A number of Irvine Valley baseball players have signed to continue their academic and athletic careers at four-year schools over the last month and they will each be highlighted at www.ivclasers.com
Sophomore infielder Trent Whitaker has signed with NCAA Division II Dixie State. He joins IVC teammate Justin Dunham with the Bison in St. George, Utah.
Whitaker, out of Trabuco Hills High, played in 28 games and hit .373, which was second-best on the squad for the Lasers.
He finished with 19 runs, 41 hits, one home run, eight doubles, two triples, 19 RBI and eight stolen bases on the year.
Whitaker, who primarily played second base, had a .462 on base percentage and a .509 slugging percentage. He led the team in slugging percentage and ranked second in on base percentage.
He had 12 games with multiple hits, four games with three hits or more and two games with four hits.
He went 4 for 6 with three RBI in Irvine Valley's 10-8 win at Desert on Feb. 6 and followed that up the next day with a 4 for 6 performance with a triple and three BI in the Lasers' 11-6 victory at Mt. San Jacinto.
Irvine Valley finished with a 20-19-1 record and just missed making the postseason this past year.
Whitaker is headed to a Dixie State program that finished with a record of 35-19 overall and 23-13 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.