As news of the young Micah McHugh's verbal committement to play for Ole Miss began making the round, many were astonished that the sophomore player's path has been chosen so early.

Many, that is, except Zachary's Head Baseball Coach Jesse Cassard. "Micah is an above-average player," Cassard said. "He started every game as a freshman. He's only 15 and already stands 6'2" tall and weighs 200 pounds, so no, I'm not surprised at all."

McHugh's recruiting by scouts actually began last year while he was still a freshman player.

The Bronco team traveled to N. Carolina to compete in the USA Baseball tryouts last year, and that's when universities such as Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss began to take notice, Cassard said.

The shortstop says he turned down LSU to commit with Ole Miss, a decision that has some of his own family members a little disappointed. "I'm excited, but ultimately it's my choice," said McHugh.

The young shortstop player, who had a .320 batting average with one homerun last year, said Ole Miss really impressed him. "Besides having a great student-teacher ratio of 18 to 1, I loved everything about their program and the atmosphere there. I'm interested in becoming an engineer, and they have a great program," McHugh said of his choice to play at the University of Mississippi.

"To commit as a sophomore is a big deal," Coach Cassard said. "We've had a couple players commit as juniors, but in the 10th grade? Never!"

Cassard said McHugh, whose been playing tournament ball in Zachary since age 9, is very grounded and doesn't rattle easily. "He comes from a solid home life," Cassard said, "and we're not making a big deal of it on the team. If you don't already possess humility, which Micah does, it will come shortly. For now, this is over but we'll revisit it when the time comes."

"The only thing that me and my teammates are concentrating on is winning some state championships," McHugh said.

McHugh has several siblings and is the son of Stacey and Jeff McHugh of Zachary.

McHugh's parents say they are extremely proud of their son no matter where he attends school or plays ball.