Tippecanoe Valley senior Ethan Yates signs his letter of intent to play baseball at Ancilla College next year. (Photo provided)

AKRON — When Tippecanoe Valley senior Ethan Yates found Ancilla, it was a win-win.

Not only did the Vikings second baseman have an opportunity to play ball at the private liberal arts community college in Donaldson, but the school also offered him the chance to study culinary arts.

“I’ve always wanted to play college baseball, and also I’ve always wanted to be a chef and study culinary. So since Ancilla had culinary, I went and visited to see that and also I had an opportunity to play baseball. I talked to the coach and walked around, talked to him about baseball, and he gave me an opportunity to sign, so I took it,” recalled Yates.

Yates finished his junior year with a .338 batting average with a team-high 18 RBIs and 12 runs scored. In the field, Yates finished with an .829 fielding percentage with 28 putouts and one assisted out versus six errors. For those efforts, he was awarded an All-Three Rivers Conference First Team selection. With holes anticipated in the Chargers’ middle infield in 2020, Yates has a good chance to play as a freshman.

“When I talked to the coach, they said that they needed a middle infielder. Since I play second, I feel like I’ll have some playing time as a freshman,” he said.

With the signing now out of the way, Yates can focus exclusively on his final season at Valley this spring. He won’t have to rush around navigating the recruiting process, and he won’t need to try to impress anyone.

“Knowing I wanted to play baseball, I felt like I’d have to show more of my skills more. Instead of just focusing on baseball just for Valley I’d have to go and talk to coaches, email them back and forth,” explained Yates.

Ancilla baseball is off to an 0-2 start in the early going in 2019 under new head coach Christopher Woodruff. The Chargers finished the 2017-18 season with a 3-28 record, including a 2-22 mark in Michigan Community College Athletic Association play.