<p>As a pitcher, Jacob Cantleberry’s instincts are to test his abilities against the best teams and hitters possible.</p>
<p>The San Jacinto-North ace will be following those instincts elsewhere next year.</p>
<p>In November, the hard-throwing left-hander, a former Center Grove baseball player who was twice named the Daily Journal’s Player of the Year, signed a national letter of intent to pitch at the University of Missouri.</p>
<p>However, don’t think Cantleberry has eased up any just because he’s assured getting to live his dream of playing baseball in a conference that has produced four NCAA championship teams and six runners-up since 2000.</p>
<p>“It’s not very hard to concentrate on what I’m doing now,” Cantleberry said. “I’m not going to focus on next year until next year comes.”</p>
<p>San Jacinto-North, located 15 miles southeast of Houston, is ranked No. 8 nationally among junior colleges. Virtually every season, the Gators’ roster contains players about to move on to Division I universities to continue their academic and baseball careers.</p>
<p>Entering the weekend, Cantleberry was 8-1 with a 2.42 ERA for a 28-9 squad.</p>
<p>The University of Houston was one of the other three schools Cantleberry considered. The Cougars, along with Arizona and Arizona State, all offered scholarships and were able to get Cantleberry on campus for a visit.</p>
<p>However, the lure of what’s arguably the best conference in college baseball was simply too enticing.</p>
<p>“I had other options, but the new coaching staff at Missouri is very good and the program has really improved the past couple of years,” Cantleberry said. “And I wanted to play in the SEC so that I could go against the best competition.”</p>
<p>Mixing a fastball in the 89 to 92 mph range with a slider and change-up, the sophomore has pitched a team-best 44 2/3 innings and registered 55 strikeouts.</p>
<p>As a freshman, Cantleberry was named an NJCAA All-American after posting a 13-1 record.</p>
<p>He expects to be done at San Jacinto-North at the end of May, and he’s due at Missouri on July 1 for preseason conditioning.</p>
<p>Under second-year coach Steve Beiser, the Tigers are 59-32 — a noticeable improvement after being a combined 29 games under .500 over the four previous seasons.</p>
