The 6-foot-6 Warrior senior tried out for the State Games in the spring in Rocky Mount and made the team for the Winston-Salem event.

Western scouts attending the event didn't just like what they saw.

They called Waszak within a few hours of his State Game performance.

"I talked to coach Bobby Moranda and we talked for a couple days," Waszak said. "He got me on campus for an unofficial visit and a few weeks later I committed. A couple months after that I signed."

The signing, which made a near 40-percent athletic scholarship official, took place Wednesday, Nov. 9, in the East Wake media room.

The coming spring season will mark Waszak's third year on the varsity baseball team at East Wake, but in the two years he has logged he has made memories he won't forget. He said the greatest of those include going 2-0 in the games he has pitched against rival Knightdale.

"No matter how many games we win, hopefully we're going to beat Knightdale," he said. "Those are two important games - the most important."

Waszak said a combination of East Wake academics and athletics has primed him for his future presence at Western.

As a student of the East Wake High School of Engineering Systems, he initially wanted to go into engineering. The East Wake school opened his eyes to the construction management field -- and appropriately so as that's a degree Western offers that Waszak intends to pursue.

On the diamond, Waszak said East Wake head coach Kerry Kincaid and pitching coach Stuart Shearin have always been supportive.

"Coach Kincaid always pushed hard work, wanting to play and having fun," Waszak said.

But when he reflected on his involvement in baseball the first name that came to mind was Lee Waszak, his father who passed away after suffering a sudden heart attack during Jonathan Waszak's freshman year at East Wake.

"My best memories are just growing up and playing baseball with my dad," he said. "The lessons he taught me are what got me where I'm at right now in life as a baseball player and as a kid in general."

Waszak will carry the knowledge he's gained to the Catamount team next year, but not before competing in one final season with his Warrior teammates in the spring and adding to his list of high school memories.

Kincaid said it has been a pleasure coaching Waszak for two years and looks forward to the spring.

"You don't get many better, more respectful kids than Jonathan," Kincaid said. "He's always been the kind of guy that gets the job done for us, and he has a lot of potential as he goes on in his baseball career. I expect great things from him this year at East Wake and the next four years at Western Carolina."