Baseball: Bradley fits the bill for Barrington's Gosswein

The college scouts that had been showing up in droves this past spring to see Barrington left-hander Brooks Gosswein will find after today that he is off the market.

Gosswein, who will be a senior next year, verbally committed to Bradley University on Tuesday via his Twitter page.

"Beyond excited and grateful to announce I've committed to continue my baseball career at Bradley University!" Gosswein tweeted out.

The 6-foot-4 lefty, who was reaching 90-plus on radar gun this Spring had drawn interest from Notre Dame, Illinois, Xavier, Illinois State along with at least a dozen other D-1 schools.

"It fit well for me," Gosswein said about Bradley. "It was a school that was not too big or not too small. I felt a connection with the coaches - especially the pitching coach, Larry Scully.

"Bradley has a proven track record of developing pitchers, especially lefties. And I get to compete in one of the toughest baseball conferences in the nation, the Missouri Valley."

Gosswein also was impressed with Bradley's academic program; he will pursue a business degree.

"My parents really like the idea of going to a school where the classroom sizes weren't overwhelming," Gosswein said. "After thinking it over, I agreed with them."

Last season for Barrington, Gosswein was 5-0 while striking out 67 in 43 innings pitched. The all-area and MSL all-conference pitcher had an ERA of .977 and a WHIP of .767.

"Brooks is a competitor," Barrington coach Pat Wire said. "He has worked hard to reach his goals by putting in the time and effort. Bradley really got a good one."