Moving Up: Brad Zunica

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Brad Zunica knew early on he wanted to be a Hurricane.

Two years after trotting onto the diamond for the first time, the then-8-year-old watched his first college baseball game on television. From that point forward, he began dreaming of playing baseball for the University of Miami.

“I fell in love with the game, and I’ve been playing ever since,” the Lakewood Ranch High first baseman and pitcher says.

Now, the 17-year-old is seeing his lifelong dream come to fruition. After verbally committing to play for the Hurricanes after his sophomore season, Zunica has decided to forgo his senior year at Lakewood and enroll early at the University of Miami.

“I made the decision because it was an opportunity to get a head start on my education and to also improve greatly on my overall skills,” Zunica says.

Zunica, who had surgery on his thumb at the end of May, made the decision after realizing his injury would keep him from attending the Perfect Game Nationals Showcase, in Minnesota, and the Team USA tryouts this summer.

After Zunica and his parents talked with his academic adviser, travel and high-school coaches and major and minor league players, Zunica decided.

“There really wasn’t a bad decision for me to make either way, but, in the end, I decided I could get over missing my senior year of high school, as I see pro ball as where I ultimately want to end up,” Zunica says.“I felt choosing college would get me to where I want to be faster, and I get to go to a great school. Most kids don’t get an opportunity like I was being offered, so I decided to take it.”

Zunica plans to take an American government and economics class over the summer so he can graduate early.

“He knows the game and understands he has to continue to work in order to get to where he wants to be,” Lakewood coach Ryan Kennedy says. “Brad is like a sponge; he takes everything in that we say and absorbs all of the information.  

“He’s a very talented baseball player who can spray the ball to all fields with power,” Kennedy says. “And, he is a guy who will put in the extra work when no one is watching. He is not forced to do extra work. He does it because he loves the game and dedicates himself to baseball.”

Zunica has been a standout first baseman and pitcher for the Mustangs for the last three years, but he admits first base is his true calling.

“I like hitting,” Zunica says. “I feel like I’m always in the game. Hitting keeps me focused.”

Zunica started playing baseball when he was 6 years old. He played Little League and travel ball, before he joined the Mustangs’ varsity squad as a freshman.

Last season, Zunica was a part of Lakewood’s regional championship team, which advanced to the Class 6A Final Four for the first time since 2003.

There were times during his sophomore season when Zunica would get down on himself for striking out or not coming through for his teammates at the plate. But, after talking to the upperclassmen, particularly center fielder Zack Larson, who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins, Zunica began to relax a little more at the plate.

“Zack always pushed me to do the best that I could,” Zunica says. “Whenever he had a good inning, I felt like he did it, so I need to do it, too. If I got angry with myself, he would tell me to chill out, because they’ve got my back and everything.”

Zunica admits he got a little ahead of himself at the plate early on in his junior campaign, but, over the course of the season, he began to turn things around.

“I (began) hitting fastballs,” Zunica says. “I started hitting my pitch instead of hitting the pitcher’s pitch.”
During his junior season, Zunica maintained a .468 batting average with eight home runs, eight doubles, 29 RBIs and 28 runs scored. He also finished 4-4 on the mound with a 2.60 ERA and 47 strikeouts.

Zunica also was named to the Perfect Game USA Preseason All-American Second Team.

“Everyone says that if you’re hitting .300, then you are an All-Star,” Zunica says. “I think .450 is decent for high school.”

This summer, Zunica, who had surgery for a broken thumb at the end of May, will play travel baseball for FTB Chandler. Zunica has been playing for FTB Chandler since his he was a freshman.

“I just like the exposure it gets me,” Zunica says of playing on an elite travel ball team. “There are scouts at every game, and I like playing with the competition level that we play at.”

Zunica plans to enroll at Miami in time for the fall semester, at which time he will begin his collegiate career and get a jump-start on his quest to become a professional baseball player. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of Larson and former Mustangs Mike Ohlman and Lastings Milledge, who all were drafted coming out of high school.

“I’ve thought about it, but I try to keep it in the back of my mind and stay humble,” Zunica says.

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].