Lance Buitendyk of West Catholic had the stats in 2010 that awoke the area to his talent and attracted the attention of college scouts from all over the Midwest.

A starting middle infielder as a Sophomore and as a Junior, Buitendyk led the Falcons in virtually every offensive category both seasons.

As a Sophomore, Buitendyk earned honors as All-Conference, All-District, All Area and All-Region.

As a Junior he repeated the feat, again being named All-Conference, All-District, All Area, All-Region and added to it with a First Team All-State nod and placement on the Dream Team.

Of course, with the numbers Buitendyk put up last season, you would expect nothing less!

He hit .450 with a .750 slugging average, 45 RBI’s, 20 doubles, 2 triples, 6 home runs, 15 stolen bases and scored 43 times

In addition, he walked 20 times, with most of those being intentional.

All of this production helped West Catholic reach the Division II State Finals, where they finally fell to Dearborn Divine Child.

Buitendyk plays for Elite Baseball out of Grand Rapids where he was a big part of their top 17U team last summer.

One of his many highlights was a 15 for 19 performance at a tournament held at Michigan State.

This coming summer, Buitendyk will play for Elite’s top 18U team, coached by Jim Abbott.

As the West Catholic starting quarterback, Buitendyk is getting recruited to play football in college.

However, it looks like he’ll follow his heart to play baseball at the next level.

No decision has been made as of this writing, but Buitendyk is being heavily recruited by schools that include Eastern Michigan, Oakland University, Western Michigan, West Virginia, Missouri, Purdue, Grand Valley, Eastern Kentucky and several others from both in and out of the state.

Look for the pressure to commit to increase as the college coaches look to sign this top player!

UPDATE: Lance Buitendyk signs with Grand Valley State