Baseball: Hampshire’s Ari Fivelson commits to Bradley

Ari Fivelson knew a good deal when he heard it.

Fivelson, a rising senior at Hampshire, had looked for a school that allowed him to play baseball at a high level but also matched his academic requirements. Once Bradley offered him an opportunity to do all that, Fivelson knew there was no point in waiting anymore.

Fivelson committed to the Braves on July 25.

“It felt like the perfect place for me,” Fivelson said. “The fact that it involves baseball at a high level. Most importantly, it perfectly fits my academic wants I need in a school.”

The connection took a little while to build. Fivelson mostly had been in contact with junior colleges in Illinois and Wisconsin before he caught Bradley’s attention with a strong tournament performance this summer in Milwaukee.

The Braves coaching staff invited Fivelson to visit the campus, and he made the trip July 24. While on the visit, he quickly realized how much he liked the Peoria campus. Fivelson enjoyed the campus and the small-school atmosphere, where he felt like he could take more responsibility for his academic success.

The baseball side was nice, too, and Bradley offered Fivelson a scholarship.

“I felt like it had every tool for me to be the best player, I could be in the way that I can take a lot of responsibility in my hands to be better or get better,” Fivelson said. “The coaching staff is really committed to getting you to be the best player you can be, and I really liked that about it.”

Fivelson returned home and gave himself time away from the excitement of the offer. As he discussed it more with his family, committing to Bradley seemed to make the most sense.

“They really just said, ‘you haven’t said a single bad thing about the school, I think this is it,’” Fivelson said. “I really made this decision from there.”

Fivelson came off a strong junior season for the Whip-Purs. The center fielder finished with 22 RBIs, a .394 batting average and 36 runs scored. Fivelson earned second-team honors on the 2024 Northwest Herald All-Area baseball team.

“It felt like the perfect place for me. The fact that it involves baseball at a high level. Most importantly it perfectly fits my academic wants I need in a school.”

—  Ari Fivelson, Hampshire senior

While Fivelson had an impressive season, Hampshire coach Frank Simoncelli was more impressed with his leadership on and off the field. Fivelson’s father, Derek, is the baseball coach at Conant, and Fivelson learned from a young age how to do things the right way.

Simoncelli doesn’t doubt Fivelson will do that at Bradley.

“What really stands out to me is commitment to his grades, commitment to his body, preparing himself and then just the IQ of the game just being around it his whole life, you know, under his dad and then coming to the high school level and competitive travel,” Simoncelli said. “He for sure, even right off the bat, will contribute right away.”

Fivelson was grateful to make his decision before the start of the football season. Now he looks forward to being one of the Whips’ leaders on a young team.

As for the baseball season, Fivelson is looking to get himself ready for a long postseason run after his dad made the state-title game.

“It becomes really important just because you want to have the maturity aspect where we have a very talented team,” Fivelson said. “Hopefully we can go do something big.”