Shortstop from Columbus commits to NU
Imagine Kurt Farmer’s surprise this summer when, while playing baseball in Arizona, the Columbus senior-to-be watched Nebraska pitching coach Eric Newman walk his way on the first day college coaches could contact recruits.
Of course, the real surprise for Farmer, a second-team Super- State utility player last spring, was the scholarship Newman offered.
“I was just hoping that they were looking at me, but I had no clue,” said Farmer, a shortstop who hit .470 with six homers for the Discoverers. “I knew (head coach Mike) Anderson and (assistant Dave) Bingham had been to a couple of our games, but this is just amazing.
“It was just my dream, ever since I was a little kid, to go there. Awesome program and awesome coaching staff.”
Farmer is the second known player to orally commit to the Huskers for the 2009-10 season. Lincoln Southeast’s Josh Scheffert, who played third base for the Knights last season and was named a first-team Super-State utility player, also has indicated that he’ll sign a letter of intent with NU in November.
Farmer, who doesn’t recall a baseball player from Columbus ever receiving a scholarship to Nebraska, played summer ball in the Phoenix area thanks to a friend of a brother-in-law who scouts for the Los Angeles Angels.
“I played a lot and got a lot of training, but the big part of going to Arizona was the strength training,” said Farmer, who put 20 pounds on his 6-foot-2 frame and now weighs 195. “It just felt like I got a lot better.”
Nebraska was the first school to offer Farmer, but he said at the time he accepted that traditional college powers Texas and Cal State Fullerton were among those contacting him.
“This is just where I always hoped to play,” he said. “I went to a bunch of football games when I was little and then I started going to a bunch of baseball games. Whenever they went to Columbus (for camps) I was always there and I went to a couple camps in Lincoln.”
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
Copyright © 2002-2009 Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.