Redhawks' Ludwig chooses Belmont

Updated: March 23, 2011 12:34PM

With his last summer start in the rearview mirror, Naperville Central senior left-hander Dan Ludwig left on July 19 to continue his search for where his baseball career might take him next.

A little more than two weeks later, he determined it would take him about 594 miles away from home by verbally committing to Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

The Bruins concluded their 2010 campaign right at .500 with a 27-27 record and recently broke ground on a new stadium.

"(Belmont's coaching staff) could see putting me in serious games as a freshman," said Ludwig, who committed Tuesday night.

"It's a great challenge for him," Central coach Bill Seiple said.

Pitching in serious games is something he has grown very accustomed to doing in his first two years on varsity for Central.

In those two years, Ludwig has been a stalwart on the mound for Seiple and the Redhawks by accumulating a 15-1 record to go along with a 2.13 ERA.

As the No. 2 starter on the Redhawks' Class 4A state title team this past spring, he went 9-0 with a 1.74 ERA and fanned 91 in 76 innings.

Bruins' head coach David Jarvis and the rest of his coaching staff didn't catch onto Ludwig until seeing him throw in an East Cobb Baseball Tournament with his travel team down in Marietta, Ga. last month.

"They had no idea who I was until that tournament," Ludwig said.

"Seems like they're great people," Seiple said of Belmont's coaching staff.

In choosing to attend Belmont -- considered by many to be a strong academic school -- in the fall of 2011, Ludwig spurned an opportunity to join former Waubonsie Valley standouts Kris Singh and Sam Carius at Valparaiso because he wanted to play somewhere far away in college, he said.

The offer from Valparaiso, which Ludwig described as "a real nice offer" back on July 19, was good until July 22.

"He was looking for something different," Seiple said when asked to compare Belmont and Valparaiso offers.

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