RICHMOND - An impressive performance at the Future Games helped seal the deal for Hudson Davenport.

Two months later, the Richmond junior was an Eastern Michigan commit.

“I first started talking to them at the beginning of summer,” the second-ranked 2022 third baseman in Michigan reflected. “After the Future Games is when they started to have a lot of interest in me … calling, texting, zoom meetings.”

An offer came in early September and on Oct. 1 Davenport made his college future known.

“I was impressed with Eastern’s new facilities,” Davenport said of what all he weighed in making the decision to commit to the Mid-American Conference school located a little less than two hours from home. “I’m impressed with the baseball program, the coaches and everything they did with Covid. I built a good relationship with them.”

The 6-4 225-pounder went 4-for-7 with a home run, double, five RBIs and a pair of stolen bases at the Future Games in August to help draw recruiting interest.

“That was probably the highlight of my summer,” Davenport related. “It sealed the deal with everything. Getting asked by Aaron (Wilson, PBR Michigan Director of Scouting) to compete with all those players was awesome. It’s something I’d been working for. Doing well there helped out tremendously.”

EMU sees a big future in the 20th-rated junior in the state.

“They like how I can hit in the middle of the order,” Davenport pointed out. “They also like how I can play any corner position. In talking to the coaches, they like how I’m competitive, how I work hard and how I’m a good teammate.”

An improved game helped attract college attention.

“I worked in the winter on the hit side and on getting my feet quicker,” Davenport noted. “I was doing baseball four times a week while in basketball, focusing on hitting a lot.”

The 16-year-old has big aspirations to continue improvement.

“I mainly need to focus on footwork and getting quicker,” Davenport said. “I want to get my arm speed up and my exit velo. I want to have less strikeouts and keep being a good teammate. Basically, I just want to keep getting better overall as a baseball player.”

That strong desire to excel has helped a Division I college baseball dream come true.

“Eighth grade-to-freshman summer I joined the Hit Dogs and saw I could play with those caliber of teams,” Davenport noted about when college baseball began to become realistic. “To be able to compete with them showed me I can be a D-I athlete. Getting a good ranking with PBR helped, too.”

A 3.5 student considering a degree in either business or teaching points to a number of influences in his baseball journey.

“I give a lot of credit to my family, my mom and dad, for getting me to places, taking me to PBR events and all the drives,” Davenport said. “I thank my coaches for always asking what I wanted to do and where I want to go, and I thank my friends for pushing me to do this.”

No spring season had to be overcome as well when it came to the recruiting process.

“With Covid it was hard not getting on campuses which I would have liked a lot better,” Davenport noted. “But the coaches did a great job with zoom meetings or calls come Sept. 1. It was fun but stressful. I just felt Eastern did the best job of doing that stuff.”

Now Davenport looks anxiously toward a future of playing baseball at the next level.

“I want to learn from the older players and learn from the coaches,” Davenport said. “The competition is going to be awesome. Learning in general is going to be the best part along with being part of a team that wants to be good.”

Davenport believes he can help in that regard.

“I’m going to bring them a good teammate that likes having fun and my hitting can help the offense out,” related Davenport, who visited the Eastern Michigan campus in mid-September.

“The baseball field was good, the brand new facilities are awesome and the campus was one of the better ones I’ve been to,” Davenport said. “Where the athletes stay is nice, too. That’s one of the reasons I decided to go there. I also talked to some of the former players and they all said they loved it there.”

A commitment admittedly brings relief for the fourth-ranked uncommitted 2022 player in Michigan at the time of his decision.

“It’s the best feeling I’ve ever gotten in my life,” Davenport said. “It feels like a big accomplishment.”