Staff photo / Joel Whetzel Champion’s Carter Boggs, left, attempts to tag out Warren JFK’s Caleb Hadley, right, as he slides into second base during their matchup in May at Eastwood Field in Niles.

WARREN — Choosing where to attend college can be a difficult decision for many high schoolers. Such was not the case for Warren JFK’s Caleb Hadley, however.

Hadley announced Friday his commitment to join Youngstown State’s baseball program, something the soon-to-be senior said has been in the works for some time.

“It wasn’t a super hard decision for me,” Hadley said. “(Head) coach (Dan) Bertolini reached out to me. He’s been watching me the last couple months and got me on campus. I took a nice visit with my dad, and they offered me there and we’ve been in touch since.

“I’ve kind of just been waiting to commit, and then today, I just felt like it was the right day to pull the trigger.”

In his junior campaign at Kennedy, the catcher posted an impressive .443 batting average. In 27 games, he racked up 31 hits, 21 RBIs, six doubles, three triples and a home run.

From the outset, Hadley said, YSU was the most involved with his recruitment. Other programs would attend a game and perhaps reach out, but the Penguins were consistent in their pursuit of Hadley over the course of the spring and summer.

“I think that says a lot about the program they’re trying to build there,” Hadley said.

It’s also special, Hadley said, because he can continue to represent the Mahoning Valley. Being close to home was something that factored into his decision.

“It’s special to me. Being able to have your grandparents and your family there at pretty much every home game, that’s an opportunity you don’t get when you go far away,” he said. “That was a big part of my decision was having family close enough that I can go home on the weekend, and they can come hang out for the weekend or whatever.”

He added, “The Valley is special. People don’t understand it unless you’re from here, but it really is (special). To be able to stay home is special to me and a big part of my decision.”

Hadley’s commitment also was a weight off the catcher’s shoulders, he said. With recruitment wrapped up, Hadley is excited to be able to focus on his upcoming senior year, for which he has a few lofty goals.

“As soon as I hung up the phone, it was just a big relief,” Hadley said. “It’s one less thing you have to think about, and you can just keep working every day without that in the back of your mind. … I’ll keep working every day to get better, but it’s definitely a big relief to be done (with recruitment), be committed and just have somewhere that you know is home.”

Entering his senior year, Hadley would like to maintain his 4.0 grade-point average in order to maximize the academic scholarships he can earn at YSU. On the diamond, Hadley doesn’t necessarily have specific personal goals other than to get better each day, but he does have one last thing on his checklist at JFK: a state championship.

“On the diamond, it’s always to win a state championship. It will always be that,” he said. “I hate to set individual goals for myself. My individual goal is to just be better all around and continue to get better and improve at things I might not be great at.”

And it’s that daily grind that Kennedy has instilled in Hadley that he says has helped set him up for this moment.

“It’s been a consistent grind with everyone,” Hadley said. “Our pitching coach does a great job of giving me some control over the pitchers and sometimes letting me call pitches, just really to take my game to the next level with decision making. (The coaches) put me in different situations that prepare me for whenever I get to the next level, and I think they’ve done a great job of getting me ready.”

Hadley is leaning toward studying finance.