Record-setting pitcher Hunter Peck has become the latest Georgia Gwinnett College baseball player to realize his professional dreams, signing a free agent contract with Major League Baseball's Houston Astros organization.

Peck is the 22nd GGC player to have signed or been drafted by a MLB organization since the program began in 2013.

The left-handed pitcher is coming off a dominating 2020 season in which he had a 4-0 record and didn't allow an earned run in 38 innings. He tossed three complete games and two shutouts in his six starts.
Peck recorded 56 strikeouts and allowed just two walks during the abbreviated spring season. He established a single-game school record with 18 strikeouts in his last GGC mound performance against Lourdes University (Ohio) on March 6, 2020.

"I am very overwhelmed and excited to live out my dream and do what I have wanted to do since I was little kid," said Peck after signing the professional contract. "GGC was the best thing that ever happened for me. Everybody pushed me to be the best that I could be."

As a Grizzly, Peck had a 15-0 record, with a 3.05 earned run average, in 21 career games. He struck out 141 batters in 121 innings. Those performances helped him earn honorable mention NAIA All-American honors and was a two-time Association of Independent Institutions selection. He was the A.I.I.'s Pitcher of the Year in 2018 and tossed a shutout against Point University (Ga.) that same spring to send the Grizzlies to the Avista NAIA World Series.

"Hunter was a special competitor on the mound for us and this is a fantastic moment for him, his family and his GGC teammates," said Georgia Gwinnett College Head Coach Jeremy Sheetinger. "We are beyond thrilled for Hunter to pursue his dream of playing professional baseball, especially within an organization that truly has a plan for his player development. We can't wait to watch his progress with the Houston Astros."

Peck's professional aspirations will begin by throwing at a facility near his hometown of Wakefield, Virginia, with a program developed by the Astros. Later, all of the organization's 2020 signees will gather at the team's minor league training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, to begin development for the 2021 season.

GGC baseball was ranked No. 3 in the final NAIA Top 25 poll of the 2020 season, after posting a 23-2 record, including a 22-game winning streak.