SOMERSET — How cool is this? A Somerset boy, who has not yet suited up for a high school varsity baseball game, has verbally committed to play in the top college baseball conference in the country.
That's where Brandyn Durand's baseball life stands. On Feb. 20, he made the verbal commitment to play at the University of Kentucky of the powerful Southeastern Conference.
Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione saw the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Durand playing at the by-invitation-only PBR Future Games last August in Georgia. "He loved my style of play and attitude," Durand said on Wednesday. "He decided he was going to take an interest in me."
The Georgia tournament, Durand noted, invited only players who had not committed to college, and the event attracted more than 500 college coaches. Durand knew that Kentucky was the SEC team which had not yet gotten a catcher verbal commitment for the freshman class of 2022.
Durand last summer played for a PBR Future team based in Connecticut. That team, coached by Trevor Brown, had discovered Durand when he crunched a walkoff home run while while he was playing for a Middleton, Mass.-based summer team.
Previously, Durand, 16, had played youth baseball in Somerset and in the Swansea Independent Baseball League and hammered the ball for the Somerset Middle School team. After eighth grade, he played for the Somerset American Legion Baseball team.
In SIBL, he played on the 12-and-under team that finished fourth in the PONY World Series in California. Also in SIBL, Durand met umpire, C.J. Madeiros, who shared his high opinion of Bishop Hendricken. Madeiros had been a catcher at Hendricken.
Durand loved what he heard and let his parents know about his desire to attend, long a high school athletics power in Rhode Island. His parents said they would make it happen.
Hendricken's varsity baseball team won the Rhode Island Division 1 championship. The Hawks' roster featured 19 seniors, so Durand played on the freshman team. While the competition at that level was not what Durand dreamed about, he bonded with his teammates, played hard, and looked "to assume a starting spot" with varsity in 2020.
Durand's excellence has not been limited to baseball. At Hendricken, he discovered football and track and field.
Durand last fall was named an all-state football defensive end after helping the Hawks to a state title, capped with a 35-8 Super Bowl trouncing of Portsmouth. This past winter in indoor track and field, he excelled in the 55 meters (6.68 seconds) and the long jump (20 feet, 6.5 inches).
Durand takes his physical fitness very seriously. Since the sixth grade, he has been trained by Mike Fernandes at Infinite Fitness Sports Performance in Fall River.
"He's done wonders for me," Durand said. "He's what's made me excel."
Email Greg Sullivan at gsullivan@heraldnews.com. Follow him at GregSullivanHN.