After playing Little League and then for his father’s travel baseball team, then Warren Area High School’s baseball team, and now Niagara County (N.Y.) Community College, Loomis has committed to pitch at NCAA Division I Charleston Southern University beginning this fall.

“In travel ball and Little League is where I think I fell in love with playing the game and just competing to win,” said the 20-year-old Loomis. “In high school, every year we were a competitive team and it helped me decide that I wanted to try to play college baseball, which I got the opportunity to do at the JUCO level and just recently got the opportunity to play at the Division I level, which is something every sports player of any kind dreams to do as a kid. I am just lucky enough to be able to make that happen.”

It was much more than luck for Loomis, who last pitched Thursday in an 11-1 Niagara County CC win over Tompkins Cortland CC. He allowed one hit and faced just one batter over the minimum in a five-inning, 10-run-rule victory. The Thunderwolves are 32-5 overall this season with nine straight wins dating back to April 20.

“Hunter has had a love for this game from a young age,” said his father, Matt. “His drive and passion to work hard and keep (transcending) to the next level is something special. He works hard every day. There are no days off when you get to college baseball. If Hunter isn’t at practice, he is in the gym or at the facility working with his coaches on something. I am so proud of the man he has become and can’t wait to see where this next step takes him.”

Warren Area High School graduate Hunter Loomis is 5-1 with a 2.10 ERA for Niagara County (N.Y.) Community College this season. Photo submitted

This isn’t the path Hunter thought he would take, “but it is a common path for high schoolers (who play Division I college baseball) who just weren’t fully developed coming out of high school like I was.

“I think DI is always the goal for anybody playing a high school sport that hopes to move on, and it was definitely one of mine growing up,” said Hunter. “I think the best part (of the journey) was just playing baseball and growing up with my friends when I was 8 to 12 years old and just developing the love for the game with them. The toughest part, I think, would have to be just trying to trust the process and believe that, at the end of the day, everything will turn out the way I worked for it to be.”

“Honestly, every time someone asks me about how Hunter is doing, some memory pops back into my head,” said his father. “I think back to the days when he was hitting wiffle balls in the back yard for hours on end, then to the first tee-ball practice, and on to the first time we decided to put a team together when they were 7 (years old) to go to tournaments. Just little memories like that will pop into my head every once and a while; little highlights from a game, whether it was a certain play or at-bat or just watching him and the boys hanging out between games or at the hotel. Hunter and that whole group of kids had a certain drive and talent that just makes those moments hard to forget.”

Hunter shared some of those moments at Niagara County CC with high school teammate Lance Baldensperger, who moved on to play at Division II Lock Haven University. This season, Loomis has a 2.10 earned run average over 30 innings and six starts. He is 5-1 in those starts, allowing 15 hits and nine walks while striking out 30.

“There definitely have been some bumps in the road and I’ve had some minor setbacks here and there throughout the years,” said Hunter. “I think what has helped get me through those times are my team and my family. Having that kind of support around really helps keep my head straight and focus on the better things to come.

Warren's Hunter Loomis

“I would say that I’m in a good place mentally and physically,” he added. “I think the biggest adjustment about moving to a new school, new team, or a new part of the country is just finding your place and figuring out what you can do to better yourself and the team.

While he will be moving south in the fall, Hunter is still grateful for his time in New York.

“My time at Niagara has been amazing,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot while I have been here and some of the things that I’ve learned from sports can be related to real-life situations, such as working as a team, strong work ethic, dealing with failure, and learning to not make emotional decisions.

“I will be graduating with my associate degree this spring in CADD (computer-aided design and drafting) and I will be furthering my education in mechanical engineering to achieve my bachelor’s at Charleston Southern,” he added. “I’ve been working at Betts Industries in the summer since my senior year of high school and I am thankful to have an internship there this summer, so in the future I would love to keep Betts in mind as a place that I would be able to work after college.”

But as Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane (aka: actor Brad Pitt) famously says in the movie Moneyball: “How can you not be romantic about baseball?”

Hunter has had so many wonderful moments in baseball, including “being able to win District 10 titles in (Little League) minors, majors, juniors, and in high school, also being able to compete for a national title at the JUCO level.

“We have an amazing team this year with some special talent, and we are looking forward to winning our region for the third year in a row and making a run in the national tournament,” he said.

Primarily a catcher in high school, “I came here as a catcher and switched to a pitcher only this past winter,” said Loomis. “In high school, I topped 83 (miles per hour), and I’ve been up to 93 here. … I think my velocity has a lot to do with my success, and just getting stronger in the weight room has helped a tremendous amount.”

Numbers aside, Loomis is pinching himself just being able to continue playing this wonderful game, “and so should anyone who is able to keep playing any sport after high school,” he said. “I do have some new personal goals for myself, and I want to just enjoy the last few years of baseball that I possibly have left and just give it all I got. I think every college athlete dreams of playing any kind of professional sport, but having two possible MLB draft picks on my team and being able to work with them inspires me to achieve those goals.”

According to Loomis, “being at a school that is known for sending players to very good schools definitely helped me get the offer I got. … Around the beginning of February, I emailed (the Charleston Southern University) pitching coach with some videos of me throughout the winter. After that, he reached out and I sent him some videos and stats after some of my games this spring and eventually got a scholarship that I could happily accept.

“I found Charleston Southern just by searching around looking at schools with engineering majors,” added Loomis. “I found out they had nice facilities and also a very nice campus.”

It’s a little over two hours to drive to Sanborn to watch Loomis pitch for the Thunderwolves. It’s a longer drive from Warren to Charleston, South Carolina — 11 hours longer.

“As a mom, it’s always hard having your kids away from home,” said Erin Loomis, “but it’s also so rewarding seeing them succeed and accomplish such high goals. Watching Hunter grow from a shy young boy to a successful, strong adult has been great. His strong will and determination from such a young age is how I know that he will be just fine taking this next step in life, and we couldn’t be prouder.”