Mac Daddies catcher Patrick Arndt never thought he would be playing baseball this summer.
“I was just going to workout," Arndt said. "Lift because gyms in Indiana opened up relatively quickly I was just going to get stupid big and work out with my friends.”
Hailing from the Hoosier state, Arndt got a call from Mac Daddies manager Greg Weyrich.
“Coach Weyrich of the Mac Daddies called and said ‘hey Pat I need a catcher, older guy, want to come?’" Arndt said. ."And I was like Kalamazoo is only an hour and a half away, why not.”
He already has four years of college baseball under his belt and has been a mentor to his teammates, especially the pitchers.
While Arndt was disappointed like most baseball players when it came to learning that his school season was canceled, he and his Chicago State teammates did get something of a consolation prize.
“When we were actually told the season was canceled we were in Hawaii," Arndt said. "We were playing the University of Hawaii. Sad for the first couple of days and then we kind of enjoyed our time not playing baseball.”
After a week the team arrived back to the Windy City and reality struck. Chicago State dropped baseball.
“I was like you know what I’ll explore," Arndt said. "I looked into the transfer portal and for the first three or four days it was like nine to five contact phone calls talking to 800 different coaches from 800 different schools.”
He selected Bellarmine University in Louisville which is making the jump from NCAA division two to division one.
While Arndt never really wanted to leave Chicago State, he feels really good about where he is going.
“I don’t want to say I’ve landed on a better place but I have landed on a better place," Arndt said. "I am really looking forward to opportunities provided with me.”
