The phrase “eye popping” is a proper description of the numbers that Anthony Grippo put up this year for Greensburg Central Catholic baseball.

The rising junior compiled an astonishing .562 batting average with a 1.380 OPS. Not to mention, he drove in a team-high 15 runs.

Those numbers caught the eyes of NCAA Division I schools everywhere, but Grippo decided to keep things close to home. The WPIAL standout recently made his commitment to play for Penn State University.

“I couldn’t turn down what they had,” he noted. “They have a bunch of great guys. It’s a great opportunity with what they have going on up there.”

Penn State quickly took notice of Grippo’s hitting ability this past spring. But with the new NCAA rules stating that coaches can’t contact recruits until August of their junior year, things were quiet between Grippo and his future school.

Once the clock struck midnight, the phone began to ring and didn’t slow down.

“I didn’t sleep well the night before,” he shared. “It was between midnight and 3 a.m. that schools were hitting my phone. I decided to go to bed a little after three, and then they hit it hard again around six.”

Between the late night and early morning, Grippo was able to keep his sights set on his dream destination of Happy Valley.

Now that the decision has been made, it’s back to work for the Centurions catcher. His team is coming off a season that ended with a WPIAL quarterfinals loss to Burgettstown.

Grippo senses that next year’s team will be hungry to get back in action and make a deeper run in the playoffs.

“It lit a fire under our guys and we are looking for big things this year,” he divulged. “We got a lot of our guys back, and the freshmen class we are looking for some good guys. I know some of the other guys took the loss personal; I think we are ready to go this year.”

He still has two years of wearing burgundy before he swaps it out and adds navy blue to the wardrobe. However, he’s excited about the impact he can leave on others within the Centurions program before he becomes a Nittany Lion.

“I want people to look back and say that I was one of the best teammates they’ve had,” he added. “Baseball is a team game; you can’t win with just one guy. I want everybody to look back and say I was a good team player.”