Andy White ’11, a former Austin College baseball standout, is getting a chance not many NCAA Division III student-athletes are given this summer as he continues his playing career at the professional level with the Normal CornBelters of the Frontier League.
Andy’s journey began in the Arizona Summer League where the ’Roos First Team All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference shortstop played 14 games with Team Canada and finished among the league leaders in batting average. He helped his squad to an 8-6 record while grading out as one of the league’s top shortstops. His outstanding play caught the eye of a scout with the Boston Red Sox, who arranged for White to sign a professional contract with the Lake County Fielders of the North American League midway through the summer.
After White played five games with Lake County, the same scout orchestrated a trade to the CornBelters in Normal, Illinois, where White officially signed on in August. White will play out the season with the CornBelters, who play in one of the top independent baseball leagues in the nation, with the hopes of garnering an invitation to spring training with a Major League Baseball club in 2012.
White started 146 of 148 possible games during his career at Austin College and was a .322 career hitter with 33 doubles, six triples, seven homers, and 91 RBIs. He stole 34 of 40 bases in his play at Austin College and helped the ’Roos to the 2007 SCAC Championship and the team’s first-ever berth into the NCAA National Tournament.