By Cory Edwards
Although the BYU baseball team has finished their season, Nate Fernley is getting ready to start another. On June 12, he will put on a new uniform and begin pitching as a minor league player.
On May 29th, Fernley signed a contract to play in the Cleveland Indian”s organization.
“I talked to the Indians and to the people around me and felt that they were the right fit for me,” Fernley said.
Generally, college baseball players don”t have the luxury of signing with a team of their choice. But if a player is a fifth year senior he has the option to sign with an organization as a free agent up until a week before the draft.
“I”ve actually only played four years,” Fernley said. “The two years of my mission qualified me for the fifth year rule.”
Fernley will pack up this week and head to Niles, Ohio, where he will play with the Mahoning Valley Scappers on the single A level.
Nate”s wife Dara will continue to support her husband”s baseball career. She and Nate grew up together and have been best friends for nine years, Dara said.
“It”s something he”s dreamed about since he was little,” she said.
Nate Fernley finished his senior year at BYU with a 16-3 record and a Mountain West Conference leading 3.12 earned run average.
His strong season earned him a number of recognitions. He was selected to the Second Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball magazine. He was named the MWC Tournament MVP, received First-Team All-Conference honors and was named the Cougar Club”s Crowd Pleaser.
Fernley”s sister Emily, who just finished her senior year with BYU”s softball team said she too is excited for her older brother.
“Nate feels Cleveland is a program where he can move up quickly,” Emily said. “He would like to do it as fast as he can.”
Nate said it is up to him how long he stays at the single A level.
As a Scrapper, he will continue to throw the pitches that made him a winner for Cougar head coach Vance Law and BYU – sliders, change-ups, fastballs and his two strike splitter.
Law said he figured someone like Cleveland would pick Fernley up.
“I”m really happy someone has given him an opportunity and I think he will move up quickly,” Law said.
Fernley said he has enjoyed playing in the Cougar blue and for Law.
“Playing for Coach Law has been one of the greatest experiences of my baseball career,” Fernley said.
That career, which includes striking out 15 batters in seven innings against the University of San Francisco and then shutting out Berkley the same week, is just the beginning for the Fernley family.
