Polk County head baseball coach Ty Stott has no doubt that Mark Mazzilli will find success when he begins his collegiate baseball career at Brevard College.
“Mark is a hard worker, and that’s what it takes in college,” Stott said. “If you’re not a hard worker, you have to become one. But he already has shown he’s a hard worker, so it’s just a matter of keeping up what he’s been doing.”
Mazzilli, expected to be one of the leaders this spring for the Wolverine program, will head for Brevard next season after officially signing a letter-of-intent to play baseball with the Tornados.
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Polk County’s starting center fielder last season, Mazzilli earned all-Western Highlands Conference honors while hitting .297 and posting an on-base percentage of .416. He made only two errors in 48 chances in the outfield.
Mazzilli played baseball during the offseason with Hendersonville’s senior American Legion team and the Mountain Expos travel squad. He’s been playing baseball year-round since choosing to focus on the sport since his freshman season.
“A lot of hard work and a lot of dedication,” Mazzilli said of the past few years. “Hard work pays off.
“The coaching staff here has helped me prepare for college. But playing year-round probably helped me the most.”
Mazzilli becomes the latest member of the Wolverine program to sign a college scholarship, with a handful of other former Polk County players currently playing collegiately, including Joel Booker at Iowa.
“With his speed and experience, he will be in there with any of the other freshmen,” Stott said. “It will be a hard four years, a tough four years. But any of our players who have gone through that talk about how much they enjoyed it and never regretted it.”
