Nebraska baseball program received their first Class of 2025 commitment in Joey Senstock. The Lincoln East freshman was recruited to play catcher or shortstop for the Huskers once he gets to college.
This past summer, while playing for the Nebraska Prospects Scout team, Senstock had 204 plate appearances with a .429 batting average. He hit .456 with RISP, and he had 21 doubles, 6 triples, 6 homer runs (2 grand slams) and 64 RBI.
"I did good," Senstock said of his summer season with Prospects. "We went to a lot of big tournaments. We went to the WWBA end I did really well in that. Our team did really well and I had just a really fun time."
Things started to seriously develop between Nebraska and Senstock after the Prospects attended a baseball camp at NU in the fall.
"I had just a great showing and afterwards we got a couple calls from their coaches," Senstock said. "And just this last Saturday, they had another elite camp at the Alex Gordon complex and I had a really great showing. That's when they decided they were ready [to offer], and a few days after that I got the scholarship offer.
"They said I did everything really well. My hitting exit velo was very good and I hit 98, which I think is a PR high for me. My catching went really well. I caught a stud JUCO kid, who also committed to Nebraska, and he topped 94. That really helped. Also, my pop time was also a PR of 1.94, I believe. Everything just went really well for me that day."
Baseball has been a passion for Senstock throughout his life, and he started playing the game at a very young age.
"I started playing select baseball when I was eight years old," Senstock shared. "I was playing Junior Salt Dogs when I was like five. All this time, I've developed definitely in mobility and getting in athletic stances and good motions. Probably hitting, for sure, is what stands out in my game."
Even though he's a high school freshman, Senstock is thrilled to have his college decision out of the way so early, and his parents are completely on board with his decision.
"It was pretty amazing!" Senstock stated. "Knowing that I will have the chance to play for my absolute dream school. I just wanted to be a Husker my whole life. It's just an amazing feeling! I have followed them a lot and it's just been amazing.
"Ever since Coach (Will) Bolt came to Nebraska from Texas A&M, he's really just turned the program around. They're coming off a Big Ten championship and having a couple players make All-American. Spencer Schwellenbach was taken in the second round of the MLB Draft, and Cade Povich was taken in the third round. He has just done a really amazing job with this program in a short time."
Senstock said he and his family have been big Husker fans throughout his entire life.
"We all just knew that's where I wanted to play my college baseball," Senstock said. "The way I connected with the coaches, the atmosphere at Nebraska, and the way they are headed in the right direction made it absolutely where I wanted to play."
Several other college baseball programs were in contact with Senstock before he shut down his recruitment with his verbal pledge to the Cornhuskers.
"Yes, Notre dame was a pretty big one. I went to a camp there in September, I believe, and I had a really good showing. We talked to the coaches afterwards and they said they were going to come watch me play in the spring. Then, a week later, I got invited to an Arkansas camp and did really well there. The coaches talked to me afterwards and said they were going to keep an eye on me."
The baseball coaching staffs at Creighton, Kansas State and Penn State told him similar things after they contacted Senstock.
