By PHIL SANCHEZ
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
Like a lot of kids who grow up in Indiana, basketball was Beckett Doane’s first love.
“I was shooting baskets before I could even walk,” Doane said by phone. “I played basketball my whole life, but I stopped this year.”
He quit to focus on baseball because when you can throw a baseball 90-plus mph, stand at 6-feet-6, and are left-handed, the opportunities are countless.
“My goal right now is to get drafted in the top two rounds out of high school,” Doane said.
That could very well happen for Doane, who was recruited by every school in the Southeastern Conference before committing to play college baseball at Mississippi State.
“The coaches are amazing, the town is amazing, and the fans are amazing,” he said. “It has everything you would want, and it checked all of my boxes.”
Doane attributes his success to his work ethic, something that helped him go from a tall, lanky freshman into one of the top left-handed pitchers in the 2026 class.
“I was 6-feet-4, 140 pounds freshman year. I put 75 pounds on in a little under two years.”
Part of that was a diet that consisted of over 6,000 calories a day; the other: pure work ethic.
“I wake up early every morning, I go four hours a day after school for training. Hard work really does pay off.”
The Noblesville High School junior plays travel ball with the Indiana Bulls and works with pitching coach Jason Taulman in the off-season. “He’s developed me into the pitcher I am.”
Doane also credits his family and his Noblesville community for helping him achieve his goals.
This story originally appeared on WISH-TV at wishtv.com/sports/high-school-the-zone/beckett-doane-indiana-baseball/