It’s been a big week for Cole Gilley.
Monday, the Columbus East junior pitched the first six innings in the Class 4A state championship baseball game, which the Olympians lost to Hamilton Southeastern 3-2 in the seventh.
After taking a day off Tuesday, Gilley went to Hanover to be with his East football teammates at its team camp. He is the returning starter at quarterback.
Thursday, Gilley traveled with his Evoshield Canes Midwest travel baseball team to Nashville, Tennessee for a tournament that begins today. While there, he committed to play baseball at Indiana State.
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“They offered me awhile back, and I decided today, I was going to commit,” Gilley said. “The coaching staff kind of reminds me of the East football coaching staff, which is nice. It’s close to home, so family and friends can come and watch me play. All of that kind of went into the decision making.”
Gilley originally committed to Indiana University in November 2017, but decommitted last summer after former Hoosiers coach Chris Lemonis left for Mississippi State.
“It was a lot of stress after decomitting from IU and not knowing where I’d end up,” Gilley said. “It was about finding the right spot. IU kind of felt like home, but Indiana State felt like home even more. I just trusted God’s plan. I know the last two weeks during tournament time, I was kind of stressed out about it, and schools were wanting me to commit.”
Central Michigan, Illinois State and Ball State also had offered scholarships, and Gilley had visited all of those schools.
“I really liked all the campuses, too,” Gilley said. “When I went to Indiana State, it just felt like home.”
This spring, Gilley went 7-1 with a 2.13 ERA in helping lead the Olympians to their first state championship game appearance in school history. He also batted .336 and was second on the team with 26 RBIs.
Gilley said ISU had shown some interest in him for football, but that he likely will focus on baseball in college.
“It will be pretty hard to (play both),” Gilley said. “I might try to go two ways in baseball — pitch and hit — if they’re open to it. I wanted to go to a spot where I could play both ways, but I’m not sure if I’ll play football there.”
The Sycamores baseball team is coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance. They went 43-18 and won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament twice before falling to Vanderbilt twice in the regional.
“The competition is just like you’re going to get if you went to IU,” Gilley said. “(ISU) plays Purdue and IU and some other big schools. I wanted to go to a school that had IU on the schedule, and Indiana State did. It’s just a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, and now, I can go have fun.”
