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Arnst signs with Houston Baptist
Published July 27, 2007
MARION — Kolby Arnst had fortune on his side at the 11th hour.
Arnst all but had his bags packed for West Texas A&M until a call came from Houston Baptist University.
The Houston Baptist baseball coaching staff was able to lure Arnst away from West Texas A&M, and convince him to go to school two hours away from home as opposed to 8-9 hours away. Arnst signed his National Letter of Intent on Monday, and was very pleased with his decision to switch schools.
“Houston Baptist is a lot closer to home, it’s Division I and I have family ties there,” Arnst said.
Houston Baptist, which went 43-21 and advanced to the NAIA World Series in 2007, applied for entry into NCAA Division I in April, and the NCAA recently granted the Huskies membership. Houston Baptist’s status as a Division I school also drew Arnst to the school.
“Having the opportunity to play at the Division I level is great,” Arnst said. “I can’t wait to start practicing and competing.”
Arnst also has two sisters who are Houston Baptist alumni — one of them played soccer for the Lady Huskies — and it’s also a homecoming of sorts for the former Marion athlete. Arnst lived in the Houston area until his junior year of high school when he transferred from Klein Oak High School to Marion.
“It’ll be fun to be back in the Houston area,” he said. “Maybe I can catch some Astros, Rockets or Texans games.”
While at Klein Oak, Arnst played baseball and basketball, but focused more on baseball. During his time there, the Panthers had just moved down to Class 4A from 5A.
But once he transferred to Marion, Arnst was not only involved in baseball and basketball, but also football and track and field. Arnst quickly became an all-around athlete, earning all-district honors in multiple sports.
Despite his participation in other sports, Arnst always put baseball first.
“It’ll be different focusing on just one sport and not playing everything, but I’ll be happy focusing on just baseball,” he said. “Baseball has always been my favorite sport, and the one I’ve always spent the most time on.”
Baseball also proved to be the sport where Arnst had the most success.
As a senior, Arnst played right field or pitcher, and hit in the No. 4 spot in the Marion lineup. At the plate, Arnst hit .386 with 24 RBIs, four doubles, four triples and a homerun. Arnst had the second-highest batting average on a team where the top eight batters in the lineup hit .313 or higher.
On defense, Arnst either contributed to a solid outfield, or pitched the Bulldogs out of jams. On the mound, he posted a 0.77 ERA, a 2-1 record, two saves and 28 strikeouts as the No. 3 pitcher in the Marion rotation.
Arnst was primarily used in closing situations behind starters Jordan Littlefield and Brandon Pape.
His numbers did the talking in the end as District 26-3A coaches selected him as the district’s Most Valuable Player in 2007.
Arnst also played under two head coaches in two years at Marion — Chad Wehe in 2006 and Jason Fox in 2007. He said both were influential in helping him reach the next level.
“Coach Fox and Coach Wehe both taught me to not get down on myself after a bad play, and to keep battling through adversity because you never know when something good might happen,” Arnst said.
Arnst also doesn’t know which position he’ll play at Houston Baptist, but he said he’ll be happy wherever the coaches decide to put him.
“I like both positions for different reasons,” he said. “I like right field because you get to play the entire game most of the time, and I like pitching because the pressure’s on you to perform.”
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