My name is Tommy Dougherty, a student athlete at Naperville Central High School in Naperville, Illinois - Class of 2025. My goal as a baseball player is to pursue my dreams of continuing my academic and athletic career in college. I believe that I am a good candidate for a college baseball team because I put the work in, inside and outside the classroom. My practice habits stem from when I was in 5th grade. I tried out for our little league's "elite" program and did not make the cut. I decided then that I would make it the following year. The work I put in during the off-season compared with others helped me have an amazing season in my final year in Little League. Since then, I have continued to dedicate myself to off-season training. What sets me apart from others is my work ethic and never being satisfied where I am at. I always feel I can do better.
As a baseball player, I am standing at 6'5", 220 lbs. as a sophomore in high school as of the winter of 2022. I spent two straight months at the beginning of the school year in the weight room in order to get stronger. I realized this was something I had to do after my last season. My exit velocity has jumped nearly 20 MPH in the past year and a half and is averaging upper 80s and working low 90s.
I am an agile first baseman and right handed pitcher. I worked my fastball up to 80 miles per hour this summer while playing for White Sox Elite, my summer travel ball team. On this team, I managed to keep the highest on base percentage of over .600. For my high school season, I batted above .300 all year. I was the starting first basemen at the sophomore level as a freshman which continued into summer league. I was a consistent part of the pitching rotation all season and also found myself relieving out of the bullpen. I batted clean up all year, finding most success batting 4,5, and 6. My high school and travel coaches have shared that they value my leadership on and off the field, looking to me to set a positive example. My high school team had an issue with positive behavior. Coach asked myself and three teammates to speak to all players about the kind of team we wanted to be.
As of my freshman season, I see myself having lots of potential with the years to come and progress to be made.
Coaches, thank you for your time.
Tommy Dougherty
