David Lally Surges into Notre Dame Baseball Commitment
The old videos illustrate the foundation.
Just a toddler, David Lally isn’t standing but is firing a baseball from his knees in front-yard sessions with his father, David Lally Sr.
No one knows the toddler is on his way to becoming a Notre Dame baseball commitment.
“My dad, he doesn’t know who he got this from, but someone told him to start having me throw from my knees when I was younger, like 2,” David Lally told Irish Sports Daily. “So we would go out there every day and that just started.
“I just went through and watched old videos that my dad has, hitting, running around playing baseball. I remember it somewhat.”
The memories of this summer aren’t going anywhere for Lally, emerging as a bona fide major college baseball prospect and committing last month to Link Jarrett’s Fighting Irish program. A 6-foot-4-inch, hard-throwing right-hander from Grand Blanc, Michigan, Lally now is a verbal pledge for Notre Dame’s 2022 baseball class.
He’s among the later top-flight prospects to emerge in the class, but interest this summer from power programs shows the merit to Lally’s rise.
“It was really late compared to others, but the first-ever time I started getting noticed by big coaches was the week before the Future Games, about five to seven weeks ago,” Lally, who also plays basketball and football, as well as works at an area golf course, said. “The tournament before that, I hit 89 (mph) off the mound. My high school coach, Kevin Hubbs, we made a little video together of me on the mound throwing, showing all my pitches.”
Soon, Lally remembers hearing from Michigan State, Northwestern, Indiana, Purdue, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan and, of course, Notre Dame.
“It was super overwhelming,” Lally said of the sudden recruiting process. “To go from no college interest to a week later, on the phone a couple times a day. It was super overwhelming for me.
“After the Futures Games, Notre Dame contacted Coach Hubbs and told me to give Coach (Rich) Wallace a call. Coach Wallace was really friendly when I called and showed a lot of interest.”
Soon, Lally recalls, he and his father were on their way to South Bend for a campus tour. Days later, Lally’s recruitment was ending.
“Me and my dad had the conversation the day after the visit, because they had made the offer,” Lally said. “Me and my dad talked about it for two days. There’s no better offer that’s going to come than Notre Dame, whether it’s education or possibly Major League Baseball or to do something else. It’s still going to be a good career because you have that degree from Notre Dame.
“But I just know that I have to keep on getting better and keep on working. I can’t be satisfied.”