Canal Winchester High School senior Drew Dosch signed a national letter of intent to play baseball at Youngstown State during a ceremony at the school on Nov. 11, the first day of the NCAA's fall signing period.

Dosch, a middle infielder and pitcher, will receive a full scholarship to play for the Penguins, a Division I program. He chose Youngstown State over Kent State and Toledo, and plans to study secondary education.

"The second I walked on campus there, I just knew," Dosch said. "I had the feeling it was the right place, and after meeting with the players and the coaches, I just seemed to fit in with them real well. I felt like I could go in there and contribute from day one, and that's something I look forward to."

"I saw Drew when he was about 13 in a summer league game and realized he was pretty talented then," Canal Winchester coach Jason Vest said. "His first day of practice his sophomore year, I realized his work ethic and skill level were a little bit higher (than other players), and that's when I realized his talent level matched his work ethic.""

Youngstown State finished 16-35 last season. The Penguins are coached by Rich Pasquale and are members of the Horizon League.

"It's always been a dream of mine to play Division I baseball," Dosch said. "I used to go to Ohio State games with my dad and I would sit there and say, 'I want to be out there someday.' As I grew up, I thought if I worked hard enough I could do that."

Dosch led Canal Winchester to back-to-back Division II state tournament appearances the last two seasons. In addition to winning regional and district titles last season, the Indians won the MSL-Buckeye Division championship.

Last season, Dosch batted .500 with 47 RBI and was 12-1 with a 1.48 ERA. He made second-team all-state and first-team all-district and was named the MSL-Buckeye Player of the Year. As a sophomore, he hit .514 with 42 RBI and was 6-2 with a 2.56 ERA.

"Drew's been great for us," Vest said. "He's led us to back-to-back state final fours and has really been a catalyst for us in practice on a day-to-day basis. So, he's really been the pulse of our program the last two years."