Baseball: Comets’ Tunink commits to play at Notre Dame

Newman baseball coach Kenny Koerner thinks junior outfielder/pitcher Brendan Tunink is just scratching the surface when it comes to his baseball talent.

Apparently the Notre Dame Fighting Irish think so, too.

The Comets’ all-stater and first-team all-conference player recently gave a verbal commitment to Notre Dame after making a visit there a few weeks ago.

“I was getting pressured a little bit by a couple of other schools about my decision, then Notre Dame came into the picture,” Tunink said. “I was going for an official visit on Oct. 15, but that was too late for me to keep a spot on the other teams if I wanted, so we called the coach and just went there on a Tuesday. He showed us around and we talked about baseball and school and everything, and I knew this is where I wanted to go.”

Notre Dame was a bit of a no-brainer for Tunink, whose older brother Kyle is a junior now; he also had an older sister graduate from there. He’s been to the campus as a Fighting Irish fan and for family visits on more than one occasion, so the decision to play baseball there was an easy one.

“This is where my family is, and that made me feel comfortable being there,” Tunink said. “I don’t have to worry about where I’m going on campus, and since I’ve been there so much, it felt like home.”

The Irish finished 41-17 last season, winning the Statesboro Regional and Knoxville Super Regional to advance to the College World Series in Omaha. Notre Dame defeated Texas in its CWS opener before falling to Oklahoma and Texas A&M in a pair of four-run losses.

Koerner said not only is South Bend a familiar place for Tunink, but the fact that the Fighting Irish had that success last spring is very appealing.

“He went out there for a visit and told me immediately that he liked the direction they’re headed,” Koerner said. “They went to the World Series last year and have a new coaching staff, and Brendan said he really liked the coaches. He’s really excited they were interested in him, and when he got the offer to go there, it was an easy decision.”

Tunink also mentioned the new coaching staff as a big reason for his desire to play there. Former Virginia Commonwealth coach Shawn Stiffler was hired in July after former head coach Link Jarrett was hired by his alma mater Florida State after leading the Irish to the CWS.

The combination of the new coaching staff and the recent success was a combination Tunink said he couldn’t resist.

“I wasn’t only looking for good coaching, but I also wanted to be on a winning team that had players who wanted to win as badly as I do,” Tunink said. “With the new coaches, and how they were really good last year and have a winning program, they put everything I wanted together. This is the place where I want to be.”

In just two seasons at Newman, Tunink has already become the Comets’ biggest offensive weapon and one of the best defensive outfielders in the area in helping lead the team to back-to-back sectional titles – the first two in program history.

Even in a COVID-shortened freshman season in 2021, Tunink hit .353 with a .423 on-base percentage and .599 slugging percentage, with 19 runs, 13 RBIs, eight doubles and three triples.

Last spring, he was even better. Tunink was second in the area in batting average (.529) and on-base percentage (.598), and led the Sauk Valley in slugging percentage (.971) and on-base plus slugging (1.569). His 37 hits were tied for third and his 26 RBIs were tied for fifth; he also scored 28 runs (12th in the area), led the area with 15 doubles, and added two triples and four home runs (tied for 3rd).

He also saw his first significant action on the mound. He was 5-0 with a 1.12 ERA in 43 2/3 innings, with 55 strikeouts and 11 walks; the ERA was third-lowest in the area, and the strikeouts were tied for eighth.

And Koerner believes there’s still a huge upside.

“The ball sounds different off his bat. He hasn’t even fully matured yet; he’s going to put on muscle and weight. He’s a strong kid, and he’s still going to get bigger and stronger,” Koerner said. “I think Notre Dame saw a five-tool player who is only going to get better as he gets older, and the ball already pops off his bat.

“He’s the typical kid you hear about: nobody works harder than Brendan, nobody puts in more time. He loves the game, and he’s absolutely a big-time player in big games. He’s been huge for us in the postseason; anytime the spotlight is on, he performs at the highest level. He doesn’t know how good he is – he really has no idea – he just goes out and plays. They’re getting a really good kid in Brendan.”

As excited as he is for his future with the Fighting Irish, Tunink is just looking forward to his final two seasons at Newman and continuing to improve – both as an individual and a team – without the weight of recruiting on his shoulders.

“It’s a relief to make the decision,” he said. “Not just knowing where I’m going to play in college, but not having to think about the recruiting process anymore, now I can jut go out and play the game I love. I don’t have to worry about if any coaches are watching me, I can just go out and play baseball.

“I just want to get bigger and stronger, keep getting better – and hopefully win a supersectional this year. That’s the goal, and we want to achieve beyond the success we’ve had the last two years.”