PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) -Eli Blair is one of several area players preparing to make the transition from high school to college ball. And for this particular lefty, perhaps a transition to beyond college ball. The recent Arnold graduate is getting set to head to the University of Florida in two weeks. Blair, along with his teammate Cooper Moss, signing with the Gators a few months ago. He leaves Arnold with a four-year mark of 27-7 and a 1.83 earned run average. He struck out 258 hitters over 199 innings. And this past season was 8-2 helping the Marlins win 27 games, district and region titles and earn the program’s first trip to the State Finals.
“We made it to the Final Four,” Eli told me during a sit-down interview at Gavlak recently “we finally cracked that window open. We made it to Fort Myers; we had a great season. We had the most wins in the program history a single season. That’s been our goal since our freshman year all four years to get there and we finally did it. ” So, he leaves behind a program that’s much better now than it was before he arrived you could easily argue. What’s ahead, heading to Gainesville to check into his living quarters and begin focusing on school and Gator baseball. And the idea is to arrive well prepared for all that. “There’s been a checklist that me and Cooper have been having to do.” Blair says “There’s a Gator portal and a Gator link, which is kind of like BDS launchpad for Gators you know. And we’ve just been hitting that checklist stuff, doing all our stuff, getting all our transcripts in. And just the forms, the immunization forms and all of that. So we’ve been doing that. We work out with our trainer now, but when we get down there, I know they wanted us to shut down from the throwing for now. So we’re doing that. But we’ve just been hitting the gym hard getting ready for the workouts that they have planned down there for us. “
Two weeks after Blair and Moss arrive in Gainesville, the MLB draft begins. So depending on that, well he could wind up packing up and leaving Gainesville not long after he arrives. It depends on if and when he gets drafted, and what kind of signing bonus might be involved. “Yeah, it’s a really unique experience.” says Blair “You get to go to one of the best programs in the nation. And then you also have the opportunity to go play pro ball. So I mean we’ve talked with my agent and my parents and we’re just deciding on things. But you know we’ll have to see where I go you know? It’s just one of those things. NIL and the transfer portal, also, you can use that leverage also. NIL is a very big thing in college baseball and just college sports in all. So, we could expect for somebody like me or Cooper to get paid and use that leverage in the draft per se. ” And if the draft doesn’t pull him away, Eli says he’s very excited to be joining the Gators and pitching in the SEC, adding “it just means more”.
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