PLEASANT HILL – Newton senior Austin Tippie signed his letter of intent to attend Thomas More College next year to continue his academics and pursue his dream of playing baseball at the next level.
Tippie a 3-year letterman at Newton High School in baseball can now breathe a sigh of relief having made the decision on where he will play in college. He can now enjoy his senior year with his teammates and focus on some unfinished goals they would like to achieve as a team.
In his high school career Austin has been very productive at the plate and a force on the hill with 15 wins and 3 losses over the last three years. The unfinished business is that the Indians have come up short for a WOAC conference title finishing runner-up the last three years and it’s something he would like to bring home for his team this year.
Tippie has definitely worked hard to become a sought-after athlete at Thomas More who is an NCAA Division II school that plays in the (GMAC) Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Other schools in the conference are Findlay, Ashland, Northwood, Tiffin, Walsh, Ohio Dominican, Hillsdale, Lake Erie, and Kentucky Wesleyan.
Newton baseball head coach Jordan Kopp knows Thomas More is getting a good one.
“In my time at Newton, Austin’s definitely one of the most hard-working kids we’ve got. He started as a two-sport athlete and is currently now just a one sport athlete. He may only take a day or two off the entire year, he puts a lot of time in the weight room,” Kopp stated.
“He also has put a lot of time in his craft of hitting and I think he’s going to excel in the pitching realm at college, so I’m excited to see him at Thomas More they are a great fit.”
“They play at the Florence, Kentucky exit, and the stadium is right off highway I-75 about an hour and twenty-minute drive. They have the best facilities you’re going to get at the college level and he’s going to have more opportunities and more resources, and I expect really good things,” Kopp added.
“He would have had other opportunities, if he waited it out a little bit, he had a lot of people talking to him … but kudos to him he found a good fit, socially, academically, spiritually, all those things and once he found it I talked to him about it and really liked it,” Kopp said.
Austin Tippie concurred with his coach on the Thomas More selection.
“I really loved their facilities, they were awesome at Thomas More, and the atmosphere is definitely what I expected from a college program,” Tippie stated.
“When I went on campus, it was just the feel, you know, it felt good, it’s a nice campus very well put together and all the people were very accommodating and very nice,” Tippie commented.
It was as welcoming as the water tower message of “Florence Y’all” that you can’t miss driving past on I-75 as the Saints welcomed Tippie to Thomas More.
“It definitely seemed very sports oriented as well, I believe 60 to 70% of the students are athletes and I think that’s another plus knowing the college is going to be more willing to work with a lot of the athletes, that was definitely a draw for me as well,” Tippie explained.
Another WOAC athlete playing at Thomas More is former Tri-Village girls basketball player Morgan Hunt who is in her third season on the women’s basketball team.
Tippie also talked about new head coach Cole Shaffer who was previously at Ohio Dominican.
“From the time that I’ve spent with them, I really loved the coaches and Coach Schaffer, who is amazing and I’m really looking forward to working with him and kind of feeling out the college experience. I think he’s going to really push this program to the next level,” Tippie said.
While Austin can’t wait to see what he can do at the next level he now really wants to enjoy the rest of his senior year with his teammates and see if they can make this a special year.
“Early on in your high school career, you’re worried about getting seen, recruited and stuff and now that I’ve made this decision I can spend time with my teammates and just play for the love of the game. I definitely have senior aspirations, especially on the pitching side, and hopefully being in contention or maybe even winning Player of the Year,” Tippie commented.
“As a team we want to win the conference and definitely make it to the regionals and even further are top of mind,” Tippie added.
While Austin is an excellent athlete he is also a great student and that deserves mentioning as well.
“Austin is a humble type of kid but he’s a really great teammate plus he excels in the classroom. He’s, probably going to be a valedictorian, a super smart kid and all that translates to the baseball field,” coach Kopp complimented.
“All that helps as he understands his mechanics, understands the game, understands his swing, all those things translate,” Kopp added.
One thing for sure Tippie has a lot of folks who showed up to support him and is a testament to him being a good kid.
His dad took some time to thank those who came out for his signing.
“On behalf of Heather, Austin and I we want to thank my parents, Heather’s parents, my brother’s family, our friends, teammates, coaches, our athletic director and our superintendent for being here. It’s just been a thrill being a part of the Newton community. It’s been wonderful, we’ve really enjoyed our time here and so has Austin and we know we’re not done, we still got our senior year yet,” Jason Tippie stated.
“We got a lot of goals and aspirations yet for the senior year, but it does mean a lot that you guys come out to share this with us, so we do appreciate it and again thank you very much,” Jason Tippie added.
Austin also wanted to thank those who have been there for him as well over the years.
“You know my dad, Jason. He’s been kind of like the guy pushing me definitely, my entire life. He had me getting up early in the mornings to go train. My mom, Heather, she also has been there for me, super supportive of everything that I’ve done. It doesn’t matter if it was sports, school, anything that I do, she is definitely in my corner fighting for me,” Austin expressed.
“My grandparents also have been more than supportive with everything I’ve done and helped me in every way they could, whether it be financially, a hug, or a positive comment,” Austin acknowledged.
“And obviously my coaches. I mean, Jordan’s been fighting for me since day one. It’s been awesome to have him and the rest of the coaching staff around they have done wonders for my career, so it’s been amazing,” Tippie concluded.
I expect we will see some more amazing things from this young man before his senior season is over. Congratulations to Austin Tippie.
