‘Trailblazer’ Charlie
By Gabrielle McLeod
May 14, 2014, 3:30 a.m.
CHARLIE Ashcroft will be a huge hit in the United States after receiving a scholarship to attend St Cloud Technical College, according to his coach, Tony Probert.
His mentor, who is also his step-dad, said Ashcroft was the first ever player from Sunraysia to receive a baseball scholarship to an American college.
The 19-year-old Hawks player will make his way to Minnesota in August to attend school for two years.
He is currently living in Adelaide and playing baseball for the East Torrens Red Sox during summer, while travelling home to Mildura on the weekends to play with the Hawks.
Coach Probert said it had been a long process in securing the scholarship, but “very much worth it” to help achieve his dream.
“A fair bit of work has gone into getting him there, and he is not quite there yet,” Probert said.
“It has all worked pretty well. We have been in discussions with the colleges since January.
“In reality, he is the first one from Sunraysia to ever do this, showing how significant it is.
“The process was tough because we wanted to ensure the college that he attended was going to serve his long-term purpose, so that really limited our choices from the beginning.
“Then, it was a case of creating a profile, embedding videos, putting it out to them and waiting to see if there interested.
“It was a lot of back-and-forth with colleges. They get thousands of these applications each year.
For more of this story, purchase your copy of Wednesday's Sunraysia Daily 14/05/2014.