Bradley turned out to be the right fit for Josh Vaughn.

The Illini Bluffs right-hand pitcher verbally committed to play baseball for the Braves. Vaughn comes off a junior campaign where he posted a 5-1 record with 87 strikeouts, 10 walks and a 1.38 ERA in 40.2 innings for the Class 1A school in Glasford.

He was offered a scholarship last month from Bradley before choosing the Hilltop as the place to continue his playing career.

“I just figured there was like no rush (to commit) or anything, so the time will come,” Vaughn said, “Just a couple days ago (June 2), I was like, ‘I feel pretty confident in my decision’ and made it happen.”

Vaughn made headlines in late March thanks to a 20-strikeout performance in a 6-0 victory over Brimfield/Elmwood. The 5-foot-11, 170-pounder says Bradley told him they liked his "power performance" and "high strikeout games" that included 17 Ks in a Class 1A regional championship win over Monmouth United.

Bradley pitching coach Andrew Werner and Vaughn then established a good rapport, giving him the confidence to select BU over two other offers from Division II schools.

“(Coach) Werner is a really cool guy,” Vaughn said of the Washington native and former San Diego Padres pitcher. “I just really like him. He seems fun to be around. The team seems to enjoy him, because I’ve been talking some of my (future) teammates.”

Getting local flavor in the red and white has been a priority during Bradley head coach Elvis Dominguez’s tenure. The 2023 roster included players from Metamora, Dunlap, Washington and Limestone following past lineups that featured standouts from Peoria Notre Dame, Morton and Princeville.

In fact, Morton senior Tate Roley heads to Bradley after helping lead the Potters to a Class 3A sectional berth. Another Morton graduate, Beau Durbin, recently committed to Bradley after a season at Illinois Central College.

“They play for Peoria,” Vaughn said.

Now, the IHSBCA all-stater will play summer ball with the Peoria-area Wow Factor Illinois, participating in five tournaments and looking to improve ahead of his senior year.

IB coach Troy Teel says the focus for Vaughn, who throws a fastball, changeup and a slider/curve, will include improving on his pickoff moves as well as mixing up his timing to help out his catchers when it comes to base stealing. The process will start early 2024.

“We have some things that we want to work on him which will benefit him down the road,” Teel said. “When it comes to staying focused, him staying in the gym, working on the things that he needs to work on personally, he’s on top of that himself.”

Moving forward, stability in his approach will be key for Vaughn, who joins Taylor Bruninga (2022-2023) and Brent Rynearson (2006-2010) as the two most recent IB baseball players to play Division I.

Larry Milsteadt, who serves as the Tigers pitching coach, will emphasize Vaughn’s recovery while still being prepared now that the IB pitching staff lost some of its key guys to graduation. Getting and keeping Vaughn in a routine will prove to be paramount in helping him exceed his top speed of 91 mph from this season.

“That will kind of help him get to that next level of being at 90 (mph) more consistently,” Milsteadt said. “Being at 90-plus more consistently … five to 10 pitches would be there. We’d like to see him be able to consistently be there.

“I think that all is based on what he’s doing in preparation for starts.”

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: NCAA baseball: Illini Bluffs ace Josh Vaughn commits to Bradley