THE FRONT ROW WITH GARRETT CABEZA: Saturday, June 13, 2015

Some kids go to college after they graduate, some kids get a job and others join the military. Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen catcher and recent Lake City High graduate Reilly Cherry will eventually do both.

Cherry will play baseball at Division III United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., and after he graduates from the school, he will join either the merchant marines or the Marine Corps.

"There's a service contract you have to fulfill because they pay for your school," Cherry said. "So you have to serve five years either in the armed forces, which is the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or you can go into the merchant marines, which is like a fleet - the frigate ships, the oil tankers - the big ships that they use for transportation. That's the merchant fleet."

Cherry was one of about 250 appointees selected from around the country out of about 2,200 applicants to attend Merchant Marine Academy. An appointment to the academy is equal to a scholarship worth about $225,000 over four years.

Cherry said the school and athletic program looks for applicants with good grades, athleticism and leadership potential.

"That's what their goal is (to have good officers), so they want a whole person, not somebody who's just all academics or just all sports," Cherry said. "They want somebody with a little bit of everything."

Cherry has what the Merchant Marine Academy is looking for in terms of solid grades, athleticism and leadership potential.

Cherry said his grade point average this semester is around 3.87 unweighted and around 4.1 weighted because he takes Advanced Placement classes. He has been a starter at catcher for the Lumbermen and the Timberwolves this year.

He helped lead Lake City to its first state tournament appearance since 2008. Cherry hit his first and only home run of his high school baseball career in Lake City's second game at state. The Timberwolves finished sixth at the state tournament.

Cherry said he thought he hit a home run in Lake City's first game at state.

"I kind of started jogging and then it hit the wall so I had to speed up to get a double out of it," Cherry said. "And then I did the same exact hit on a little smaller field the next game and I thought it was going to be off the wall again, so I sprinted and then it went over and I continued to run as fast as I possibly could around the bases. It was pretty cool."

As for leadership potential, Cherry served as Lake City's ASB Vice President this school year.

"It helped me prepare myself to be a leader of my peers because I've never had a formal role like that before," Cherry said. "So it was a good experience."

Cherry, who is in his second season playing Legion baseball, has helped the Lumbermen to a 13-2 start.

"He's very knowledgeable about the game," Coeur d'Alene coach Zach Clanton said. "He's someone that I've trusted to call pitches. Myself and the pitching coach, we haven't been calling pitches at all this year and so that's been good to have a kid back there that's able to control the pitching staff, able to make sure that they feel comfortable."

Clanton said that Cherry has made an impact on the opponents' running game.

"He doesn't have the strongest arm, but he makes up for it with quick feet and getting the ball out quick," Clanton said. "So he's actually really limited the run game. Not a lot of teams have been stealing off us and so that's been nice to have."

Cherry played one season for the Coeur d'Alene Legion program a few years ago and then played with the Spokane Dodgers one season and the Spokane Crew two seasons.

His time with the Lumbermen will be cut short this season as he heads to the Merchant Marine Academy on June 27.

Cherry said when he arrives at school, an indoctrination period will begin.

"They basically haze me for two to three weeks, just training me, breaking me from civilian life just to get me ready for the military mindset, and then after that, school actually starts about late July," Cherry said.

"The school goes pretty much year-round because they have to cram four years of school into three years because you actually go out to sea for about a year while you're going to school to learn how to drive ships and get hands-on experience."

Cherry said he'll spend 300 days at sea.

During his last couple weeks of the Legion season, Cherry said he wants to prepare himself for college baseball and help his team out as much as possible on the field. He said he will be sad and excited when the time comes to pack his bags and head east.

"I've got a lot of good friends here," said Cherry, who was born and raised in Coeur d'Alene. "I'll miss everything about this place, but I'm also excited to go over there and start my life."

Cherry said the academy will be difficult but worth it.

"I know it's going to be hard," Cherry said. "It's not going to be that much fun, but I know if I get through it, then it will set me up for the rest of my life."

Cherry will major in marine transportation with a focus on logistics and marine business. He will also work toward getting his deck license. He is interested in driving ships after he graduates.

"I've been thinking about that, going into a service academy for about two years now, because I've always known I've wanted to do something in the armed forces or serve my country somehow, and so I thought that the merchant academy was the best fit," Cherry said.

Cherry found out about the Merchant Marine Academy this past summer.

"So when the coach wanted me to come there for baseball, I researched more about it and the more I learned about it, the more I realized how good of a deal it was," Cherry said.

Cherry said his goal for his freshman season is to at least split playing time with the starting catcher and possibly be a starter.

With his smarts, experience as a catcher and leadership, Cherry might just meet his goal.

Garrett Cabeza is a sports intern for The Press. Contact him at [email protected].