April 28, 2020
BLUFFTON, Ohio – The Bluffton University sports information office talked to many of our spring athletes who are seniors during the month of April. They gave us a glimpse back to their time at Bluffton along with what the future holds for them and their teammates. Today marks the final installment of those interviews. Thanks to all of the seniors for the work you have put in the last four years. It has been a pleasure watching you grow during your time at Bluffton!
Brantley Curnutte is a fifth-year senior from Hilliard, Ohio, who graduated from Hilliard-Davidson High School. The right-handed hurler suffered a season-ending injury early in his junior year and is completing his AYA history education major at Bluffton this year, hoping to continue in baseball as a graduate assistant coach.
The people on campus as well as the small-school atmosphere were what drew Brantley to Bluffton. While attending a baseball camp at Ohio Wesleyan during his junior year, Curnutte first talked to John Penn, a graduate assistant working with Coach Grandey at that time. "Bluffton was the first school that offered to give me the opportunity to continue my playing career at the collegiate level," stated Curnutte. "I met Coach Grandey early in the fall of my senior year and was the first one to commit from my class around Thanksgiving that year."
For Brantley the biggest challenge he faced balancing school and baseball was his immaturity regarding academics while in high school. He rarely cracked the books prior to coming to Bluffton and after a successful first semester in college, he struggled academically during the baseball season. He was genuine when he said, "I don't know how I would have made it through college without the LRC and Coach Grandey's emphasis on our academics."
The lessons one learns from being a member of a team at the collegiate level are numerous and varied. First and foremost, time management and communication skills are paramount in any field. The importance of building lasting relationships and living up to the team's standards have been instilled in Curnutte throughout his time as a Beaver.
One memory that Brantley will always carry with him was from a trip to Cincinnati for the Mount St. Joseph series. While a group of players was walking to the gas station from their luxurious Rodeway Inn home away from home, they stumbled across a floor mat lying beside the road. When they dared Danta D'Andrea to use it as a sled and slide down the hill, there was no doubt he was in. Unfortunately for Dante, the mat stuck in the mud when he dove onto it and he went head over applecart all the way down the slope, coming to rest in a Bob Evans parking lot!
Brantley's advice to the returning members of his team is very simple. "Give it everything you have and put the work in." He is confident that the baseball program is moving in the right direction and the seniors are leaving Bluffton better than they found it.
-BEAVERS-