Interest On The Rise For Detroit Country Day's Nazelli

Gabe Nazelli OF / RHP / Detroit Country Day, MI / 2021

FARMINGTON HILLS - The stay-at-home order in Michigan has proven to be a productive time away from the ballfield for Gabe Nazelli.

The Detroit Country Day junior, who had been in discussion with only one college prior to early May, talked with four new schools in a two-day period last week.

Yale and Brown from the Ivy League communicated with Nazelli as did the University of San Diego and Michigan State.

“Up until then the only college I had talked with was Columbia,” noted Nazelli, a 3.3 student considering a major in the medical field, possibly sports medicine.

The 6-3 175-pounder, who scored a 29 on the ACT, has made rapid improvement in his game of late resulting in the increased interest.

“My arm strength has improved immensely,” explained Nazelli, who has a 91 outfield velocity. “My 60 time since my freshman year has dropped one second and I’m working on dropping that below 7.0.”

There is one other area of change in his game.

“I’ve really worked hard as a hitter,” pointed out Nazelli, whose exit velo is 94. “Going into my freshman year I was a pitcher, but now I’m an outfielder and I’ve really been working to improve as a hitter.”

The position move came as the 46th-ranked 2021 in the state began considering a future involving baseball.