Kurek Kinds The Atmosphere At Eastern Michigan Is Right

Ezra Kurek C / 3B / Mount Vernon , OH / 2025

MOUNT VERNON - What a feeling it was for Ezra Kurek when a commitment was made to Eastern Michigan.

“I felt like I checked something off a list that I’ve been working toward most of my life,” the Mount Vernon High School junior said. “Now I can start working toward my next goal … to start as a freshman.”

Connections to coaches that were not at Eastern Michigan at the time proved beneficial in leading Kurek to his future college destination.

“First off, I knew Craig Prince when he was at Akron the winter of my sophomore year when I went to a camp there and met him,” the seventh-rated 2025 catcher in Ohio said in reference to the current assistant coach at EMU. “Then I had a good high school season and in the summer subbed for a 2024 team at a tournament in Cincinnati and coach (Trevor) Beerman followed me on Twitter. Neither were at Eastern Michigan yet.”

Kurek “played pretty well” at a fall ball event at Eastern before attending the State Games where the coaches, which were now on the staff at EMU, saw him perform.

“I got a text after that and they said they wanted me to come on a visit,” Kurek explained. “I went and I got offered on the visit. I decided to commit that night. I couldn’t see myself not wanting to play there. The staff was awesome. I texted coach Beerman and said I wanted to commit.”

There was a lot at Eastern Michigan that stood out to the 66th-ranked junior in Ohio, who chose Eastern over Akron.

“The staff was a huge thing,” Kurek reasoned about his decision. “Coach Beerman and coach Prince showed me around and then took me to (head) coach (Robbie) Britt’s office and we talked about what they see in me and how they think I can perform there. They took me around campus and we saw the facilities and then went back to the office and I was offered.”

It was not a hard decision according to Kurek.

“The team was there and saw how much fun they were having,” Kurek said of the time he spent checking out the facilities. “It was just the atmosphere I was hoping to find.”

There were a number of aspects that Eastern liked about the 5-10 197-pound junior at Mount Vernon.

“The key points about me they like are that I make the simple plays, I’m strong and physical and I have good bat-to-ball skills,” Kurek noted. “Those are the three things.”

Admittedly, the 17-year-old got a late start with travel ball in his quest to play at the next level.

“I was probably 12 or 13 when I started travel ball,” Kurek said. “That’s when I started thinking it was what I wanted to do in college. Going into my freshman year I was also doing basketball and wrestling, but I decided I just want to play baseball and focus on my priorities.”

Summer teammate Ashton Martin, a Jonathan Alder junior committed to Ohio State, is credited with helping him out.

“In my opinion I’ve improved so much,” Kurek related. “I met Ashton and started to play on his team which turned into Launch, with a lot of guys that were committed on that team.”

It was just part of the exposure Kurek received.

“PBR definitely helped,” Kurek explained. “When I’d go to hit, Jordan (Chiero, PBR Ohio Director of Scouting) was there giving lessons and he helped me with sending out my name to coaches. I went to the Future 50, the Junior Future Games, the Top Prospect Games and the State Games twice. The second State Games was the reason I got offered by Eastern. They saw me there.”

Kurek also pointed to Cory Gregory and Andrew Westbrook for helping the cause.

“I work out with Cory and working out with him has really helped me develop strength,” Kurek noted. “I’ve gone from 190 to 197 in a year. Andrew is the head coach of my summer team and he gave me a super opportunity to be seen in front of schools.”

The assistance from all has led to a commitment to the Mid-American Conference university in Ypsilanti, two hours and 45 minutes from his home in Mount Vernon.

“I’m a big competitor and I look forward to competing against guys as good or better than me,” concluded Kurek, a 3.2 student in high school planning to major in business and minor in sport management at EMU. “I live by the saying ‘Do something hard every day.’ I feel that will help me become a better person overall.”