BC grad Jarvis' baseball future is at Bradley

Austin Jarvis is headed for the home of the Braves.

The recent Burlington Central graduate committed to a partial scholarship from Bradley University over the weekend on the heels of a remarkable senior baseball season.

Jarvis was named an honorary co-captain of the 2010 Daily Herald Fox Valley All-Area baseball team after he hit .526 (61-for-116) with 15 home runs, 17 doubles, 8 triples and 76 RBI, the second-highest total in state history.

Jarvis, 18, of Elgin, was named to the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Class 3A all-state team and drew interest as a senior from Bradley, Illinois-Chicago and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, among others. He visited Dayton and Miami-Ohio last fall.

"It feels good," Jarvis said Monday of finalizing his college choice. "It's definitely a relief to get it out of the way. I can finally start signing up for classes and things like that. It's getting late."

Bradley coaches came to see Jarvis play this spring at the invitation of Central coach Kyle Nelson. He visited Peoria last Monday and toured the campus and baseball facilities.

"I liked it," Jarvis said. "It's a smaller school. I like the feel of the campus and the baseball field is definitely a plus. And it's definitely nice being only two and a half hours away."

The strong-armed catcher was told he'll have a chance to compete for the starting job next season. As a senior, he threw out 10 of 13 runners attempting to steal and picked off 11 baserunners.

This summer Jarvis is playing for Elgin American Legion Post 57. In five games over the weekend at the Champaign wood bat tournament, he went 7-for-15 with a grand slam and 7 RBI.

Soto makes professional debut: 2007 Dundee-Crown graduate Elliot Soto started at shortstop, singled twice in 4 at-bats and drove in a run in his first professional baseball game with the Mesa Cubs of the Arizona League Sunday.

"It was pretty crazy. I was really anxious my first at-bat," Soto said. "I was just swinging out of my shoes. I was really excited to play."

Soto, an honorary co-captain of the 2007 Daily Herald Fox Valley All-Area baseball team, played for three seasons at Creighton. He passed on his final year of college eligibility when he signed with the Cubs on June 22. A lifelong Cubs fan, he was selected in the 15th round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft (460th overall) on June 8.

"I'm happy with the decision," Soto said of signing. "I just wanted to go play."