Cooper Bailey-Parsons '18 Recruiting Profile

I have been playing baseball since Coach Pitch at 5 years old.

During the summer between 6th and 7th grade, I played for as many teams as I could so that I could make use of the short Alaskan baseball season. This included playing for two Pony League teams while playing on a travel team. 

Playing on the travel team was the first time I was ever exposed to how out of state competition was and the realization that by living in Alaska, I would have to do as much as I could in order to compete at the national level.  

In the 7th and 8th grades, I was asked to play for the Service High Junior Varsity Team as starting catcher, short stop, and pitcher.  In the ninth grade, I suffered a wrist injury during wrestling season and was unable to play baseball for the summer. 

During the winter of my freshmen year, in order to regain my playing ability, I played for a travel baseball team called the Players Edge Baseball Academy and kept in shape by wrestling for the Varsity Service High School as team captain.  I have wrestled for 8 years and have won 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd in State multiple times.  Wrestling has taught me work ethic, discipline and accountability, which has allowed me to be an even better baseball player. 

During my sophomore year, I played baseball all summer and had an outstanding season.  Currently, I was just awarded First-Team All Conference for 3rd base.  I made the Team of Excellence, All-State, and the Gold Glove award (for the BP Invitational Tournament). During this season, I batted second and third in the lineup and played second and catcher. 

I am very coachable and driven to be the best.  I am focused and strive for perfection.  I have learned to use these traits both athletically and academically.  Academically, I have always been very intense in my studies.  In elementary school, I was tested and placed in the IGNITE program, which is a program that selects a group of kids around Anchorage to study harder classes on certain days of the week.  In 7^th grade, I finished high school algebra and was in all honor’s classes.  This has continued into high school, where, as a Junior, I am now enrolled in AP Calculus and AP Environmental Sciences.  During my sophomore year I also took the only AP class available for my grade, AP World History, while taking the highest level math for my grade.  I feel that I strive for being the best I can in both my athleticism and in my academics. 

My goal is to attend a competitive and highly academic college, in which I can prove to myself and to others that I am destined to be a successful person in life.  I want to go into the medical field as I am inspired by both my older sister, who is starting premed this fall and by my mom, who is in the process of receiving her doctorate in nursing. They have both showed me how hard work and dedication is important in my life and family.