Braden Durham C / 2B / Toledo St Francis, OH / 2019

TOLEDO - Braden Durham gets a strong work ethic honestly. That happens when your father was a walk-on baseball player at Indiana.

“My dad (David), I can’t thank him enough,” Durham said. “He sacrificed time and countless money on me. He drove 11,000 miles this summer. He throws me batting practice, throws balls in the ground for me to block … he’s pushed me to put in the work since I was little.”

It has all paid off for the Toledo St. Francis senior with a college scholarship to Morehead State.

“It’s an incredible dream come true,” Durham said. “My dad always believed in me and knew I could do it. At times it was difficult, but he kept my head up. He always had a way to help me and is super knowledgeable about the game. It’s a blessing to have that kind of support.”

The interest from Morehead began just a few months back.

“The first time they saw me was this summer in Indy at Grand Park during a tournament,” explained Durham, a member of the Brownlee Lookouts summer team. “They kind of followed me after that. At the end of summer I got in contact with them and they wanted me to come to their showcase to get another look at me.”

Morehead State had already seen Durham could hit after going 3-3, 2-3 and 3-4 in one day of witnessing the 68th-rated senior in Ohio playing games.

“My bat originally got their attention,” Durham pointed out. “I had a couple situations they could see me bunt where I could show them my speed and base running.”