Lakers' ace focuses on final semester

LAKE BUTLER  At some point in the last semester of high school, almost every senior shows senioritis in some form — slacking or less concern for studies as the sun sets on their childhood education.

But for rising star Austin Bergner, Windermere Prep’s ace who is ranked 31st among MLB Pipeline’s 2016 MLB Entry Draft prospects, senioritis is not an option — tempting though it might be.

That goes double given Bergner’s commitment to play college baseball in Carolina blue — two prominent institutions keeping tabs on him and his right arm.

“Currently, I’m committed to University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, so that’s my main focus,” Bergner said. “I’m just looking to enjoy my senior year. I’m just going to go out, play every game like I have for the last three years and even before that, and I’m just going to enjoy it — hopefully make a run at states.”

But just as head coach Scott Horvath said, Bergner sees a lot of work ahead for the Lakers to gel and figure out how each of them plays a role to help win games. If they do go as far as they hope, Bergner, who turns 19 May 1, within the span of little more than a month could be celebrating his birthday, championships for his team and a live hat tip to whichever team drafts him.

For a teenager, that can be a lot to handle.

“I’m really not worried about what’s going on this summer,” Bergner said. “I trust what I’ve done for the process. I know that I’m committed to Carolina — I just got accepted the other day.”

Bergner first visited Chapel Hill when he was 8, but his ties to Tar Heel Country precede him.

“My dad lived there for a little while in his early 30s, and that’s actually where my parents met at a wedding there, and my sister toured there,” he said. “So I’ve been up to Chapel Hill four or five times before I committed, so I just fell in love with the area. It felt like home almost — maybe a home away from home — because I’ve been there so many times, but I just … felt a connection with the coaches, and the kids are great, and it’s a great education, so I don’t think I could’ve went wrong there.”

Averting chaos is somewhat of a theme in the life of any teenage athlete with professional aspirations, and it even extends to how Bergner wants to spend downtime these next few months.

“Around here, just past the trees, there’s a huge lake,” Bergner said. “One of my buddies lives on that lake, and there’s a good amount of people I know who live on the lake, so it’s fun to go out there on the weekends and just have a lake day, because the beach is two hours away. It’s cool to go out on jet skis, hang out and float in the water, just act like life is pretty simple.”

That means nothing complex — such as trick skiing — no matter how interesting it looks, especially knowing water skiers who have suffered major injuries, he said.

Besides, time is flying already.

“I’d like to see things slow down a bit, because it feels like things are going by in a flash,” Bergner said. “Already half the year’s over, and it feels like yesterday I was just starting senior year or yesterday my boys who were seniors last year were having fun with us. I don’t really have any goals other than baseball and in the classroom.”

So until this summer, whether he ends up in North Carolina or New Jersey, for Bergner it’ll be about sticking to the plan and maintaining his routine.


Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].