Andy Armstrong speaks after signing a letter of intent to play baseball for Oregon State University during a signing day ceremony at West Salem High School on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015.
It was a good sign for Oregon State’s baseball team that Andy Armstrong walked up to the table at West Salem High School to join Tayler Gunesch and Brooke Chuhlantseff for a letter of intent signing ceremony without any brace on his left knee and with confidence.
Gunesch signed a letter of intent to play softball at Portland State, Chuhlantseff signed a letter of intent to run cross country and track and field at Oregon State and Armstrong signed his letter of intent to play baseball at Oregon State.
Armstrong verbally committed to play baseball at Oregon State a year ago, and even through he had surgery to repair torn ACL and MCLs in his left knee a month and a half ago, the coaching staff at the college were still committed to getting him.
“They’ve been very supportive of my injury,” Armstrong said. “A lot of cases someone commits and there’s an injury and they drop them. Oregon State, that’s one of the reasons I picked them is they’re very supportive.
“When they say something they keep their word. That’s one of the reasons I love where I’m at and where I’m going to go. So far along the road they’ve been very supportive and they’ll continue to be very supportive.”
Armstrong has been a five-time first-team all-league selection in football, basketball and baseball and was a first-team all-state shortstop in baseball as a junior after batting .411 with nine doubles, 19 stolen bases and 29 RBIs.
He injured his knee early in the football season and had surgery in September to fix it. He says he’s ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation and hopes that in six weeks he’ll be able to jog again and wants to be back for his senior year of baseball.
Brooke Chuhlantseff, Tayler Gunesch and Andy Armstrong sits with family members after signing letters of intent to play division 1 sports during a signing day ceremony at West Salem High School on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015.
“My rehab is about six months post-op, and that puts me back in March, so the plan is to be back and I should be good to go and ready to compete,” said Armstrong, whose father Rich played baseball at Oregon.
Chuhlantseff was a three-time conference champion in cross country and five-time district champion in track and field.
She plans to major in kinesiology at Oregon State.
“I felt like it was the perfect fit for me,” Chuhlantseff said. “I felt so comfortable when I was on my visit. I love the coach. I love the team. I love the school. I love the city. I love everything about it. I think it’s a perfect fit for me.”
Gunesch was a first-team all-state second baseman as a junior after batting .578 with four home runs and scored 50 runs.
A three-time first-team all-league player, she plans to study an undetermined medical field.
She committed to Portland State a year ago, but signing to play at the school was a long time coming.
“It’s definitely nice to know after all the years of long practices and working hard and stuff that it finally kind of feels like it’s paid off, even though it gets harder once I get to college,” Gunesch said.
Also on Thursday, South Salem senior Gabe Matthews signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Oregon.
Matthews has been a starter for South Salem’s baseball team since his freshman year and has been a starter in basketball and football since his sophomore year.
He said Oregon recruited him to play third base or first base.
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler
Gabe Matthews signs to play baseball at the University of Oregon as his brother Brett, 8th grade, looks on, Thursday, November 12, 2015, at South Salem High School in Salem, Ore.