Last August, senior Jason Scholl took a step forward in his baseball career by committing to Eastern Illinois University, a Division 1 school located in Charleston, Ill.

Scholl said he has been contacted by Major League Baseball teams including the Cubs, Red Sox, White Sox, and Royals. He will have the option to declare for the upcoming MLB draft in June. If Scholl decides to go through with his plans of playing baseball in college, he will be eligible for the draft once he finishes playing at Eastern Illinois.

According to Scholl, who currently plays catcher for the varsity baseball team, he also received interest from Ohio State University and the University of Missouri, but he committed to Eastern Illinois before getting other official offers.

Scholl made his decision primarily because he was told that he would “be an impact player right away.”

“My goal has always been to play professionally and at Eastern Athletics I have the best chance to do that with playing all four years instead of sitting on the bench,” Scholl said.

Dominic Savino, head varsity baseball coach, has no doubt that Scholl’s talent and work ethic will make him successful at the collegiate level.

“I think [Scholl] is exceptionally talented, and he’s able to take that talent and let that lead into a very good performance level in games,” Savino said.

Scholl hopes to keep playing baseball for as long as he can, but he is also looking forward to “playing with the best” in college.

“It’s such an honor to be considered a Division 1 baseball player,” Scholl said. “I don’t take that lightly at all.”