Ethan Swanson, pitcher, third baseman and home-run hitter for the Alva Goldbug baseball team, has signed to play baseball at Cowley County Community College. He has come a long way since he played for the Alva Cardinals.

"This signing is a representation of how much dedication and hard work I have put in to get to where I am today," said Swanson.

He has been dreaming of playing at the college level since he was young.

"My sister would be one of my biggest role models. I got to witness her hard work each and every day and achieve her dream of playing college basketball," he said. His sister, Rylie Swanson, played basketball at Oklahoma State University.

The signing to Cowley County took place in the Alva High School Library, Wednesday, Nov. 9. The Alva baseball team and some of the last year's seniors came to support him at the signing.

"I have had the pleasure of choosing between NOC Tonkawa, NOC Enid, Murray State, Northeastern, Oklahoma Wesleyan, Dodge City, OCC, SNU, and Cowley," he said.

Swanson had multiple choices of where to go for college but he chose Cowley in the end.

"Cowley has a good baseball reputation and many players go on to larger schools to play after Cowley," he said.

One of Swanson's favorite memories was when he came back from missing his sophomore year of baseball (due to an ACL injury) and hit a grand slam the first game of his junior year. Swanson, being one of the star players of the Alva High School baseball team, has worked hard to get to where he is today.

"Outside of practice I spend one to two hours either at the batting cages or at the field working on my own," Swanson commented.

"I have played this game since the age of 7 when my stepdad began coaching me," said Swanson.

All along the way his family has been there, to support and help him.

"Ethan has dreamed of playing at the next level since middle school. We have encouraged him to work hard to achieve his dream," said Leeta Grimsley, Ethan's mother. "After he tore his ACL his sophomore year he decided to primarily focus his attention on baseball. Having to sit out an entire season was a major eye-opening experience that made him realize just how important playing baseball was to him."

Swanson has worked hard and it has paid off, helping him become better than ever.