Ean Compton and Matt McDonald go way back together in Compton’s development as a pitcher.

McDonald, a former professional pitcher in the Oakland A’s and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations, who played a key role in the development of the pitchers at Hall High School, has been Compton’s pitching coach since a young age.

He is also the new pitching coach at Black Hawk College, a position in which played a large role in Compton, a senior at Princeton High School, to recently sign to pitch for Black Hawk.

“Matt has been my pitching coach since I was a little boy and one of the deciding factors for me was Matt becoming a coach there,” Compton said.

Black Hawk, which was ranked in the nation last year, was just a good fit for him.

“Black Hawk has a strong baseball program. They were ranked ninth in the nation last year. I was excited about the coaching staff there and believe I’ll continue to develop my pitching skills working with coach (Josh) Keim and coach McDonald,” Compton said.

“Also, going to Black Hawk gives me time to figure out what I want to major in in college.”

Compton, a senior southpaw, went 3-2 with a 2.15 ERA this spring. McDonald, who was also a lefty, believes Compton has the right makeup to flourish for Black Hawk.

“Love Ean and his family. What stands out for me most with Ean is his work ethic and drive to be great,” McDonald said. “His character is off the charts and comes from great family and it doesn’t hurt that he has the ability to really spin the baseball from the left side and attack the strike zone.”