{"id":8688,"date":"2020-08-22T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-22T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=8688"},"modified":"2026-05-13T18:27:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:27:15","slug":"madera-south-star-makes-commitment-to-fsu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/madera-south-star-makes-commitment-to-fsu\/","title":{"rendered":"Madera South star makes commitment to FSU"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When Madera South baseball standout Murf Gray was given the opportunity, he didn\u2019t give it a second thought. When Fresno State baseball gave him a scholarship offer, he took it immediately and felt that\u2019s where he was meant to be.<\/p>

\u201cIt was very cool,\u201d he said. \u201cI passed by Beiden Field to get something to eat over there. I grew up around there. My mom went there. The environment they have, what they told me about and how they came at me. I felt they wanted me more than anybody else. I felt the environment was going to be perfect.\u201d<\/p>

Gray fielded offers from Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara, San Jose State and Loyola Marymount, but Fresno State was the top school on his list.<\/p>

\u201cDuring our little Zoom meeting, I tried to keep a straight face,\u201d he said. \u201cBut, my mom looked at me and knew that was the place I wanted to be. In my head, I thought this was great. It was local and a place I wanted to be. That made my decision.\u201d<\/p>

Gray was kind of surprised about the attention he received from Fresno State. He actually wasn\u2019t thinking about college until this summer.<\/p>

\u201cIt was a surprise to commit,\u201d he said. \u201cThey said they have been watching me since I was young. It was a surprise they have been watching me. They knew me and my background. It was cool. It was a big compliment. I was just playing. I didn\u2019t know anyone had eyes on me. To know they had eyes on me for so long made me happy.\u201d<\/p>

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has struck, Gray has been working out with his travel team while following guidelines.<\/p>

\u201cI played with a local team and we\u2019ve been around it, even with COVID happening,\u201d he said. \u201cWe traveled and every game we played in was played with social distancing and everyone with a mask on. When we got on first, we put our mask on.\u201d<\/p>

Gray, who has been an All-Star at Madera American Little League since he was 8, has had superstar over his head ever since.<\/p>

\u201cI really don\u2019t feel too pressured,\u201d he said. \u201cI take every game as something normal. I have always performed at a high level. I have been in many places with different teams playing in good showcases so I never feel pressure anymore.\u201d<\/p>

Gray said that it will be his decision what position he wants to play at Fresno State. He would like to play shortstop and then help out on the mound.<\/p>

\u201cThey said it would be my choice,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would be a free option for me. That\u2019s my choice to play the field and, if they need me, pitch, for sure.\u201d<\/p>

Now that Gray has made his commitment, he can now concentrate on getting the Stallions into the playoffs and, hopefully, win a Central Section championship.<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of stress lifted off my shoulders,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery week, I was calling different coaches and hearing different things. Now that I have the one school committed, I can focus more on getting bigger, faster and stronger and performing better so when I get there, I\u2019m performing at a high level.\u201d<\/p>

Gray has also been keeping track of some of the players who played before him that are excelling in professional baseball like Connor Brogdon, Alec Gamboa and J.J. Santa Cruz, all pitchers in the minors except for Brogdon, who made his Major League debut last week.<\/p>

\u201cThey have set up a good path for me,\u201d Gray said. \u201cNow that I know people from around have made it somewhere, gives me a sense of hope that I can be like them, go on and get drafted and play in the minors. The ultimate goal is to hit the majors.\u201d<\/p>

Gray was upset about getting his sophomore season canceled after just nine games.<\/p>

\u201cIt was real tough to finish out the year,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was my sophomore season and I know a lot of eyes were going to be on me. Summer was going to be set up with the travel team I was playing for. We going to hit a lot of showcases and do some very important stuff in front of scouts. It was a minor setback. It worked out in the end. That was supposed to be our season. We were so young last year. Everyone matured getting some time on varsity. We all grew as players. We were ready to handle the CMAC, go far in the playoffs and, hopefully win Valley.\u201d<\/p>

What also helps Gray is the chemistry he has achieved with his Stallions\u2019 teammates whom he has played with on many All-Star and travel teams.<\/p>

\u201cIt feels great to play with so many teammates on my travel team (South County Colts),\u201d he said. \u201cI know them, they know me. We\u2019re all really good friends. We can do anything together. The bond we made with travel and All-Stars is amazing.\u201d<\/p>

Now, all that\u2019s left for Gray is to do for college is sign his National Letter of Intent.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m hoping to get bigger, faster and stronger before I can sign that paper so I can look the part,\u201d he said. \u201cRight now, I just look big. If I look the part when I put pen on paper, it\u2019s going to be scary for people. I\u2019m 6\u20192\u201d, 195 pounds. I\u2019ve been drinking protein shakes, eating chicken, pasta and rice. I\u2019m just trying to get big. I know the strength and conditioning program is tough and I know I can tough it out.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Madera South baseball standout Murf Gray was given the opportunity, he didn\u2019t give it a second thought. When Fresno State baseball gave him a scholarship offer, he took it immediately and felt that\u2019s where he was meant to be. \u201cIt was very cool,\u201d he said. \u201cI passed by Beiden Field to get something to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":28226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-8688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-schools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}