the Wellsville-Middletown baseball season begins, Mason Guzy finalized his college plans.

The W-M senior signed a letter of intent to continue his baseball career at Hannibal-LaGrange University on Dec. 14 at the school’s library media center. He will join a team that hired a new coach in May and won just 12 games last year.

“It means a lot because I get to go play at the next level,” Guzy said. “It means that I get to play at a school that has religious beliefs, which are fond to me and important to me.”

Hannibal-LaGrange is an NAIA school that competes in the American Midwest Conference. The Trojans usually begin their baseball season in February.

David Babcock takes over head coaching duties at Hannibal-LaGrange after working as head coach at North Central University in Minneapolis for three years. Since his arrival, he had eight players sign for the Trojans, including Guzy.

Babcock said Guzy will bring athleticism and versatility to the Hannibal-LaGrange program, which hasn’t had a winning season since 2008.

“It’s very cool,” Babcock said. “Having him, his faith and his beliefs with his family come into a school like ours is going to be very helpful. I’m trying to build up a culture of good kids with high class that are also really competitive. That’s what Mason is.”

Guzy has been a valuable pitcher for the Tigers the last two years. When he was a sophomore, he finished 3-2 with 24 strikeouts to help W-M win a Class 1 district championship and come within an out of going to the Final Four. In his junior year, Guzy had several strong performances, including a 3-1, complete-game victory over Clopton on April 11, which is his birthday.

Guzy’s senior year with the W-M baseball team will start on March 20, when the Tigers take on Community R-6 at home. He said he hopes his final season with the Tigers will be a successful one.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Guzy said. “The last two years, we lost on walk offs in the state and district tournaments. So I’m looking forward to turning things around this year. Hopefully, I’ll have an all-state year.”

Guzy’s signing attracted a big turnout that included 11 of his classmates and his family members.

“It’s good to see the support,” Guzy said. “I really appreciate that from them. It’s really nice to have people who care about you and are here to support you along the way. My family taking off work to be here is really nice.”

Guzy said he first became interested in Hannibal-LaGrange after going to a tryout.

“No other school had an in-depth tour like they had,” the W-M senior said. “They have great people who work there and their coach is really awesome. So I figured it’s a great place to play. If I get a chance to play there, I’m going to take it and I did.”

Guzy, who also plays for the Elite One select baseball program in Jefferson City, signed to play for the Trojans for the 2024 season. He said he’s looking forward to playing baseball at the next level.

“I think I’ll come in there and be a really good player for them,” Guzy said.