Austin Whitehead '15 Recruiting Profile

I currently live in Brisbane, Australia.  I relocated here with my family from Pearland, TX when my father moved here for his job in October of 2011.

I am interested in studying Architecture, Engineering or Construction Management in college.  I attend a private school in Australia (St Pauls College, Bald Hills, Queensland) and have taken advanced math and science classes in preparation for the courses I want to pursue in college.  Though the academic measures are different in Australia, I expect to be in the top 20% of my class, and have taken the hardest math and physics courses on offer.  They are equivalent to at least the first full year of college Calculus and Physics in the U.S.  I will take the SAT in October of 2014.

Baseball is fairly popular in Australia.  MLB even has an academy on the Gold Coast, 45 minutes south of our home.  I play for a club team - The Redcliffe Padres - in a league here in Brisbane.  I have been named the MVP of my club team each of the last 2 years, playing on the U20 team in 2013, and this year on the AAA team - which has no age limits.  This year I was also named Future Player of the Year.  2 of the last 4 recipients of that award are signed MLB players (Sam Holland, Jack Barrie).

This season, based on my performance at the club level, I was named to a regional team, then from that team to the Queensland State team that won the 18U National Championships in Jan 2014.  Of the starting 9 position players on that team - 3 were signed MLB players (Jack Barrie - Twins, Hayden Timberlake - Astros, Connor MacDonald - Astros).  I was a pitcher on that team and pitched 2 innings w/ no hits, no runs, no walks, and 3 K's in the championship game.  For the tournament, I allowed 1 ER in 6 innings and struck out 8 batters, allowing 1 hits and 2 walks.

I have also recently been named to the School Sport Australia 18U National team as a 2nd baseman (that nomination process is separate from the club team based process).  The SSA 18U Australian team will tour the U.S. in Sept / Oct - going to Portalnd, Corvalis, Anaheim, and Phoenix.