Gage Montes has been a key component of Christian County’s baseball roster for the past five years, and with one more season left as a Colonel, the senior made his college decision official on Friday.
Montes signed his letter to continue playing baseball at Freed-Hardeman University, an NAIA school in Henderson, Tennessee.
A two-way player, Montes earned the respect of his coaches as a middle schooler pressed into service on the varsity team.
He is a career .263 hitter with 66 RBI and 32 career stolen bases.
On the mound, he is 10-14, often pitching against the toughest teams on the Colonels’ schedule. He has struck out 122 batters in 130 innings pitched with a 3.71 ERA.
Montes only pitched in four games in the spring while battling an injury. He still played the field and was second on the team in RBI.
“His hard work is on the field, it’s at practice, it’s in games, but it’s also in the classroom and how he presents himself and goes about his day-to-day stuff, not only as a player, but as a young man,” Christian County Coach Cole Isom said. “I’m expecting a lot of really good things for his senior year.”
Isom said Montes is a player he can put on a pedestal for the other Colonels to emulate.
“Gage is one of those guys that you don’t have to check his grades, don’t have to check his behavior. He’s there at practice all the time doing his stuff a little bit extra as well,” he said. “And for you young guys, that’s what it takes. Everybody wants that secret potion. Everybody wants to know the answers of how do I get here? You work. You just work until the opportunity is given, and then you take advantage of it. And Gage has done just that. He checks every box. He’s respectful. He’s determined. He’s hardworking. He’s everything that encompasses a Christian County Colonel. I’m proud of him.”
For Montes, a visit to the campus and a return trip to a summer showcase sealed his decision.
“I really liked the coaches. I liked the relationship they have with the players, and I liked the facilities they had. They have an all-turf field, and they have some pretty nice facilities,” he said. “This summer, I went back to another showcase camp, and we had a scrimmage game, and I just made up my mind that I was going to go there.”
