By Kyle Roberts
A pair of former Bearcats have made some diamond buzz this past week.
Both Dawson Willis and Justin Szymanski made announcements about their respective baseball futures: Willis signed as an undrafted free agent with the San Diego Padres while Szymankski’s All-American performance this past year has led him to Northwestern State to continue his collegiate career.
“I’m incredibly proud of both of their accomplishments,” Ruston High Head Coach Bryan Beck said. “Obviously Dawson is fulfilling every kid’s dream to get a chance to play in the MLB and he is actually about to live that out. Justin is moving on to play at the D1 level and that was his dream, as well. Make no mistake about it, these are not coincidences that both of these guys are moving on to the highest level of Baseball. Both of them have incredible leadership qualities and unparalleled work ethics, and those characteristics are paying huge dividends now.
“I cannot take any credit for their accomplishments but am certainly very blessed to have had the experience to share a dugout with these two guys, and Ruston Baseball is better because these two players played in this program.”
Willis most recently played for the Oklahoma Sooners after two stellar seasons at LSU-Eunice, where he earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2024 after helping lead LSU-E to a 2024 National Junior College Championship. As a Sooner, he started in 60 games at third base and hit six home runs.
Szymanski announced this week that he will be returning to Louisiana and headed to Northwestern State to play for the Demons after an incredible year at South Arkansas in El Dorado.
”I’m very, very excited to head to Northwestern State,” Szymanski said. “My Star teammate Ty Simoneli is coming with me, and I think we’ll have a lot to offer NSU. The staff is phenomenal. We had very productive conversations (when I went to visit), and they were fantastic. For the past two years, South Arkansas’ staff put me on the path to succeed at Northwestern State and to get past whatever obstacles come my way.”
According to NJCAAStats, Szymanski batted a whopping .415 on the year, which earned him NJCAA All-American Honorable Mention honors as a power-hitting infielder for South Arkansas. Szymanski was instrumental in the Stars winning the 2024 Region 2 NJCAA Championship. He will enter Northwestern State as a junior.
