Trenton seniors Clark Hausner and Brock Petrello played different sports in high school, but they’ll be heading to the same college.
On Monday, Hausner signed a basketball scholarship and Petrello inked a baseball letter of intent with Montreat College, an independent, Christ-centered, liberal arts institution in North Carolina.
“It’s amazing,” Hausner said. “I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a kid. I just feel honored. All the glory to God…I like Montreat because it’s a Christian college too. It can help me in my faith. Brock definitely was helping me with it, too. He was always encouraging me to go there, and hopefully we can room together, but he was definitely cheering me on to do better so we could both go to the same college together.”
This past season the 6’1 combo guard averaged 7.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
“I think Clark’s got a really high motor, high energy guy,” said Trenton boys basketball coach Eric Bullis. “When we decided to move to a more up-tempo style of play two years ago, it was really with Clark in mind. He’s the fastest kid in school. He’s the fastest cross-country runner. He has unbelievable stamina…really, really high ceiling.”
Hausner was primed for a big senior year but had a hip injury during cross country and was limited for most of the basketball season.
“I was running cross country, and the last 50 feet, I just felt a pop and had an abrasion fracture in my hip, and I pulled a muscle with it as well,” he said. “That set me back a couple of weeks. I would have probably averaged more and done better, but I had to work my way back in, so I did smaller minutes into bigger minutes.”
Hausner, who returned at Bucholz on Dec. 12, was responsible for a culture change within the program.
“We were very inconsistent my first two years with our mentality and the attitude we brought to practice, and so a big focus last offseason was who would help raise the level of competitiveness and will to win in the gym, and for us, Clark was that guy,” Bullis said. “He wanted to win every drill and every optional workout for the last year, year and a half, and did a great job of pushing other guys and holding them accountable for their efforts, so for us he meant a tremendous deal the last two years on varsity playing for me.”
This past season, the Tigers (15-12) earned a playoff spot for the second straight year.
“It was amazing,” Hausner said of his time at Trenton. “I made a lot of great friends, lifelong friends. I love Trenton. It’s helped me grow in every shape and form. It helped me with my faith. It helped me with basketball, life as a man, it just helped me in every way.”
Petrello only played one season for Trenton, but he led the Tigers with four home runs and was third on the team with a .492 slugging percentage.
“It’s an exciting thing, I mean I worked for it almost all my life,” Petrello said. “My parents have pushed me. They asked me when I was younger what I wanted to do, and I said play college baseball.”
Petrello chose Montreat College, which is moving to NAIA, because of his relationship with the school.
“I’ve known the coach for a while, ever since I was younger and I’ve always had a good connection with him and I’ve always loved the school and the campus,” said Petrello, who can play either infield or outfield. “I love that it’s a Christian school and the fact that everyone is very welcoming there.”
“He’s a kid who comes to the ball field every day wanting to get better,” said Trenton baseball coach Chris Marlo. “The kid is hungry to learn, and he truly loves the game of baseball, from picking up balls to shagging balls to the fun stuff like fielding and hitting. He set a great tone at practice every day.”
Petrello, who transferred from Menendez (St. Augustine) for his senior season, helped lead the Tigers to the final four with a sweep of Fort Meade in the region final. The Tigers finished 24-5 with their second straight state semifinal appearance.
“He was a big part of it,” Marlo said. “He had some critical, crucial hits this year. He had some home runs at some big times and provided a spark. He had a big hit at Trinity Catholic (Ocala) in the last inning that helped us win that game.”
Although he only played one season, he said it was “a great experience.”
“I’ve had tons of fun memories,” Petrello said. “There’s ups and downs in the season, but this was definitely a huge up. I had Coach Marlo push me every single day at practice. I’ve had every single player push me to the best of my ability at practice. These guys, we’re a family and it’s great to make it there. I wish we could have gone further but the memories that we had together are just unbelievable.”