GLEN CARBON - Recent Father McGivney graduate Darren Luchetti signed to play baseball at Fontbonne University on Tuesday, June 28. Ironically, he will get to stay a Griffin.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
It was a day that Darren, and his parents, had been waiting for for a long time.
The two-sport athlete could've also played collegiate basketball if he went that route. He was a huge part in achieving a .500 record for Father McGivney this season and has been playing basketball since he was a kid.
He even went out to a few collegiate basketball camps at Saint Louis University and Bethany College and had some colleges interested in signing him, but he shifted his focus to baseball instead.
McGivney baseball head coach Chris Erwin actually persuaded Dareen into trying out for baseball his sophomore year.
Darren mentioned that Erwin made him believe in himself and made him realize the baseball talent that he had.
Darren jokingly said that he only came out because the team was good and it was just good to get back out there with his friends. A couple of those friends are Jackson Rodgers and Gabe Smith who also played basketball.
Darren was originally going to play his first season in the spring of 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed that back to the following season. But, he continued to throw and get better for his junior season.
His junior year was when John Siener, Fontbonne University's assistant baseball coach, came out to see him for the first time.
Siener told Darren that Fontbonne would be interested in having him, so Darren took some time to think about it.
"It was very difficult," Darren said about having to choose between the two sports.
"Since I was six or seven I wanted to play nothing but basketball."
Darren mentioned that his parents consistently asked where he was going and all he could tell them was to give him a little more time.
"I didn't really tell them much," Darren said. He did mention that no matter what he did, he had the full support of his parents.
Darren still couldn't make a decision. That was until he and his dad went out to Fontbonne to catch a game and speak with Siener again. It was at that moment Darren had decided what he wanted to do.
He decided that the best thing for him would be to play baseball at Fontbonne. It's still close to home for his family to come to his games and he couldn't be more excited.
"I'm stoked. I enjoy the school and obviously the baseball program's great."
Academically, he plans on going into the computer science field and focusing more on data science, similar to what his dad does for work Darren said.
Coach Siener is happy with the guy he's getting next year as well.
"I think he's going to get sprinkled in his freshman year right away and I think he has the chance to be a real impact pitcher his sophomore year on," Siener said.
Coach Erwin had nothing but good things to say about Darren as he wished him luck in his future.
"He's one of the best overall athletes in our school," Erwin said.
More like this:
