4 Vikings sign baseball commitments

The Puyallup High baseball program hosted a late Signing Day ceremony Friday as players, coaches, friends and family gathered inside the school library.

Kenton Robillard, Collin Wolf and Ryan Peterson each signed their commitments at the small gathering. Robillard and Wolf signed with Tacoma Community College and Ryan Peterson signed with Lewis-Clark State.

“(Our) goal is to move guys on, ” Puyallup coach Marc Wiese said. “Every year we’ve had guys move to the next level.”

Eli Herrick also signed his letter of intent to Bellevue Community College, but did not attend the signing ceremony.

To get players like Robillard and Wolf, TCC coach Ryan Mummert felt he was going to be able to rebuild his infield with quality players as he expects his current crop to graduate or transfer next year.

“(Robillard) has the leadership skills — you know, just a solid person, student (and) athlete. Kind of reminds me of a kid that played for us a few years ago named Seth Heck. He was an all-conference kid for us,” Mummert said. “Collin brings kind of a different level. Really good athlete, high-energy guy. Kind of bounces off the wall a little bit, but those are the things that we like.”

For both Vikings players, the chance to play at the next level — at any college — is a rare opportunity to continue this game. Yet there still is that nagging desire to get better, to move beyond just playing for the Titans.

Mummert has been known for moving people on to bigger and better things as Heck (Mississippi State) is one example of a player moving on from his program.

“We (18U Buzz Premier Baseball) were playing down at the University of Portland in a big tournament … we were walking out to the car with my family, and he (Mummert) came and tracked us down and talked about TCC,” Robillard said. “I hadn’t really thought about it before, opened my mind to it, and I went down for a visit. I’m blessed to be able to play there next year.”

And for Wolf, there is the chance to improve under the some of the brightest coaching minds while keeping close to home.

“It’s a big opportunity. Thanks to coach Mummert, we had a pretty easy couple of discussions, as it’s been easy to communicate with my family and him,” Wolf said. “I’m have a chance to go in and battle for a starting spot. Get the reps early and develop, so I can move on to bigger and better things.”

All four seniors will join 25 other former Vikings who are currently on active college baseball rosters, as well as two others in professional baseball.

“We have 25 guys on college rosters and two playing pro ball. We want to build that,” Wiese said. “(But) we have a few more to go (sign) yet. We have a couple of really good players out there that haven’t decided on what they’re going to do. They’re pretty close, but we got a few more to go yet.”

Baseball factory

Peterson is joining many several Vikings who have moved on from Puyallup baseball and into the college realm. Unlike his teammates, Peterson’s path was proof that he belonged in at a NCAA or NAIA school.

After having his first offer to Seattle University rescinded by the college, Peterson was left with nowhere to go. In came the idea of L-C State.

“I had the offer to Seattle U, but lost it. I didn’t do well in the summer, and lost weight. I stopped working, I stopped doing me,” Peterson admitted.

But then came the idea of Lewis-Clark, a baseball school in Lewiston, Idaho that has won 17 NAIA national championships since the mid-1980s, listing current Washington National and former Seattle Mariner Brendan Ryan as one of its alumni.

“Since I’ve been growing up, my infield coach and my hitting coach always talking about L-C State,” Peterson said. “That’s where I felt like it was the right fit, since I’ve had a lot of influence from L-C State, doing little drills (growing up). So I took a visit and didn’t even think about it once they offered.”

“Ryan’s really persevered through this, and he’s going to be at a great spot at Lewis-Clark,” Wiese said. “It’s a baseball factory where they always have quality guys coming out of the program every year.”

That visit influenced Peterson enough to adopt the Warriors’ offseason work ethic, as he hopes he can apply those into his coming senior season.

“I want to have a productive season at the plate, and get us back to the state championship,” Peterson said.

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 4:41 PM with the headline "4 Vikings sign baseball commitments."