Coming off a knee injury that cost him most of his junior season, Michael Rohrer admits he was worried about his baseball future.

Some of the colleges that had been interested backed off, and the offers that remained were mostly from junior colleges.

A strong rebound season changed all that, though, and these days the Vicksburg High senior isn’t worrying anymore. He accepted an offer from Millsaps earlier this week, and will play for the Majors next spring.

“I’m happy to be able to play again. Coming into the season, not being able to play last year, it was a little tough. I knew I had to really play good this year, and maybe didn’t play as great as I wanted to,” Rohrer said. “I had some rough points and then I had some high points. I was happy to have some offers come through and really felt lucky to have an opportunity to play somewhere.”

Rohrer hit .361 during his senior season — a batting average that was almost as high as his grade point average. Rohrer has a 3.96 GPA and is ranked 14th in this year’s graduating class at VHS.

As an NCAA Division III school, Millsaps does not offer athletic scholarships. Rohrer, however, said academic scholarships will cover 50 percent of his tuition.

Millsaps’ academic credentials were also a big selling point for Rohrer. He plans to major in mathematics, minor in chemistry, and is considering engineering as a career.

“I like the idea of challenging myself, so that was appealing,” Rohrer said. “It’s definitely going to be tough. It’s not going to be easy, trying to push myself to the tip of my academic level and reach that peak.”

On the baseball side of things, Rohrer figures he’ll be an infielder in college. He played shortstop and pitcher for Vicksburg, and had more success at the former than the latter.

At the plate, Rohrer hit .331 as a high schooler and was a three-year starter — not counting his junior year, when he only played in three games because of a torn meniscus — at shortstop.

“He said they’re really looking at third, short and second for me. They need a shortstop, and that’s the main reason they recruited me,” Rohrer said. “I just have to work my way in and prove myself, and earn a spot in the lineup.”

Rohrer added that he was also being recruited by Hinds Community College, Holmes Community College, and Copiah-Lincoln Community College. The chance to play baseball at a four-year school, however, was too good to pass up.

“The freedom of being at a four-year college, and getting the full college experience, and the fact that it’s an NCAA school all helped,” Rohrer said. “It’s a bit of a step up from a JUCO. The ability to earn my spot at a four-year and have the opportunity to play four more years if I prove myself worthy.”“