CUTHBERT, Ga. - The road to Division I baseball has had as many valleys as peaks for Brent Todys. But the 2016 Westerville North graduate could not be happier where he is right now.

The right-handed hitting catcher, who is currently playing at Andrew College in Georgia, this week committed to play for Evansville, a D-I program in Indiana.

“The recruiting coordinator there reached out to me in November about my situation,” Todys said. “We started our season on Jan. 27 and Evansville has been watching live stream online.”

Now 15 games into the season, Todys is batting .340 with a team-high 11 extra-base hits, 16 RBIs and 11 walks while leading the way behind the plate.

“They like that I’m a gutsy catcher and receive well,” explained the 5-10 180-pound sophomore. “They like the way I block and handle ball games. I’ve been hitting well lately, that’s just icing on top.”

Getting to Evansville from Andrew should be a breeze compared to the route Todys took from Westerville to the junior college in Georgia that is the second oldest charter college in the country, opening in 1854 as a woman’s four-year college and becoming a junior college in 1917 before turning co-educational in 1956.

“I committed to Mount Vernon Nazarene out of high school but I didn’t see the fit after the first semester,” explained Todys, whose only Division I contact was with Bowling Green in the fall of 2015. “I had a good offer from Mount Vernon in my back pocket so I took it and didn’t want to pass on it. I kind of rushed without knowing what was going on. The coach that recruited me had left.”

Mount Vernon’s interest in Todys came at the Top Prospect Games.

A transfer to Wallace State Junior College in Alabama followed, but transfer problems resulted in Todys ineligibility.

“It was pretty tough, I showed up at Wallace expecting to compete for a job but unfortunately there was some confusion with the coaches and I had to sit out a whole year,” Todys said. “I took advantage and got in the weight room and got bigger and hit in the cages, but it was tough. Wallace went to the World Series at Grand Junction.”

It also put Todys further down the roster of catchers at the Alabama school.

“Due to me sitting out, it gave other catchers at Wallace an opportunity and that helped me make the decision to transfer to Andrews,” Todys said. “Everything happens for a reason, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Division II colleges Young Harris and Columbus State, both located in Georgia, courted Todys with North Florida in Jacksonville, a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, the only Division I college that showed an interest … until Evansville.

“The only one I visited was Young Harris,” Todys said. “With Evansville, I talked with the coaches and built a relationship. I’ve gotten to know them well and I’m familiar with their conference.”

There was a lot Todys liked about Evansville.

“This is the ninth year for the head coach and every year but last year they’ve had a good record,” Todys noted in reference to Wes Carroll, who has had six winning seasons in eight years at the helm. “Their schedule is solid with SEC (Kentucky and Vanderbilt) and Big 10 (Iowa) schools. I’d rather go D-I  and try to earn a spot at a good school that plays against the best than go to a lesser school where I might play more.”

Todys looks forward to trying to make an impact at Evansville, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference which includes Missouri State, a Super Regional (final 16) participant last season.

“Nothing is guaranteed, it all depends on improving my game,” Todys said. “I have confidence in myself, it’s about improving my work ethic.”

An education major carrying a 3.25 GPA with aspirations of being an athletic director down the road, Todys has improved immensely since coming out of Westerville North as the 114th-ranked player in the 2016 class in Ohio.

“I’ve improved everywhere,” Todys said. “I have a better understanding behind the plate, how to create strikes and call ballgames. Learning the game while I was ineligible, I picked up a lot of situational things.”

Calling games is something Todys did at Westerville North.

“In high school I had a coach that trusted in me,” Todys said. “Coach (Sean) Ring let me call my own game. It was a learning experience. Now I’ve had a good opportunity with that at Andrew with coach (Zac) Cole. They do a good job every inning of having a game plan.”

Todys hopes to continue learning his trade before arriving at Evansville in the fall.

“My goals this season are, number one, to win,” said Todys, who has yet to find a place to team to play for in the summer. “Wherever I’m at, that’s going to get me better. Number two is to keep developing as a person. Baseball teaches life lessons. The dream in the back of my head has been to make it to the next level and I’ve just got to keep working hard.”