Corey Murray, 12, catches a fish.

Corey Murray carefully places a hook through a red and black, plastic worm and slings his fishing rod around his side. He hears the familiar whiz of his line flying out into the water and, as it hits the bottom of the pond, he slowly brings his bait in, bumping it along the bottom the entire way. Just seconds after he begins reeling it in, a bass bites his bait, and Murray jerks back his rod, hooks the game fish and reels it in while it fights the whole way.

“When I was three years old, my parents taught me how to fish and hunt,” senior Corey Murray said. “Since I had always seen them doing it, it made me want to as well.”

In addition to his love for fishing and hunting, Murray has another love for baseball, a sport he started playing at just five years old. Now he plays a big role on the varsity baseball team, playing the starting catcher and batting third in the lineup.
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“I love playing baseball with my best friends and I love winning,” Murray said. “I wouldn’t change anything about our team.”

Murray excels at his game and, during the Broncos’ 2013 four-round playoff run, it didn’t take long for various colleges to notice him. Before his senior year season began, he made the decision to sign with Weatherford College, a program that excels in their division and takes pride in doing so.

“I felt Weatherford was my best option to get to a major division one school,” Murray said. “That has always been my dream.”

In addition to baseball all of his life, Murray took up the sport of football at the age of seven and continued playing throughout his senior year of high school. During his final season, Murray helped lead the Broncos to the third round in the playoffs, a memory he says he will never forget.

“I miss all my teammates and the bus rides, but most of all just the sport itself,” Murray said. “I love the toughness involved and it being one of the few sports where you can cause pain to the other team.”