Ever since the age of six, Senior Noah Edders had been stepping onto the diamond, mitt in hand, ready to add another win to the books. Now, almost 12 years later, Edders had fulfilled his dream: pitching for a D1 baseball team.

In the fall of 2021, Edders will leave behind his Mustang team and begin the journey of playing at Bradley University. When asked, Edders noted that he had not thought of Bradley as a choice, but soon would decide that it would become his new home for the next four years.

“I took a visit to Bradley and just fell in love with the environment there and especially the coaching staff. The coaching staff made me feel very important, and like I was already a key part of their organization, and with all that I decided to commit on the spot,” Edders said.

While Edders has played on various travel teams, he always goes back to the DGS baseball program as something that had inspired his college decision.

“The coaching staff [here at DGS] had shown me that this game can’t be won by individual success, it needs to be together as a team for success. That was a big obstacle that I had to overcome because I liked to do things my way and by myself, but that wasn’t always in the best interest for the team, so once my coaches showed me how to let my players make the plays they need to make and win like a team, I was unstoppable,” Edders said.

Edders explains that though he had a great connection with varsity head coach Darren Orel, he has realized he had an even stronger bond to a coach earlier on. Freshman baseball coach Brett Wolf reflects on Edders’s time on his team, and the impact his fellow teammates had made in Edders future career.

“He went from not even the best pitcher on our Freshman team to one of the best pitchers in the state. Having teammates that raise the bar and don’t allow you to be complacent drives you to want to be better,” Wolf said.

While not instantly getting recruited to the varsity team his Freshman year, Edders discloses that he was content with his place on the Freshman team.

“A lot of my success came when I was playing down with the lower levels like freshman and sophomore year, both Coach Wolf and Coach Quatman saw a lot of potential in me, and were always pushing me to be the best version of myself,” Edders said.

“The cool part about Noah though is that he has maintained an energy and competitiveness throughout his high school career that has certainly helped any team that he’s been on to be successful,” Wolf said.