February 12, 2015 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 29 (29 of 40 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
February 12, 2015 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Thumday, Feb. 12, 2015 - Mason County Journal - Page B-1
NATIONAL SIGNING DAY
North
Point.
Mason senior Daniel Burggraaf signs a letter
Burggraaf leaves June 29 for New York.
of commitment Feb. 4 to play baseball for the
United States
Journal photos~by Ernily,Hahson
Military Academy at West
North Mason senior
to play baseball at
prestigious academy
By EMILY HANSON
emily@masoncounty, com
When Daniel Burggraaf talks about
baseball, a twinkle shows in his eyes and
he smiles.
"Baseball's my love," the North Mason
senior said Friday. "I've been waiting un-
til graduation to focus on one sport and
do what I love."
His commitment to the sport came
sooner than graduation.
On National Signing Day on Feb. 4,
Burggraaf signed a letter of commitment
to pitch for the United States Military
Academy at West Point.
"They take the best of the best, so I
was very honored to be accepted," Burg-
graaf said.
A GRUELING PROCESS
Acceptance to West Point wasn't easy.
The school has 12,000 applicants per
year and accepts about 9 percent of them.
In addition to passing the SAT --
Burggraaf scored 1,650 (620 math,
520 reading, 510 writing) -- Burggraaf
had to pass a fitness test, supply three
teacher evaluations of him, send in staff
recommendations and have a congress-
man or senator nominate him for West
Point.
The process began in August in Cen-
tralia. Burggraaf tried out for the 2014
Last season, Burggraaf had a 4-3 record,
innings to go along with his 1.19 ERA.
Journal file photo
recording 52 strikeouts in 47
Junior Baseball Northwest Champion-
ships. As a pitcher for the academics
team -- a squad for athletes who sport
high GPAs -- Burggraaf said he threw
the hardest half inning he's ever thrown.
"I topped out at 88 mph," he said.
That's when he caught the eye of Antho-
ny DeCicco, West Point assistant baseball
coach and head recruiting coordinator.
"Daniel stuck out to me at the North-
west Baseball 'Classic in Centralia where
he showed a tremendously athletic de-
livery, quick arm and an above average
breaking ball," DeCicco said.
After talking with DeCicco, Burg-
graaf decided to visit the campus in West
Point, New York.
"There's nothing else like it," Burg-
graaf said. "It's an amazing place."
During a tour with members of the
baseball team, Burggraaf said he tried
to imagine himself in his possible future
teammates' shoes.
"Everything I saw there, I liked,"
Burggraaf said.
From there, he began to complete the
necessary steps to gain acceptance.
"The main reason why we continued
recruiting Daniel was because of the type
of person he is and how well he repre-
sented himself in every facet of the re-
cruiting process," DeCicco said.
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Gig Har-
bor) nominated Burggraaf for acceptance
to West Point.
see SIGNS, page B-6