Lally Thrilled With Opportunity At Notre Dame

GRAND BLANC - “It’s a once in a lifetime offer you can’t deny.”

That is how David Lally describes his commitment to Notre Dame.

“It all started at the Future Games,” the Grand Blanc junior explained. “They saw me the week before at Indiana when I topped at 89. My high school coach (Kevin Hubbs) sent out video after that and I got interest from the Big 10 and some ACC schools. The Future Games just added on to that. It helped so much with exposure.”

Colleges, including Notre Dame, were enamored by the 6-4 193-pound right-handed pitcher.

“The next week after the Future Games Notre Dame reached out to my high school coach,” the 13th-ranked 2022 in the state said. “We talked the next week and then my dad and I went to check out the campus again.”

The trip hooked Lally.

“They built a new sports facility to share among the programs,” noted Lally, who had been to the university in South Bend, Ind., once previously. “I remember they had just started the facility the first time I was there. It’s impressive.”

There was more that stood out as well.

“You’d expect Notre Dame to have a bunch of kids but it was a small campus,” :Lally said. “I liked that. It was special.”

Notre Dame has the same feeling about the fourth-rated RHP in Michigan.

“They like how I pitch to kids,” Lally related. “I find their weakness and where to throw them.”

Reaching 89 on the radar only added to the pitching arsenal of Lally.

“I’d been to 87 before but I felt super good going into that game,” Lally reflected back to topping out at 89 a week before the Future Games. “Feeling that good, I just threw as hard as I could.”

The fun continued a week later.

“It was neat looking at how you compare and stand among the other uncommitted kids in the country,” Lally said about the Future Games.

Leading up to summer ball, Driveline and mechanical work helped bring improvement while the spring season was shut down and recruitment was on hold.

“Before the summer the recruiting process had barely started for me,” Lally said. “I only had a couple of schools interested. No high school season slowed down the process, but in the end it all worked out.”

Lally pointed to his father and high school coach as playing a big part of his baseball journey that has Notre Dame the next step.

“My dad has always motivated me since day one that I can do whatever I put my mind to,” Lally noted. “He was there during the ups and downs.

“My high school coach always told me I’d be the one from Grand Blanc to go big,” Lally added. “He was there to help me with the recruiting process.”

Ironically, Lally did not grow up a Notre Dame follower.

“I’d never been a super big Notre Dame fan,” Lally admitted. “But how the coaches talked to me and how they showed tons of interest instead of just saying stuff, they showed that they were fully interested in me.”

And with it comes the dream of playing ball at the next level.

“Ever since I started playing baseball I’ve wanted to go big or go home,” Lally said of his desire to play Division I college ball. “It all started to become a reality around seventh or eighth grade when I realized I had the ability to go to the next level. I knew I was toward the top of my class and my dad kept pushing me saying .. I could go big, I could go big.”

That is now the case with Lally headed to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“I’m going to be the hardest working person there,” Lally said. “I’ll give motivation to everyone else to be able to get what they want in the future.”

Admittedly, there is more work ahead.

“I feel one thing I need to work on is using more of my legs when I pitch,” Lally noted. “I use mostly arm. I need to develop my lower half and use that more when I pitch.”

A 4.0 student, Lally is more than pleased the recruiting process has come to an end.

“It was super overwhelming,” Lally explained. “It’s hard to believe all the work I put in led up to this point. I’m humbled that I’ve gotten this opportunity.”