Bremen High School standout Carter Allen had been verbally committed to play baseball at Georgia Tech for some time, and he made it official by signing his letter of intent on Wednesday.

“Once you sign, it takes a little bit of the pressure off, but you still have to be able to go out there and perform,” Allen said. “It allows me to just go out there and play free and have fun and make these last seasons of baseball and football a lot more enjoyable.”

Even though he has locked up his commitment to the Yellow Jackets, Allen’s ultimate goal is to become a professional baseball player, and how quickly that might happen is still up in the air.

“The draft is still in July, so we’ll see what happens with that — kind of a wait and watch thing there,” Allen said. 

Still, the senior pitcher is excited to have the chance to play for one of the top collegiate baseball programs in the country, especially as of late — with Georgia Tech coming off ACC regular season and tournament championships.

“The coaching staff is one-of-one — it’s amazing,” Allen said of head coach James Ramsey’s group. “All the other recruits in my class that are going there are great ball players and great people, so I’ve really enjoyed going through the recruiting process with them.”

While Allen still has one season of high school baseball left, he has to finish up football, too. Allen is the starting kicker and punter for the Blue Devils who are in the midst of the Class 2A playoffs.

Allen has the leg to be a college kicker, regularly making field goals from 50 yards and beyond, but he says he will be sticking with baseball at the next level.

“I’m trying to manage both of them right now, but it’s just a lot,” Allen said. “It’s very tiring — takes a lot out of me. But I get asked about it two or three times a week.”

In his junior baseball season, Allen started 14 games on the mound and tossed 66 and two thirds innings. He broke the school record for most wins in a season with a 12-1 record and also broke the record for lowest earned run average at 1.26.

Allen’s 117 strikeouts last season pushed him to 212 strikeouts for his career, and with 84 or more strikeouts this upcoming spring, Allen would hold the record for the most career strikeouts pitched.

Bremen head baseball coach Chris Brown pointed to Allen’s off-field practices which allow him to be a great baseball player while also balancing football, academics and friends.

“He prioritizes his recovery, his nutrition, his mobility, his sleep, his hydration — all of those factors are important, but in high school, most kids don’t care about that stuff,” Brown said. “It’s very unique to find an athlete that prioritizes the off-the-field discipline … He knows what he wants to accomplish, and he works every day to put his best foot forward.”

And while Brown has been a part of that development, he says Allen’s unique work ethic comes from further down the chain.

“A tip of the cap to the Allen family for doing an outstanding job with this young man,” Brown said.

Allen and sixth-ranked Bremen football are slated to play No. 27 Washington in the first round of the playoffs.