Opportunity At Purdue Fulfills College Baseball Dream For Schweizer

Evan Schweizer RHP / Garth Webb, ON / 2024

OAKVILLE, Ontario - There was a time that Evan Schweizer would have had a hard time believing he would become a Purdue commit.

“It was always a dream for me to go D-I,” the Garth Webb Secondary School graduate related. “Honestly, I didn’t think I would accomplish it. I wasn’t confident. I was just a skinny kid with no muscle yet playing baseball until the year after Covid.

“That’s when I sat down and wrote a plan down what to do to play at the next level. I put two-and-two together … if you work this hard, this is something you can accomplish.”

Throwing in a tournament at Indianapolis, Schweizer made an impression with Purdue looking on.

“It was my best game ever,” noted the 13th-rated 2024 right-handed pitcher in Ontario, who is currently taking a gap year after graduating from high school. “It was a good time to put my name on the map with Purdue, one of the schools there.

“But they didn’t reach out right away. They kept in contact with my coach, Chris Robinson, and around July finally reached out to me. They said they liked what they saw and wanted me to come up to a camp in August. I’m like, ‘this is a dream school for me.’ ”

Another strong performance followed.

“When I went to the camp I did better than at Indianapolis,” Schweizer reflected. “After the camp they asked me to go on a tour and ended up offering. Seeing the culture, I knew it was a place I wanted to go. It felt like a family to me. I wanted to accept right then, but I knew there would be a bunch of other opportunities ahead so I didn’t pull it.”

Interest continued to mount.

“A week after I hit 91 and I hadn’t hit 90 before,” Schweizer said. “A bunch of schools came around and that made it tougher. Then I hit 90 in Jupiter.”

Illinois State, the first college to reach out and offer, was another strong option for Schweizer, who also had interest from Illinois, Michigan and Pittsburgh along with a few mid-majors. But Purdue remained the best fit.

“What separated Purdue was the academics,” Schweizer explained. “You always have to have a backup plan and Purdue would set me up for that. The culture is so different at Purdue.”

A commitment was eventually made.

“One of the biggest reasons why I committed to Purdue was the pitching coach, Josh Newman,” Schweizer said. “We had a really long talk over the phone before I committed, telling me about all his philosophies and what he works on with his pitchers and gave me a game plan on how he would make me a better pitcher and that was when I knew I wanted to be there.”

Purdue saw a lot to like in the 23rd-ranked 2024 in Ontario.

“I have a tall frame and I’m still growing into my body,” the 6-5 215-pounder noted. “That set me apart in their eyes. Also, my compete level, I had five strikeouts in two innings at camp. My energy is high, I think they like that, too.”

Continued growth since those days as a “chubby kid” was essential in making it all happen.

“I’ve grown a lot as a person and as a baseball player,” Schweizer explained. “I worked with a psychologist, Bob Tewksbury, and he helped get me to the next level from the mental aspect. I also put on 30 pounds and grew a couple of inches from 11th to 12th grade. I was 81-84 then and 87-91 now.”

Schweizer pointed to his Great Lake Canadians teammates and coaches, Chris Robinson, Adam Stern, Jamie Romak and Shane Davis, with playing important roles in the recruiting process.

“I went to a couple of college camps which helped, but what really helped me was my coaches saying this 6-5 guy is putting in the work,” Schweizer related. “Once coaches saw me in tournaments and saw “this guy” was legit, that’s when schools got on me.

“But that’s when it became very stressful. I had five offers, but I was still looking. It was a decision I didn’t want to make right away, I wanted as many options as possible.”

Making the commitment was a memorable day.

“I had a message a second on my phone, 10 times more than I thought I would,” the 18-year-old reflected. “It was an awesome moment for me and my family seeing all the love I was getting.”

Schweizer, who graduated with a 3.9 GPA and is currently taking online kinesiology classes, a field he plans to major in at the Big 10 university located eight hours from home, is excited about what he can bring to Purdue.

“My work ethic is as high as it’s ever been,” Schweizer said. “I want this more than anybody. On the mound my competitiveness and confidence sets me apart. I think that gets all the guys going.

“I’m ready to go there and compete,” Schweizer concluded. “I know not a lot of freshmen get to pitch, but I want that ball. I’m also ready for the weight room. I want to get better every day. I’m just excited to live that college life.”