Austin native Steve Serratore has been around baseball his whole life and now he’s going to get a chance to play the game at a very high level.

Serratore signed his national letter-of-intent to play baseball at Division I Kansas State University last week and he’ll be headed to KSU in the fall of 2014 after he finishes his sophomore season at Des Moines Area Community College this spring.

The Wildcats are coming off a season where they finished 45-19 overall and won the Big 12 title. KSU finished just two runs short of the College World Series as they were Super-Regional runner-ups.

“I don’t want to be at a school where they’re just trying to get you to pro ball. I want to thrive as a team as well. That’s where you’re going to get the most exposure and you want to be on the big stage,” Serratore said. “It’ll be challenging. You’re throwing myself into the fire and seeing what you’ve got. It kind of makes or breaks you as a player for the next level, because if you do well at that level, you’ll get a chance to play pro ball.”

Serratore will continue to play catcher at KSU and the team also likes his hitting ability. Serratore hit .338 with an on-base percentage of .531 to go with 5 home runs, 12 doubles, 2 triples and 41 RBIs at DMACC last spring.

KSU hitting coach Mike Clement said that Serratore reminds the Wildcats of the current fifth-year catcher.

“We’re excited about (Serratore),” Clement said. “We’re looking for a guy who’s not scared to be vocal and someone who can be in charge of our pitching staff. Steve’s also a really advanced hitter and we could see him in the middle of the lineup. He fits the profile of the guy we want. He’s hard nosed with a little chip on his shoulder and he plays the game the right the right way.”

Serratore received a 50 percent athletic scholarship from KSU after he turned down an offer from Indiana State University that would’ve covered almost of all of his enrollment. Serratore visited KSU, ISU and the University of Minnesota in consecutive weeks before making his decision.

In the end, KSU was the right for him.

“(ISU head coach Mike Hannahs) really blew me away and I really liked him a lot. But the town and the environment just wasn’t what I was looking for. It wasn’t an easy fit and that’s unfortunate because they’re going to be building for the future,” Serratore said. “(KSU) was an all around amazing environment that I really liked from the beginning. I wanted to make my decision early so each school had an opportunity to get another guy. I didn’t want to leave a school out in the cold by waiting until the last possible day.”

Serratore has spoken with KSU pitcher Jake Matthys, a freshman all-american closer, who is from Spring Lake Park, Minn. and Tyler Wolfe, a pitcher from Maple Plain, Minn. and is a teammate of Serratore’s at DMAAC, is also headed to KSU. Both players are pleased with KSU and it will be nice for Serratore to have a couple of teammates from his home state.

Serratore said its hard for players from the north to make it to Division I baseball as hitters, but he did what he could, including spending plenty of time in his family’s batting cage in a garage outside their house.

“Everybody says the pitchers are from the north and the hitters are from the south,” Serratore said. “Down there they have bigger resources to play outside, but we try to make do. That’s why my dad built the (batting) cage and a lot of people would come over and hit here.”

This past summer was a tough one for Serratore as he was all set to play for the Rochester Honkers when he injured his arm. After playing with the team for about two weeks, Serratore’s summer of baseball was over and he had to sit and wait for a college to show interest in him.

He made is first visit to KSU in early October.

“I was really looking forward to playing in Rochester (last summer),” Serratore said. “It was disappointing, but it was something I had to take care of. As a catcher, your arm is your money maker in a lot of ways. Guys that can throw behind the plate are widely wanted on every professional team.”

When Serratore plays for KSU in the spring of 2015, he’ll be achieving a lifelong dream. He still remembers his younger days when he used to hang around Marcusen Park with the Austin Greyhounds and he looks back on them fondly.

“I went to the park every day in the summer and I was living a four-year old’s dream of being able to play baseball every day,” Serratore said. “I was fortunate enough to be put in that environment and that speaks a lot for my mom and dad. My mom probably didn’t like it at times when I just did my own thing and played baseball, but she supported me and understood baseball was a big part of my life. I thank my parents for putting up with some stuff sometimes.”