Leesburg, Fla- Growing up, Cole Bullen was always surrounded by baseball and never remembered a time before he began playing the sport. Like many others, the Belleview native was not heavily recruited out of high school and would have to work extra hard to get his name around to colleges so he could continue his baseball career. 

During his senior year of high school, Bullen took it upon himself to post some of his highlights on social media which gained the interest of a handful of junior colleges in Florida. The catcher ultimately landed on Sante Fe College and committed shortly after graduation. 

In the summer before his first year of college, Bullen began training with a pitcher for the College of Central Florida which led him to connecting with the team's head coach. He was soon offered the same deal he had received from Santa Fe, but choosing Central Florida meant that he could live at home and not worry about housing. 

Bullen made the decision to attend the College of Central Florida with just a month left before the school year started. Due to his size coming out of college, the catcher would redshirt his first year to put on weight and gain experience from the guys in front of him. 

“I put on a lot of weight, got stronger, and learned more about baseball,” said Bullen. “By just watching the games and catching bullpens, I got a lot better at catching and just ended up becoming a much better player by being around people that were so good.”

Despite not playing during his freshman season in 2022, in 2023 Bullen became one of the everyday catchers for Central Florida. The backstop hit .298 and had an on base percentage of .415 while slugging .429 in his first season of collegiate baseball. That year Bullen helped lead the team to a junior college world series with one of the most dominant offenses in history. 

“It was the greatest moment of my life,” said Bullen. “It was the coolest thing that had ever happened to me. I was very involved; I caught every single game once we started regionals. We were super dominant all season and we ended 56-7.”

Bullen hit even better in the next spring season, finishing with a .315 batting average while hitting four home runs and ten doubles. After back-to-back strong seasons, it didn't take long for the University of Florida to reach out to Bullen, and it was a no-brainer for him to commit once the SEC powerhouse gave him an offer in October. 

Just like in his first season at Central Florida, the Village Charter product did not receive playing time with the Gators in his first year. Bullen did get a ton of experience in terms of his hitting approach and how to prepare both mentally and physically before games. 

Leaning on his connections he maintained from Central Florida, Bullen asked one of his former coaches if they could tell Coach Billings that he was interested in playing for Leesburg. Since one of the catchers from Central Florida backed out of playing with the Lightning, that created space for the Gator catcher to be one of three backstops for the summer team this season. 

“I knew of [Coach Billings], but I didn’t know him personally,” said Bullen. “I like Billings… he's a good coach and I like how he manages the team and the pitchers.”

The Lightning All-Star mentioned it was tough at first to catch so many different pitchers in a single game since Coach Billings uses five or six arms every night. Despite this, Bullen likes that Billings does not overwork his pitchers and if that means throwing several arms out per game, he is all for it, especially during summer ball. 

Being that Bullen is a catcher with two full seasons of experience and a year at a division one school; the catcher is almost already thrown into a leadership type role. He described how it feels to be one of the many leaders on the team and how he can give advice to both younger and older players at any position. 

“Being a leader on the team just means you’re able to guide a team full of guys that will listen to you,” said Bullen. “They will listen to you as teammates and as peers and they have respect for you, for either your accolades or the person you are. The catcher is the battery of the infield; you have to be a leader behind the plate and take control of your pitchers.”

The backstop understands the value of having that “F” on his helmet and how other players might already give him respect due to where he plays ball during the collegiate season. Still, Bullen didn’t expect to walk into the clubhouse and instantly earn the respect of his teammates. That’s exactly why he appreciates how the team is filled with leaders of all ages and backgrounds, regardless of where some players attend school. 

As the season comes to a close, the Lightning catcher is hopeful of where the team is heading as they inch closer to the Florida League playoffs. Bullen has recorded 16 hits this season, including two doubles, and has driven in five runs. He has also thrown out two of twelve runners attempting to steal and has just one passed ball on the summer. 

The Lightning will face the Snappers for a three-game series starting on Thursday, July 17 to determine the two seed for the playoffs. Bullen is expected to catch at least one of the three games while most likely being in the lineup for two of the three.

 Vic Maslia (Syracuse University)