VANDALIA - Carson Clark will be staying close to home after all.

The recent Vandalia-Butler graduate, who had previously decided on attending college at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland, seven hours from home, has changed his mind and has become a Wright State commit.

“Three days before the season the Mount St. Mary’s coach decided not to coach so the recruiting coordinator took over,” Clark explained. “Then after the season, he decided to not come back.”

It brought on a dilemma for the 31st-rated 2021 shortstop in Ohio.

“A few weeks after the Mount St. Mary’s coach decided to leave, I sat down with my family and decided to decommit and open up my recruitment,” Clark reflected. “After everything was approved I was able to get back out there to Wright State and some of the others.”

When Clark made his commitment to Mount St. Mary’s, there were three other schools that were high on his list - Wright State, Cincinnati and Ball State.

“There was a lot of uncertainty,” the 18-year-old admitted about making the decision to switch schools late senior year of high school. “I went through a lot of praying and talking to family. I knew through some of my coaches that Wright State had some interest but they didn’t give an offer and it was late. It was pretty nerve-wracking.”

Fortunately, the process worked out in the long run.

“I had a good senior year (first-team all-state) and coach (Trent) Dues has a good relationship with coach (Nate) Metzger and the Wright State staff,” Clark said, referring to the head coach at Vandalia-Butler. “The same for coach (Gregg) Beemer with the Dayton Classics.

“There was also the belief that I’ve fully recovered from my knee injury sophomore year. Thankfully they offered.”

There is a lot to like about the 5-10 175-pound left-handed hitter, who plans to come in as a middle infielder though corner outfield is another potential position at Wright State.

“They really like my utility skills,” Clark said about the coaching staff of the Horizon League program. “They think I can play a lot of positions. They really like my versatility in the field, and they also really like my bat.”

The Vandalia-Butler 2021 class valedictorian, who finished high school with a GPA of 4.55 and plans to major in marketing at Wright State, is excited about his new college destination.

“It’s closer to home so I’ll be close to my friends and family, though I did have some family in Maryland,” Clark noted. “It’s just going to be nice. It’s a very good program and I know the program really well.”

The 173rd-ranked 2021 in the state is confident about being a major contributor at the Division I school in Dayton. 

“They’ve had a lot of success there, I’m just going to try and continue the tradition of working hard and bringing that hard-work mentality,” Clark said of Wright State, winners of the Horizon League four out of the past six seasons. “It’s already a great program, I just want to try and make it even bigger and better.”

There have been few feelings as strong as what Clark and his family experienced upon making a commitment to Wright State official.

“Everyone was pretty ecstatic,” Clark concluded. “My family was planning on traveling to Maryland a lot, but going from seven hours to 20 minutes from home is a big difference. My older sister went to Wright State as well, so she’s pretty excited about this.”