Photo from Prep Baseball Report
Lost in all the commotion of the Wildcats football game vs. Florida, the UK baseball program made some noise on the recruiting trail. Luke Pectol, a member of the 2020 class, announced his commitment to the Wildcats via his Twitter account.
The state of Arkansas has been kind to Kentucky baseball recruiting and the Wildcats 2020 class will be full of talented players from Central Arkansas. Earlier this summer, Houston King, a native of Cabot, AR., announced his commitment to Kentucky. King and Pectol are teammates for Arkansas Prospect-Menard.
Following Pectol’s announcement, Kevin Bohannon, who coaches King and Pectol’s Arkansas Prospect club, shared some info on the Wildcats newest member of the 2020 class.
“The kid is a relentless worker with a big strong left-handed bat,” said Bohannon. “ He’s already 6’1”, 170lbs, and he projects as a corner infield guy.
Pectol, a 6-2, 180lb first baseman, is fresh off a strong freshman season for Joe T. Robinson High School in Little Rock, AR. Through 26 games last season; he totaled 42 hits and 28 RBIs on his way to posting a .477 batting average with a .531 on-base percentage.
“He is a very aggressive hitter that comes from a very disciplined workout regimen,” said Bohannon. “Kentucky was the top school on his list and Coach Ming and Coach Fanning won him and the family over.”
In addition to being an outstanding baseball player, Pectol is also exceptional in the classroom. His GPA sits around 3.8 and he was just recently inducted into the National Honor Society.
Coach Mingione’s model follows student, person, player, which means you are a student first, person second, and then a baseball player. All three of those phases translate into the type of student-athlete Coach Mingione and his staff target on the recruiting trail. From the looks and sound of things, Pectol is the perfect fit for Kentucky and vice versa. In a brief conversation, he shared his excitement about his commitment to the Wildcats.
“I could not be happier with my commitment to the University of Kentucky,” said Pectol. “It is a great school and I was really drawn to the coaches and the positive atmosphere. I am confident in my choice and now I can focus on getting better at my game.”
