By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

Sometimes, the ideal opportunity falls into your lap.

That’s certainly the way things worked out for Christopher Keating, a LaGrange Academy graduate and soon-to-be senior at Penn State University.

Keating was looking for a summer position that would not only be enjoyable, but would provide him with some valuable work experience.

Keating is interested in making a career in sports broadcasting, so he contacted numerous teams to see what was available.

“Last summer, I was with WRBL in Columbus as an intern reporter, so I got the news side of it,” said Keating, who was a standout baseball player at LaGrange Academy. “I really wanted to do sports. That’s what I want to do. I was looking for something that would give me a really cool summer but would also be really good for me. So I applied to a bunch of different sports teams.”

One of the teams Keating got in touch with was the Macon Bacon, and they just happened to be on the lookout for a play-by-play man for the summer season.

Keating applied for that position, and much to his delight, he got it, so for the next few months he will doing the radio broadcast for the Macon Macon, a baseball team that plays in the Coastal Plains League.

“I originally asked them if they needed someone to do on-field activities or anything like that,” Keating said. “They said we have nothing like that, but we need a play-by-play guy. So I sent them a bunch of my reels from doing baseball games at Penn State. And they liked it, and I got offered the position for the summer.”

Keating will spend the summer with a host family in Macon, and he’ll be doing play-by-play for each of the home games. Keating will also have an opportunity to travel with the team for road games, and he’ll be a part of the home team’s broadcast.

The games will be streamed online through a link that can be found at the team’s website, maconbaseball.com

“The way I look at it, all of the players are in college, and they’re all trying to get better, and get their name out there,” Keating said. “And I’m trying to do the same thing being in the booth.”

Keating hopes to get to know each of the players well, which he believes will help with the broadcast.

“I want to make a relationship with each of them as much as I can so when I’m up in the booth,” Keating said. “I can throw my own color, my own style on it.”

While the venue will be new for Keating, he’ll bring plenty of experience to his summer position.

Since his arrival at Penn State in the fall of 2015, he has been heavily involved in broadcasting.

Through the college radio station, students have the opportunity to do the broadcast for every sport at the school.

Keating also helps out with a sports-related television show at the school called Penn State Sports Night, and that can be found on YouTube.

“Since my freshman year, I’ve called, baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, and I called one hockey game,” Keating said. “That is the hardest thing in the world to do.”

Keating enjoys doing baseball because there is so much down time involved between pitches.

“Not only am I calling the game, or reporting what happened, you can have a conversation in the middle of it,” Keating said.

Keating will return to Penn State this fall as he pursues his degree, and he said his experience there has been everything he hoped it would be.

His younger brother Nick Keating is also a Penn State, and his other brother Jack Keating is a rising junior at LaGrange Academy.

“I fell in love with it, and it’s been everything and more,” Keating said. “I get the full experience up there.”

Keating also credits LaGrange Academy for helping prepare him for a challenging school like Penn State.

“The academy, the curriculum here, they get you ready for college,” Keating said. “My English teacher, Mr. (Earl) Marsh, he improved my writing 10-fold, and I appreciate everything he did for me.”