BENTONVILLE -- It had been more than a year since Cody Scroggins made a verbal commitment to play baseball at Arkansas, and he never wavered from it.
The Bentonville senior shortstop stayed true to his word, and signed his national letter of intent with the Razorbacks during Friday afternoon's ceremony at the Tiger Athletic Complex. Scroggins was joined by Tigers baseball teammate Paul Rouse, who signed his national letter of intent with Central Arkansas.
"By committing so soon, you have to keep waiting," Scroggins said. "But I knew I made the right decision. It's Arkansas. I knew I wanted to go there, and I knew I could wait.
"This day is great. Everything is off my shoulders now, and all I have to do is go and play my senior year of baseball. You don't have to go show off and try to impress somebody."
Scroggins, a two-year starter and an all-conference selection, hit .380 with 18 runs batted in and had 20 stolen bases, then had a 1.64 earned run average through 17 innings pitched last season. He's also a starting receiver on the Tigers' football team.
He mainly was Bentonville's starting shortstop, and he hopes that is the position he will continue to play when he joins the Razorbacks for the 2016 season. In the meantime, he will continue to work on improving all facets of his baseball game.
"All baseball players will have weaknesses," Scroggins said. "You just focus on those, try to get better at those and try to become a better baseball player heading into whatever college it might be so you might get a chance to start your freshman year.
"I think I'd rather be an infielder and focus on that. It's hard to focus on two positions because with pitching, you have to be accurate. It's hard to do that than shortstop.
Rouse, on the other hand, said he didn't decide on UCA until in late August. He had also drawn interest from Crowder College in Neosho, Mo., and well as Kansas State and Missouri State, and said some schools wanted him to try the junior college route.
"It's pretty surreal, honestly," Rouse said. "I've always dreamed of this happening when I was a kid. Just before I put my signature on it, I was talking to Cody and saying 'This is real. We're about to do this. It's another chapter in our lives.'
"My heart wanted me to go to UCA. It was the coaching staff and the players there that drew me when we went on a visit there. I met with them and talked about their goals, and their plans seemed to fit me and mesh with what I wanted to do."
Rouse is also a two-year starter in left field for the Tigers. He hit .263 with 22 runs scored and 12 runs batted in, and he had 16 stolen bases last spring.
"They said I can get down there next fall and work hard, I will get a chance to get on the field," Rouse said. "They said they have high expectations for me, and they have a good class coming in. They said they have a lot of good things to look forward to."
Sports on 11/15/2014