The Nansemond River High School baseball team will soon be sending a bevy of talent to the next level.

Six Warriors participated in a signing ceremony last week to officially announce their college commitments.

“It’s really neat,” coach Mark Stuffel said. “Our goal is for every kid that comes to the program to find a baseball home somewhere.”

Five of his players will be playing college baseball, and one of them will be playing college golf.

Michael Blanchard committed to Old Dominion University, Wil Davis Jr. signed with Anderson University, Andrew Halmrast committed to the University of Mary Washington for golf, Matthew Holt is headed for La Salle University, Dion Jordan committed to Norfolk State University and Reid Williams will play for King University.

There were not a lot of options that Blanchard was considering because he was so pleased with ODU’s relatively early offer.

He said he was able to commit to the Monarchs so early “because they showed so much interest in me, starting in the winter before they even offered me anything, and they were just always wanting to know how I was doing.”

They came to one of his games, and then he got a call.

Blanchard said they are looking for him to play on the mound, primarily, and he expects his major to be something in business or finance.

Wil Davis Jr. expects to play in the outfield at Anderson University, which is located in Anderson, Ind.

He had a few other colleges he was considering, but he said, “I wanted to major in exercise science, and (Anderson) had a very good exercise science program, and they also have a very good baseball program. So, it was good for both.”

Once Andrew Halmrast visited Mary Washington, he knew it was the school he wanted to go to.

He said he reached the decision after he saw the beauty of the campus, “the student-faculty ratio, and kind of like just the vibe around the campus, sort of vibrant, nice student life, stuff like that.”

He has played baseball for years and will play for the Warriors in the spring, but he has grown rapidly on the links in his two years on the Nansemond River golf team.

Halmrast said he thinks he might have a chance at being in the top five of his college team as a freshman.

Academically, he plans to major in business administration with a focus in financial planning.

Matthew Holt said he had two main offers, and some other schools were about to chime in, but he had made up his mind when he visited La Salle in Philadelphia, Pa., and experienced “the overall feeling of family from the coaches, the way they talked to the players, the facilities, how everybody acted, their high standards for academics.”

He said that on the field, La Salle is looking at him to be a pitcher or designated hitter or both. In the classroom, he will most likely be an integrated science, business and technology major.

Dion Jordan wanted to go to a school that was among the historically black colleges and universities.

“A lot of my family members went to Norfolk State, and I’m the third generation to go,” he said, noting his grandfather and mother went before him. “I like (NSU’s) coaches, and I liked the school, as a whole.”

Jordan expects to be used on the field as an outfielder, and academically, he plans to major in computer science.

King University, located in Bristol, Tenn., demonstrated the zeal necessary to get Reid Williams to commit.

“They were the first school to actually offer me,” Williams said. “They showed more interest than anybody else, and I really liked the coaches.”

He said King’s coaches primarily want to use him on the field as a catcher.

He noted he wants to major in something along the lines of business.