Elijah Wood of the Marshalltown Community College Baseball team will play for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes next season. Wood finished up his two-year career at MCC in 2016.
Wood will play for a team that made a strong run through the 2016 Big Ten Tournament, falling just short to Ohio State last year. The Hawkeyes went 30-26 in 2016 and have won at least 30 games the last three seasons, including 41 in 2015.
"I've always wanted to play at the Division I level," Wood stated. "Iowa will have good competition along with great facilities to help me get better. Once Iowa came up in the recruiting process, I just couldn't pass it up because the Hawkeyes have always been a dream school for me."
A left-handed pitcher for the Tigers, Wood made 20 starts on the hill throughout his career. Wood won three games during his sophomore year and struck out 47 batters, giving him 77 for his career in 94.2 innings of work.
"Playing at MCC, I was able to become a better baseball player," Wood continued. "They have all the tools that you need to improve, you just have to use them. I thought the competition was really good and I was able to gain a lot of experience and I learned a lot from the coaching staff."
"Overall, MCC was great. The small size allowed me to focus on baseball and my classes. My favorite part of MCC was how close I got with my teammates. Every one of them is like a brother to me now and always will be. I'll never regret starting off my college career at MCC due to the fact I made some of the best friends I've ever had."
"Coach Grife, coach Beall, and coach McLaughlin pushed me to my breaking point all the time which made me tough. I can't thank them enough for picking me up out of high school and giving me this chance."
MCC head coach Rich Grife knew Wood had the potential to reach the Division I level and is pleased to see him accomplish his goal. "Elijah came in and knew what he had to do each and every day to get to where he wanted to be," Grife exclaimed. "Few things as a coach are more rewarding than seeing a player achieve his goal and work hard doing it, and that's what Elijah did during his two years here. We're looking forward to him having a solid career with the Hawkeyes."
