A baseball flies at 92 miles per hour past home plate, into the catcher’s glove with a distinctive smack! A perplexed batter walks off, into a dugout stuffed with disappointed teammates. Repeating this process over 15 times in nine innings in order to pitch a perfect game isn’t unusual for sophomore Trey Oest.[caption id="attachment_88" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Sophomore Trey Oest is not only recognized for his pitching skills, but also for his .318 batting average."]
[/caption]Oest has pitched and played first base, but is recognized primarily for his pitching skills. “I like to pitch better,” said Oest. “That’s what most of the colleges and stuff are interested in me for.”
As a sophomore, Oest is a top recruit for some of the best baseball teams such as #9 University of Florida, #12 University of Miami, and #35 University of South Florida. With a .318 batting average as a freshman at Durant last year, he’s also a valuable addition to a traveling baseball team called Chet’s Lemon Juice, which is “one of the best travel ball 18-and-under teams in the nation,” according to Oest. Additionally, he won the Rookie of the Year award as well as the highest GPA award through Durant’s baseball team.
Since last year, Oest has “gotten bigger and stronger, [has acquired] more game experience under his belt, and is one of the team leaders,” according to Durant baseball coach Butch Valdes.
It has taken over a decade for Oest to get to this stage in his career. He first dove into the baseball world by playing tee-ball when he was four years old, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, a former Detroit Tiger. “Ever since he’s played with them, I’ve always wanted to follow him and do what he did and play pro,” Oest said.
Oest is not far from achieving his ambitious dreams. Every day, he spends hours polishing his skills after school and on weekends, when he practices hitting and pitching. He calls himself “dedicated to baseball,” and admits he opts out of “a lot of social events... because every night, baseball is the main priority. And then weekends, it’s baseball [as well]. It takes up a lot of time but it’s worth it and I enjoy it.”
Oest believes this year’s Durant baseball team will “surprise a lot of people.” He said they have a strong defense and speed in addition to his and junior Logan Shirley’s strong pitching, making the team competitive for district championship and possibly even state-wide competition. Valdes concurs, saying that the team “plan[s] on winning districts and advancing past regional [competitions].”
Off the baseball diamond, Oest enjoys fishing, spending time with his friends and girlfriend, and playing with his Beagle-Boxer dog, Buffi. His favorite memories are spent in Illinois, visiting his personal inspiration, his grandpa. He lists math as his favorite subject and Recreational Activities as a favorite non-academic class. “I’m not big into the history and science and stuff,” Oest admitted.
He sees himself “hopefully playing in the pros” five or ten years from now, but “if not, I want to go into physical therapy, [or] that type of stuff. I want to stay with the sports and that type of atmosphere,” he said.
However, with such a promising future within his grasp, Oest may be hitting with the big leagues sooner rather than later. Coach Valdes agrees. “He has great work ethics, is a fine young man, and has a nice family,” Valdes said. “If he continues working hard like he has been, he will be able to pick any college he wants.”
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