NATICK, Ma. - The opportunity to stay near home to attend college and play baseball made a commitment to Northeastern an easy decision for Will Fosberg.

“When they offered I went for a walk around campus,” the Winchendon School sophomore reflected about a trip to Northeastern University in early September. “The baseball field was unlocked so I got a good feel for it and really liked it. I love the location. I’ve always wanted to stay close, I love the city of Boston. There are a lot of things to do. That’s what really stood out for me.”

The Colonial Athletic Conference school, which is located a half hour from Fosberg’s home in the Natick suburb just west of Boston, brought intrigue to the top-ranked 2023 catcher in New England.

“When you grow up in Boston you hear about these schools so it made me look into Northeastern a lot,” Fosberg explained. “Since I didn’t want to go far away, even before the recruiting process started it was one of my top schools.”

Interest from Northeastern initiated in the summer.

“Coach (Nick) Puccio was an assistant coach with my summer ball team, the New England Ruffnecks, so he saw me play the whole summer,” Fosberg related. “Three-quarters of the way through summer I had a call with them and by the end of summer they offered. A week later I committed.”

The 6-2 185-pound left-handed hitter impressed the Northeastern assistant, a hitting coach with the program who aids with recruitment.

“They like my skill set,” Fosberg pointed out. “And they know I love the game.”

That is something the soon-to-be 16-year-old believes he can provide the program down the road.

“One thing I try to do is make myself the best teammate I can be and set myself as an example for the other players,” Fosberg noted. “Doing things like never missing a lift. As a catcher, everyone sees what you do so I try to lead by example and bring my all every day. I want to make the most of the opportunity I have been given at Northeastern.”

The desire to make a future in baseball has been around for some time.

“When I was young it’s like ... I want to make it to MLB ... but when I went to the big field at 13 it hit me about the college process and that you’ve got to play college baseball first,” Fosberg said. “The reason I play for my club team is to play college baseball and they reinforce that.”

The chance to play beyond high school became more genuine for the 12th-rated New England sophomore as a member of the Ruffnecks.

“As you grow older you see all these players committing and that makes it a more realistic goal,” Fosberg explained. “Then in 14U I played really well that summer and my coaches reinforced that I’ll be getting looks and that I’d be there someday.”

That someday is now after deciding to make Northeastern his college choice.

“Before I started getting recruited, Northeastern was one of my top three schools,” Fosberg said. “When they started recruiting me it intrigued me more than some of the other schools. It was one of my dream schools all along, so to commit as a sophomore, it’s good to get it out of the way so now I can play the game to have fun. In my view, I can’t go wrong with the decision I made.”

Playing at Winchendon School helped the process in the eyes of Fosberg.

“I’d always been a good baseball player,” Fosberg noted. “In the eighth grade one of my coaches wanted me to join his private school team at Winchendon.”

Improvement followed the move to a new school.

“When you’re facing players older, you struggle but you get better,” Fosberg pointed out. “When I went back to playing against my age level I had more success because I put myself in that tough situation.”

The desire to make improvements in his game lies ahead for Fosberg.

“One goal I have is I want to get faster,” Fosberg said. “I want to keep improving in all areas of my game, but that’s an area I really want to get better at. I want to get stronger and better blocking and receiving and my arm needs to improve. I want to do all those things, but getting faster and bigger is the big thing now.”

Dennis Healy, PBR Massachusetts Director of Scouting, sees the potential in Fosberg.

“His best days are in front of him as he can add strength to the frame and develop nicely,” Healy said after the New England Underclass Games II event in August.

A 3.3 student, Fosberg is uncertain about a college major.

“They have over 200 programs so for someone young like me it’s good to have all those options,” Fosberg said. 

Making a commitment admittedly brings relief.

“It got stressful at times, especially this year with all the recruiting deadlines,” Fosberg noted. “It was stressful when you’ve got nothing and it was that way my first half of the summer. But then I started talking to Northeastern and it became less stressful.

“It felt good at the time I committed, but when good things happen I get more motivated by that success. Now that it’s out of the way, I’ve got to keep working and keep getting better.”