Exchanging pads and the gridiron for a baseball and pitching mound, Searles shifted his focus primarily to baseball his senior year of high school and it paid off. Searles earned a scholarship to Division II University of Southern New Hampshire. Last summer, he played in the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League and went 3-0 with two complete games, tied for most on the Sag Harbor Whalers.  This season with the Penmen, the righty appeared in seven games tossing 10 innings with a 3.60 ERA. He has a mix of pitches including a fastball reaching the upper 80’s, curveball and changeup.