Friendship Christian catcher Drew Erie signed an NCAA National Letter of Intent and scholarship papers Wednesday evening with the University of Tennessee at Martin, a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Erie, who hit .405 with 38 runs batted in as a senior, was part of a Commander baseball program that made four consecutive trips to the TSSAA Spring Fling -- including a runner-up finish in 2011. FCS finished the 2012 season 37-4 overall white back-to-back losses in Spring Fling.

He hit three home runs and seven doubles, while collecting 22 walks for an on base percentage of .513.

"Drew absolutely loves the game of baseball," said FCS coach John McNeal, "he is one of the hardest working kids we've ever had at Friendship. He's one of the best we've ever had at blocking the ball and he really put in the time to develop his arm.

"Drew is the kind of guy who would do what ever was asked of him, play any position, no questions asked. Even if he was 0-for-10, he's the guy I'd want in the batter's box due to his mental make-up. He believed he could hit any pitcher we went up against."

The son of David and Kendra Erie, he played in the inaugural Adidas Middle Tennessee Senior All Star Classic earlier this month at Cumberland University.

UT-Martin is coached by veteran Bubba Cates, who will be entering his 15th season as head coach of the SkyHawks in 2013. The SkyHawks went 13-41 / 7-20 in the OVC this past season.

TOMMY BRYAN / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it