Adam Price to play baseball at Heartland Community College
By FRED KRONER
Adam Price graduated from St. Joseph-Ogden as one of the school’s all-time career leaders in several baseball categories.
He has the No. 1 career batting average (.453), ranks third in RBI (89), third in doubles (29) and fifth in total hits (106).
Unlike the majority of the school’s other all-time greats, who had three and – in some cases – four years to play on varsity, Price was limited to two years.
He transferred from St. Thomas More for his final three semesters and made an immediate impact on a team that won 35 games his junior year and 28 his senior season.
SJ-O baseball coach Josh Haley said Price “had one of the best two-year stretches statically in SJ-O history.
“At the plate, he is a pure hitter and one that will translate at the next level.
“He continued to work and improve on his defensive skills at first base. Looking forward to seeing him continue to improve at the next level.”
Price is preparing for another two-year stop. He has signed a letter of intent to attend Heartland Community College, in Normal, and play baseball.
His journey in baseball started shortly after he learned to walk.
“I started throwing and hitting as long ago as I can remember,” Price said. “My parents said I was about 2 or 3 when I started hitting wiffle balls in the yard.
“Whatever made me stick with baseball is kind of unexplainable, it was always just the sport I played first and played the most of before organized sports would even start for me.”
Price found joy in the game from the outset and has been able to reignite that passion.
“The key to my development was to make everything fun while still learning and getting better,” he said. “I always think that practicing should be fun.
“There was a reason I picked up a baseball and a bat when I was 3 and 4: I thought it was really fun.”
The left-hander has played primarily at first base, but also has experience pitching and playing in the outfield.
His enjoyment for baseball coincided with his start in organized ball. That led to the formation of an early goal.
“I knew I’d want to play for as long as I could,” Price said. “I knew that college baseball would let me enjoy the sport for at least a few years longer.”
Before he settled on Heartland, he also had an offer from a four-year college, Decatur’s Millikin University.
“I just feel the model that junior college baseball has fit me better for my future,” Price said. “At the time I committed, those were my only two offers.
“I committed kind of early, so there could have been some others that would have come, but I knew at the time that Heartland was the place that I wanted to go.”
Instrumental in Price’s development was the late Andrew Cotner, a Hall-of-Fame pitcher at his high school, Centennial, who also spent time in the New York Mets’ farm system. Cotner died on May 5, 2021 at age 51.
“As for my development, there are some really key people who helped me. Up until his death, Andrew Cotner was my travel coach (with the Champaign Dream) and my private hitting instructor,” Price said. “Not only the hitting input he gave me, but also the lessons and character he showed by example has helped me so much. Through his battles with his health conditions, he showed the example of always battling through adversity and to always do my best.
“Through life and death, he’s made me a better player and a better person.”
Price said that SJ-O coaches Haley and Mitch Pruemer have “helped me in many ways. Coach Haley and Coach Pruemer have helped me learn to manage games well. Coach Haley helped me a lot during my recruiting as well.”
Price attended an exposure camp for Illinois athletes in July, 2022 and his recruitment picked up thereafter.
“The (Heartland) coach was there watching players,” Price said. “Last September, Coach Haley and I would meet every so often to talk about my next step, and he was able to get in contact with the head coach at Heartland (Chris Razo).”
Travel baseball helped Price adapt quickly once he enrolled at SJ-O.
“Coming to a new school at the semester was tough last year,” Price said, “but my friends I already had from travel baseball made it a lot easier for me.”
In his first season with the Spartans, Price led the team in doubles (17) and runs batted in (49), and had the second-best batting average (.478).
“Coming to SJO my junior year, I knew that the expectations for the 2021-22 year team were really high,” Price said. “I knew that I needed to prove myself in order to get on the field and I tried my best to capitalize on my opportunity.”
The same scenario will play out again in August when he enrolls at Heartland.
“I personally love the fact that I will need to prove myself all over again,” Price said. “With Heartland having a lot of success in the past few years, I know it’ll be difficult for me to get on the field out of the gate.
“However, that will only help me work harder in order for me to get as much playing time as possible my freshman year.”
Heartland is playing in the NJCAA Division II World Series, in Enid, Okla., for the second consecutive year. The 55-5 Hawks are top-seeded entering a Wednesday (May 31) semifinal game.
The 2022 Heartland baseball team closed with a 49-10 record and lost the game that would have advanced it to the NJCAA World Series semifinals.
Price likes the idea of joining a high-level program as opposed to one that is rebuilding.
“The recent success that Heartland has had really helped me narrow it down,” he said. “Had I waited a little longer, I could have found some other options, but I knew there was no use waiting.”
During the past two years, Price found his passion for baseball was regenerated.
“Growing up, I’ve always had the goal of playing a sport in college,” he said. “I’ve always been an Illinois fan, so college sports were always something I’ve liked and have watched.
“That goal changed a bit over the years. I always tried my best to keep my course of wanting to play in college, but sometimes bad coaches and other external factors disillusioned me about playing at the next level.
“However, my last two years of high school baseball reminded me how much I love this game and want to keep playing it for as long as I can.”
As a senior at SJ-O, Price hit a team-best .429 and drove in a team-high 40 runs. He socked 12 doubles, the most among the Spartans
Price also made eight pitching appearances and compiled a 2-2 record. He struck out 28 batters in 20 innings.
Price has become a fan of the suddenness that can occur within a baseball game.
“I feel that in baseball, the tempo of the entire game can change really quickly,” Price said. “You can be in a lull on the field, and then have to be making split-second decisions five seconds after that.
“I’ve always liked having to capitalize on opportunities.”
Price is going to use his years at Heartland to determine a major.
“I’m going to be undecided in my time at Heartland,” he said. “I hope that after two more years, I’ll have a better idea of what I want to do in life after college, and that will help me choose a major.”
