The University of Oklahoma commit attended the 2017 Under Armour All-America Pre-Season Tournament.

2017 right-handed pitcher Collin Storms has battled adversity both on and off the field in his life, but he’s turned those hardships into accomplishments as the Lewisville, Texas native has committed to the University of Oklahoma to continue the next chapter of his baseball career.

Collin first came to a Baseball Factory event as a freshman, attending an Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout in Waco, TX in March of 2014. And as a freshman that year, he quickly gained experience, pitching against 18 year old hitters at the first Player Development event he attended while with the Factory.

“The first one I ever did, the Southeast Championships in Jupiter, Florida, that was a wake up call for me,” Storms said. “It truly showed me how much talent there was out there and how much you need to work to beat that talent.”

Storms was suddenly a young athlete on the radar of college coaches as a prospect who showed promise on the mound and in the outfield with plus tools. Coaches raved about his strength, speed, ability to compete and his overall athletic ability. The future shined bright for Storms.

During Collin’s sophomore year of high school however, his mom, Robin, was diagnosed with cancer and in an instant, everything that was going wrong on the field suddenly didn’t matter anymore, as baseball took a back seat to things that held much more importance to the family. Sadly, Robin passed away in April of 2016. Despite the loss of a loved one, Collin found a renewed spirit in being the very best he could be on the field and off.

“My junior year, I just worked my butt off and set myself apart from everyone and from all the negativity, and when the season started, it changed everything.”

That renewed spirit for the game of baseball could be attributed to one Baseball Factory coach who played a pivotal role the summer before Collin’s junior season.

Craig Minneto, a former major league pitcher for the Oakland Athletics from 1978 to 1981 and currently a scout for the San Francisco Giants, helped him through a very tough time in his life to re-focus his energy and in turn, re-energize his love for the game.

Storms with Coach Minetto at this year’s All-America Pre-Season Tournament.

“We were out in Cali, and I was playing awful, not throwing strikes, not hitting the ball, and I was talking to Craig in the car telling him that I think I was done with playing baseball because of all the things going on in my life,” Storms remembers. “He sat me down and had a heart-to-heart with me and we talked for about an hour and told me not to let one person or one thing determine your future and to make good terms with my coach and everything else and that’s what I did.”

Minetto kept it very simple and straightforward for Storms.

“He said he didn’t get along with his teachers or coach,” Minetto said. “He said they don’t understand me. Then I asked him did he like baseball and if so, what are you going to do about it? I told him that he had to do a few things: change his attitude, start studying, get to practice early and go talk to his teachers and coach.”

After Storms digested the wise words, he did exactly that. Despite the rocky road, the current relationship with his coach has never been better thanks in large part to the much needed talk from Minetto.

“It really helped,” Collin mentions. “I was on the edge of quitting because of the environment that was around me, but because of Craig’s talk, it turned me around for the better.”

In January of 2016, Collin attended his second-straight All-America Pre-Season Tournament but of all the Baseball Factory events he’s attended the last three years, it was the Arizona Fall Senior Classic last October that he rates as the best he’s attended due to the high level of competition playing.

“The Senior Classic for me was the best event I’ve ever done. It gave me the confidence to know that I can do this at a high level.”

Last month while in Mesa for this year’s All-America Pre-Season Tournament event, he was acknowledged as one of 13 players to have participated at least three times in either the Pre-Season Tournament or Rookie Pre-Season event. Collin was stellar, facing 15 batters, striking out 7, while allowing no hits.

“The tournament was a blast. I enjoyed the new people I met and the reconnections I shared with old coaches,” Collin said. “Being an All-American is an extreme honor and I give it all to God. Without Him, I wouldn’t have had the strength to work as hard as I did in such little time.”

The Life Long Dream Becomes Reality

In a house that was playfully divided between two schools with a bitter rivalry, Collin joined his Dad in a shared love of the Sooners.

“I’ve been an OU fan my entire life. My dad’s been an OU fan his entire life. My mom was a UT (Texas) fan, so it was like a house divided.”

Collin remembers a time he visited an Oklahoma camp around the age of 11, telling his Dad at the event that he would “play here one day.” In a matter of months, Collin’s dream will become reality.

“I remember my Dad kind of chuckled and said, “don’t get your hopes too high”, not to try and deter my hopes or put me down, but instead to not get ahead of myself. But it ended up happening and I couldn’t be happier.”

During the recruiting process, a number of schools held interest in Collin as his decision came to a close just as he entered to play in a big tournament in Florida. The timing was perfect.

“The pitching coach for Oklahoma, Skip Johnson, talked to my coach after he saw me throw and said that he really liked my stuff and told me he’d call me the next day. We talked and I went out there, saw everything on campus and it went great. It was like a dream really, walking around thinking that my dream school wanted me.”

Collin talked about meeting other coaches in the coaching office at Oklahoma and the head coach offering him a full scholarship to play. The result of sticking with a sport he loved had paid off. In some way, Colin thinks that his Mom played a very important role in making it happen.

“I was shocked and pretty much started crying. When my mom passed away in April, that was a big setback on my junior year. I wish she would have been here to see me commit and everything but to me, in my heart, she was a big influence on that. She definitely pulled some strings with God.”

Minetto also realized how important this moment was for the Storms family and shared in the joy of one of his guys.

“When he told me he was going to Oklahoma for baseball, there was lots of joy shared by all. Collin made quite a few changes in his life, did whatever was necessary. He realized that it’s never too late to change the way you’re going.”

Collin has a bright future ahead of him at Oklahoma and reminisces fondly on what makes the Baseball Factory experience stand out from others.

“The coaches by far are the best experience with the Factory, their commitment to the players go beyond just trying to make them great baseball players, but better men in life by working as hard as you can in everything you do. I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned from the Baseball Factory.”