Jordan Ackerman, right, a Grant Union alumnus, signs a national letter of intent to play baseball for Virginia's Bluefield College. He sits alongside Blue Mountain Community College Timberwolves coach Brad Baker. Ackerman has started as center field for BMCC for two years.

PENDLETON – Jordan Ackerman, a 2013 Grant Union graduate, has signed a national letter of intent to play baseball for the Bluefield College Rams in Bluefield, Va.

The son of Chris and Sarah Ackerman of John Day, Jordan is finishing up two years at Pendleton’s Blue Mountain Community College where he’s played center field for the Timberwolves.

Ackerman said he plans to play the next two years for Bluefield and, afterward, hopes to continue at a higher level.

He said that if he doesn’t continue professionally in baseball, he has a goal to become an athletic director.

“I have academic goals, and I’m pretty excited about those,” he said.

Aaron Matthews, a 2001 graduate, also lives in Bluefield where he is hitting coach for the minor league Blue Jays team.

Ackerman said that between a telephone chat with the Rams coach and a text from Matthews, he feels comfortable about his choice to move to Bluefield, even though it is far away.

He said his experiences being part of the Grant Union 2013 championship baseball team, coached by Brian Delaney, and playing for the BMCC, coached by Brad Baker, prepared him.

“Coach Delaney worked to help me understand what it takes to play at the college level,” he said. “It’s a grind, but if you put in the hard work, like coach Delaney taught me, you can achieve the goals you set.”

He added, “I’d like to thank my parents, coach Delaney, Kyle Myers (Grant Union assistant coach), and coach Baker.”