Michael Warpechowski '17 Recruiting Profile

For as long as I can remember my father stressed to me that trying my hardest, getting a good education and giving back build great character.

Being an athlete I believe that you only deserve what your work hard provides. I like to be surrounded by people who try their best and strive for excellence. Hard work and extra effort are not things I shy away from, either. My priorities keep me focused and drive me to success.  

My academics are my number one priority that competes with my number one passion, baseball. I have achieved success thus far in both areas.  

My 3.7 GPA since sixth grade attests to my academic success. My high school classes have progressed to include advanced and AP classes, to challenge me in the classroom and better prepare me for college coursework.  . 

At 10 years old I started playing organized baseball.  I started in Little League for two years and then moved onto an AAU team to take advantage of the higher skill level needed to compete and thus ultimately improve my skills.  During the off-seasons, I also competed in Recreation Summer ball programs for three years to keep my skills honed.  My Rec team was champions for all three years. Recently, I just finished my third year as a Varsity starting 3rd basemen and short-stop. My daily raining routine is built around developing myself to be an elite athlete.  

In September 2013 my family was impacted forever with my father’s diagnosis of terminal brain cancer.  He died in April 2014. Those 20-months redefined me. At a young age, my father's death provided me an inner strength and the realization that “nothing is a given" and life really is "too short”.

I now took the field to honor my father’s memory and needed to maintain my academic performance because it was the road to my future success in everything.  

While the loss of my father was still fresh, I was dealt another blow in July 2014; I tore the labrum in my left shoulder and required surgery.  

The surgery was a success and I was cleared to continue playing ball, but my shoulder had a mind of its own – the muscles surrounding the repaired labrum were slow to retrain themselves and I repeatedly dislocated.

I had extensive physical therapy and countless sessions with athletic trainers who were as dedicated as I was to restore my performance on the field.  These people not only repaired me physically, they believed in me.  

During my recovery I found myself thinking of college.  What would I study?  Would I be able to play ball for that school?  It came to me that I would love to work with athletes who were in similar situations.  

I found myself getting “pumped up” about the thought of working with others to repair them physically as well as emotionally.  My college search was suddenly not so overwhelming…I had a path and it felt right for me!!  

I could now look to the future with some excitement.  My chosen degree would easily also honor my father, after all he was a body-builder and took great care of himself.  That’s what is ironic about his illness, it was his mind not his body that was lost.   I could not change what happened to my dad or my family, but I am determined to use the circumstances to impact how I live the rest of my life.  

I have been told that in order to have success you have to want it as much as you want to breathe. Equally I know that leading with compassion is living in God's example, and making my father proud. I am confident in my abilities as a ball player yet know that I am a work in progress.  I welcome and appreciate an opportunity to take my talents to the next level in college baseball.  Now, with an eye to my future career, I am excited to be able to give back to other athletes.