AVON — On a crisp Nov. 16 afternoon at Avon High School in the auditorium, Eagles ace Gavin Ehrhardt was ready to fulfill a lifelong dream, surrounded by his parents, brother, friends and teammates and coaches from both baseball and football.
Since his freshman year, he’d been committed to the University of Cincinnati to play baseball. His 2022 performance on the mound was superb, tossing 50.2 innings with a 6-1 record while posting a 1.38 ERA and striking out 52 while walking 23. He also authored his second career high school no-hitter on May 2.
That’s not to mention a .286 batting average at the plate and a .463 on-base percentage to go along with four doubles, two triples and two home runs out of his 20 hits, pitching in 18 RBI, 19 runs and nine stolen bases.
Just shortly past noon with the ink finally dry, Ehrhardt officially signed his National Letter of Intent to officially join the Bearcats program program.
After committing to @GoBearcatsBASE as a freshman, @baseball_avon's Gavin Ehrhardt signed his National Letter of Intent this afternoon to make it official. @MJournalSports pic.twitter.com/jbogh1ytIv
— Sean Fitzgerald (@fitzonsportsbsr) November 16, 2022
“It’s nice having the support I did here today,” Ehrardt said following the signing. “I had the whole football team, had the whole baseball team here. The support is just amazing here. I’m very grateful for everyone who came out here today and it’s nice to be in such a great community.”
A two-sport standout as a running back and defensive nightmare for the Eagles football team, he’ll focus on pitching with the Bearcats.
“I’ve been committed so long and now that I’m official, it’s very nice to have (out of the way) and I’m very fortunate to be able to play Division I baseball.”
Baseball coach Patrick Scholla, who had been an assistant on the Avon staff prior to landing the head coaching role ahead of the 2022 season, couldn’t have been more complimentary of what his ace’s impact is on the Eagles.
“I’ve known Gavin since he got to Avon his freshman year. He’s just an all-around great human being,” Scholla said. “Like I said (up on stage), I’m a big quote guy and I found a quote while I was going through to come up with a speech to describe Gavin and let everyone know who’s here what an impact he’s had on our program. (I came across one from) Brad Stevens in the (Boston) Celtics organization that was ‘If things aren’t going right for you right now, make it go right for someone else right now’.”
“When I thought about that quote for a little longer, that’s gavin. He’s always an uplifting teammate and is someone who knows already that baseball is such a hard sport. He’s there to help the team in any way possible. Gavin’s just that ultimate human being – he’s a joy to be around and he’s a joy for our program.”
While he’s been balancing the end of his senior football season with baseball, knowing baseball has been “a bigger part of my life,” Ehhardt has been grinding his whole life to reach this point to commit to a Division I program, especially the coaches being a key reason why he picked the Bearcats.
“I actually fell in love with the campus right when I got there,” Ehhardt explained. “The coaches are just fantastic. Out of any coaches I talked to for baseball, Cincinnati was by far the best. They showed the most interest and were very nice and I loved that.”
Time has flown by over the years, from first picking up a baseball to missing his first year of high school due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns, not to mention going through a coaching change. All of these experiences have helped him grow into the player he currently is with his senior season still to be played.
“Being able to do stuff at home was difficult, especially with kids in my grade and below. You couldn’t really do anything to try and get better and put ourselves out there to colleges. It was difficult and I was able to get through that and got the offer from Cincinnati.”
With someone like Ehrhardt as talented as he is and still an even better human being, it’s invaluable to a coaching staff and to set the example for the rest of the program.
“Those are the ultimate type of human beings we want in our program – people who have great character. People who will go in everyday and work hard,” Patrick Scholla said. “Character is who you are when no one’s looking. I know what Gavin’s character is and he’s an outstanding human being. That develops a program, having people in that program and having kids understand it’s our program, it’s not just the coaching staff. It’s the player’s (program) just as much.”
“Gavin has taken that to heart and he’s an awesome, awesome human being to be around and he’s great for our program. He’s going to set the standard for years to come at Avon.”
