AP FILE PHOTO - Louisville pitcher Tate Kuehner reacts after getting the last out of the game against TCU after a baseball game in the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic tournament, held at Minute Maid Park, on March 4 in Houston.

Following his senior baseball season at Marshalltown High School, Tate Kuehner was named to the all-CIML Iowa Conference’s second team and Class 4A all-district second team.

Four years later, the University of Louisville’s left-handed relief pitcher has been drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Kuehner was chosen in the seventh round of Monday’s Major League Baseball Draft, selected with the 212th overall pick to get the opportunity to play out the dream he’d held onto since he began playing in the game.

“It’s unbelievable because you think back when you’re a little kid playing Marshalltown Little League and you dream of doing something like this, but in the back of your head you’re like ‘alright, will that really happen?’ It’s unbelievable, I can’t really put words to it.”

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound lefty was a member of Marshalltown’s last state tournament team in 2018, and he earned second-team all-conference honors as an outfielder after his senior campaign.

Yet he landed with Louisville and made the most of the chance the Cardinals took on him, validated by his selection in Monday’s draft.

“I’m just a very lucky kid who had some guys take a chance on him,” Kuehner said. “I was very fortunate to be able to play at Louisville — it’s an unbelievable place — and I had a few people take a risk.

“You get on campus and you realize the guys around you are a lot better than you and a lot bigger, a lot stronger and a little more talented. Deep down you have that Marshalltown grit inside of you and that just keeps you going.”

The result was a four-year career that was highlighted on the field by the Cardinals’ trip to the NCAA Super Regionals in 2022, a couple wins short of the College World Series. Off the field, Kuehner is taking so much more with him when he leaves Sunday for the Milwaukee Brewers’ training facility in Phoenix.

After tryouts, Kuehner will be placed in the Brewers’ minor league system.

“No, it doesn’t matter where, but you’re always going to strive for that next step and I think that’s what it takes to keep going in this sport,” Kuehner said. “You’ve just gotta keep throwing the ball in the strike zone and hope they don’t hit it out.”

At Louisville, Kuehner pitched 165 2/3 innings, allowing 88 runs (68 earned) on 129 hits and 82 walks while striking out 193. His career earned run average was 3.69 and opposing hitters batted just .208 against him.

Kuehner compiled nine saves in his last two seasons, gaining a more prominent role at the back of the Cardinals’ bullpen.

Not bad for a second-team all-conference performer from central Iowa.

“It all started with my family and friends, Nate (Vance), Luke (Appel) and Cole (Davis),” Kuehner said. “We were all kind of in the same position. You’re coming out of Marshalltown so you’re not really highly recruited, it’s all about the chip on your shoulder, let’s go to work, and every year you meet up with those guys and I still talk to them on a daily basis. We’re all going out to prove something.”

Vance recently completed collegiate golf with Iowa State and has begun pursuing a professional career in the sport. Appel is poised for a senior basketball season at South Dakota State, while Davis will be a junior on the Creighton golf squad this fall.

One way or another, they’re all making it at the next level and beyond.

“One of my favorite quotes from coach Mac (Louisville head baseball coach Dan McDonnell) is ‘you’re not trying to prove people wrong, you’re trying to prove people who believe in you right,'” Kuehner said, “so we’re just going out to make the people who believe in you happy.

“When you get here you’re working to get the team better and you’re working to get to Omaha so you don’t even think about getting drafted, and that’s why I fell in love with Louisville. It’s not individualized, it’s more of a team sport and it’s usually a lot more than just baseball. It’s more about life too.”

Kuehner said his former Bobcat head coach, Steve Hanson, was one of the first to send a congratulatory text upon his being drafted.

“He had me hitting in the cages when I was little so there was always a little bickering back and forth, but at the end of the day he helped me get to this point so I’m forever grateful for him,” Kuehner said.

Kuehner’s immediate family, parents Tim and Angie and sister Chloe, were in Louisville with him when the call came, as well as an aunt and uncle.

“Mom was the first to see it online and she just started screaming,” Tate said. “Nobody knew what was going on. I knew about 30 seconds before the Brewers came up and I said ‘hey, mom and dad, I might (get drafted) here.'”

Kuehner could potentially join a former teammate — Ben Metzinger — in Milwaukee’s farm system. Metzinger is a third baseman from Louisville who was drafted last summer in the seventh round (222nd overall) and is currently playing for the Brewers’ High-A affiliate: the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

Former Marshalltown High School graduate Jeff Clement, upon being drafted third overall by the Seattle Mariners in 2005, played 30 games with the then-Mariners affiliate in Wisconsin in his first season in the minor leagues.

“Growing up in Marshalltown you see all those guys like Jeff Clement, you see those guys that go play in college and you always want to be one of those guys,” Kuehner said. “It’s an incredible community and they back all the sports around town. It’s just unbelievable to say you’re from Marshalltown and put that next to your name.”