Ever since he was young, Jake Pauley wanted to play college baseball.

It wasn’t until he was about 12 years old when the Brownstown catcher started to realize that goal was attainable.

After wrapping up his senior season this past spring and graduating from Brownstown Central High School, Pauley is now just a few months away from playing collegiate baseball as he is committed to play at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

“That’s always been my goal to play baseball at the next level,” Pauley said. “I just kept working and I finally made it.”

Pauley first heard of the College of DuPage during his sophomore year when then-teammate Seth Borden committed to play baseball there.

Pauley was in contact with Chaparrals’ head coach his junior season, and then he took a visit to the campus his senior year.

“I just loved the campus and everything that was up there,” he said. “I just wanted to get farther away from home, try out a new culture. The campus really stuck out and the baseball team really stuck out to me, so that was my decision right there.”

Pauley also played football at Brownstown and had a successful career, but he said baseball has always been his favorite sport.

“It just comes easy to me,” he said. “There’s something about baseball where every pitch you have to be ready.”

Pauley was named the team’s MVP this past season, being the leader behind the plate for the Braves. He made The Tribune’s all-county team as well with a .378 batting average, 28 hits, 7 doubles, 3 triples, 1 home run and 17 RBI.

The Brave credited both former coach Brandon Tormoehlen and current coach Duane Higgs for his growth over his time at Brownstown.

“Freshman year coming in, I was little and scared and didn’t talk much. Coach T (Tormoehlen) really helped me get out of that. He’s been really big for me over my three years he was there. He guided me and helped me and showed me how to be an actual catcher,” Pauley said. “Then coach Higgs, he helped me a lot. He kind of let me run the show, and that helped me grow a lot, calling pitches and running the show behind the plate.”

Being in control this past season was something Pauley took pride in.

He enjoyed being a guy who could gain the trust of his pitchers and call the shots.

“It’s really nice knowing that you can control the game with the way you call pitches,” he said. “I always liked being a leader. It’s a lot of pressure because you could mess up, but for me I like that because it makes you want to get better, learn how to pitch around different kids and stuff like that.”

Pauley is spending his summer right now working on his hitting and gaining more arm strength. He is actually going to Glen Ellyn next week to begin moving stuff into his apartment, and then he’ll officially move out there in the middle of August.

Pauley won’t be alone as he’ll be rooming with Dustyn Kocsis, another 2022 Brownstown graduate who is going to throw shot put and discus for the Chaparrals.

“It’s gonna be nice having him around and having a friend around,” Pauley said. “We can help each other with classes, stuff like that, it’s gonna be nice.”

Pauley is one of two seniors from Brownstown’s baseball team who are going to play in college. Ethan Davis is going to pitch at Marian University.

As the primary pitcher-catcher duo at Brownstown, Pauley feels he and Davis have a special connection.

“It’s always been my nice. He’s always been the pitcher and I’ve always been the catcher, so we have a connection,” he said. “Growing up we were always the combo. It was always nice when he was pitching during high school games because he knew and I knew what we wanted to do. He trusted me a lot when I called pitches, too.”

In addition to playing baseball, Pauley originally wanted to major in fire science, but after talking it over with a counselor he’s going to get an art degree to make things easier to balance school and baseball.

“I always wanted to be a fireman because my dad is one, and I’ve always been around the fire department and I’ve always loved it there,” Pauley said.

Pauley said there were three catchers at the College of DuPage last season that all graduated, so he’ll be able to come in and compete for the starting spot.

He’s excited for that opportunity to play out his dream.

“I’m nervous but it’s gonna be the best feeling ever,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to do it, and I’m just gonna be proud of myself, and hopefully I can move on from there.”