Skyline High Baseball Quartet Sign Letters Of Intent To Play College Ball

Friday afternoon, February 9, at 3:30 p.m. in their school gym, four seniors and members of the Skyline High School’s varsity baseball team gathered with their coach, family members, and teammates to sign Letters Of Intent (LOI) to colleges they were recruited by and will continue their baseball careers at.

Those players, who we are told have been at it together on ballfields in Little League and travel leagues prior to high school since they were six years old, are Ian Talbott, Ryan Curl, and identical twins Cameron and Cayden Morris.

One mom present with a long personal relationship with the quartet of ballplayers described that history revolving around ball parks. “I’m not going to cry,” Tammy Curl promised (she kept it) despite the emotions she was experiencing seeing these boys, including her and husband Brad’s son Ryan, getting ready to transition to college and approaching adulthood. “I am so proud of all four of you. I want you to look around and see all of the support that is standing here for you. My house, my door, is open to all of you. Any time you need it, I’ll be there for you when you come home on your breaks from school,” Curl told the players. “So, I wish you guys the best of luck and just know that all of these people are here to support you and we love you guys and we are so incredibly proud of every single one of you,” Curl concluded, drawing applause from that support group gathered in the Skyline High gym.

Left-to-right as they prepare to sign their collegiate Letters Of Intent are: Ian Talbott, twins Cayden and Cameron Morris, and Ryan Curl. Below, the teammates smile for the cameras with their respective family members. Ian is with his grandmother and father. The remaining boys are with their respective parents.- Royal Examiner Photos Brenden McHugh

Curl’s husband Brad, who contributed some of the quartet’s earliest coaching, added his perspective. “I coached them with the youngest travel teams (age 8). We started a travel team with them and took them all over the place. And they played and got good,” including on the mound, he noted. “Now three out of the four are going to college to pitch. They’re good kids, they work hard and they don’t give anybody any trouble. These kids are top notch,” coach Curl continued of the four ballplayer/students.

Below those players are listed with their positions, the colleges they will attend, and their majors and career goals as they envision them transitioning from high school to college:

Ian Talbott, Pitcher, 2B, will be attending Eastern Mennonite University. He will major in Environmental Science and wants to become a Game Warden.

Ryan Curl, Pitcher, 3B, 1B, will be attending the University of Lynchburg to study Business. Ryan hopes to one day own his own business.

And then the identical twins, Cameron and Cayden Morris will continue as teammates and, it would seem with that “twin connection” in career goals as well:

Cameron Morris, Centerfield will be attending Allegheny College of Maryland. He plans to study in the Automotive field to become an AES certified Mechanic.

Cayden Morris: Pitcher, 1B, Outfield will be attending Allegheny College of Maryland. He plans to study in the Automotive field to become an AES certified Mechanic.

The quartet of college-bound ballplayers with Skyline High Coach Tyler Settle, center.

Skyline High Coach Tyler Settle noted that previously the school had only sent four or five players on to the college level to continue their ball-playing careers. “So, we’ve got four this year and one last year,” he observed of a two-year run matching or surpassing the previous total moving on to the next level playing fields. “So, I think it means a lot and kind of sets a standard for the program. Even around the country, I think the numbers say only 5 to 7-percent of high school seniors go on to play college ball. And that’s 80-percent of our seniors in there that are going on to play. So, if you look at it that way it’s crazy to think about,” Coach Settle said of this year’s achievement.

The players expressed excitement at moving on to the next stage of their educational and ball-playing careers, and gratitude for the support they have received in their home community over the years.

“I’m excited, I can’t wait,” Ian Talbott told Royal Examiner of facing the next step in his ball-playing and educational life.

Ryan Curl was next. “They’ve all been my boys since 5, 6 years old. And just being able to play the last two years of baseball back with them has been awesome,” Curl said of his trio of friends and long-time ball-playing teammates, or opponents, depending on the year. “Absolutely, it’s something I’ve been looking forward to since I was in T-ball, Little League, it’s been a goal of mine to go and play collegiate baseball. And now that we’re here and getting ready to make that next step in the next couple of months, it’s amazing,” Curl observed.

Cameron Morris looked back fondly at his Skyline High ballfield experiences, including beating James Monroe last year for the first time in the school’s history; and as the one non-pitching member of the group, recalled some hitting exploits, particularly in a match-up with Sherando where he hit two doubles and a triple in a season-opening 9-4 win.

“All my teammates have been like brothers to me. We hang out almost every weekend and it’s all brothers,” Cayden Morris added of the comradery developed on the ballfield.

Ian, Cayden, Cameron, and Ryan with varsity teammates.

So, congratulations and good luck to this quartet of ballfield “brothers” on their past exploits and future ones moving on to their collegiate experiences, both on the ballfield and in the classrooms they are poised to experience.