Dutchtown's Donovan Goatley signs with Waubonsee

Former Dutchtown pitcher Donovan Goatley is a long way from home, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

During the summer, Goatley inked his letters of intent to continue his baseball career at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, Ill.

Sugar Grove is a suburb of Chicago.

He flew out to join his team over the weekend, and they officially began their fall practice on Aug. 17.

Waubonsee is a National Junior College Athletic Association Division III school and is a member of the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference, which is in NJCAA Region IV.

They have a strong baseball tradition and have been very successful over the years.

In all, they have made three trips to the NJCAA Division III World Series.

They finished second in 1996, third in 2013 and fourth in 2014.

The Chiefs have also been nationally ranked in 15 of the past 21 years.

Waubonsee is led by head coach Brad Unger.

Goatley will also be under the tutelage of pitching coach Tom Kinney--who is a former minor league pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.

The three-year Dutchtown varsity standout emerged this season as one of the top arms in the Griffins' pitching rotation.

He cashed in Dutchtown's top pitching performance of the season on Feb. 28, when he pitched a no-hitter against Hahnville.

Goatley and the Griffins finished 2015 with five straight regular-season victories and made the playoffs before losing to eventual state champion Barbe in the first round of the playoffs.

He is the son of Tim and Dawn Goatley.