Jacob Weirich and Grant Wood have been playing baseball together for nearly a decade.
Last week, they made it official they wouldn't be playing on the same team once the Jefferson City Jays' season ends next spring.
Both will be playing Division I ball, but in separate states.
Weirich signed his National letter of Intent to play at Southern Mississippi while Wood is headed to the state of Kentucky to play at Murray State.
"Murray was my only Division I offer and it provided the best features for me," Wood said.
Weirich said he chose Southern Mississippi because it just felt like the right place for him.
"It was tough to pick just one school and have to call all of the other coaches and tell them that I've made my decision," Weirich said. "That was a little tough, but in the end I'm very excited to go to where I picked. I fell like its a home away from home and I feel like I'm going to be just fine there."
Weirich said Missouri State, Maryville and Central Missouri were among the other schools he considered.
Maryville and Central Missouri were also on Wood's list, along with Drury.
But in the end, the opportunity to play at the DI level was too good to pass up.
"That was a big goal of mine," Wood said.
Wood hit .398 with three home runs and a team-high 24 RBI last season for the Jays.
He'll be joining three fairly familiar faces - Ryan and Justin Perkins, and Braydon Cook of Francis Howell. The Vikings defeated the Jays 8-2 in the Class 5 championship game in June.
Wood said he and Cook spoke about going to Murray State.
"He was really wanting me to go down there and he talked to me into really looking into Murray," Wood said.
The goal for Wood is to start as a freshman, but he knows he'll have to earn it.
Caleb Hicks was Murray State's starting shortstop last season as a sophomore. He hit .290 with 43 RBI.
"They gave me an indication that was a possibility but I'd have to work for it," Wood said of starting.
Weirich may be in a similar situation his freshman season.
He said he'd like to start some but knows he'll probably get time out of the bullpen.
"That would be awesome to start a few games if I get that chance, if I can develop enough," Weirich said. "That's definitely a goal there but I just want to be able to help the team."
Weirich had an ERA of 1.27 as a junior and said he wants to get stronger and add velocity to his pitches.
"That's a big thing right now," he said. "And definitely work on some off-speed pitches. I'm really looking forward to developing and see how much better I can get under their coaching and the system that they run."
As for Wood, he plans on using his time next summer with the Jefferson City Renegades, a MINK League team, to get more college-ready.
"It was almost perfect for me because they are just starting and they are needing players, so I was fortunate to be asked to play on that team," Wood said.
Weirich and Wood may not be playing on the same team in college, but there's still an outside chance they could see each other together again on the diamond in the postseason.
The last time Murray State made it to a regional tournament was in 2003, and it played Southern Mississippi.
"We talked abut the possibility of playing each other and that would be really cool to experience because I was growing up playing with him since I was 9," Wood said. "It'd be different playing against him."