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Bethesda native Josh Leemhuis took a handful of baseball recruiting trips this past offseason, but only after one did he awake with the feeling that he had found a new home: the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"I took a couple of visits in the summer, once to George Mason and once to Mount St. Mary's and Richmond, but I just had a feeling that I couldn't be there for four years," Leemhuis said. "Once I got to North Carolina, the second day, I was like, this is where I can be happy. I had that feeling that I could live here for four years of my life."

When the early college signing period began last Wednesday, Leemhuis, an outfielder for St. John's College High (D.C.), signed a National Letter of Intent with UNC. The Tarheels finished third in the final Baseball America poll last summer after finishing one win away from reaching the College World Series final for the third straight season, finishing the 2008 season with a 54-14 record.

"It's unbelievable," said Leemhuis, who also considered James Madison (Va.), Virginia Tech, South Carolina, and Clemson (S.C.). "I went for my official visit about a month ago and all the players and coaches were all welcoming. I went to see what the new field is going to look like there. It's going to be amazing."

Leemhuis' teammate Jimmy Reed, a fellow Bethesda native and a left-handed pitcher for the Cadets, also signed a National Letter of Intent last week. Reed, however, will stay local and play at Maryland, a rival Atlantic Coast Conference school, which compiled a 30-26 mark last spring.

"Of course, it's a great academic school and they play great competition in the ACC," said Reed, who was also looking at North Carolina-Charlotte, George Mason and Virginia Tech. "It's close to home, right around the corner from where I live and I've been on the campus a bunch. I've always liked it."

Leemhuis and Reed helped the Cadets compile a 20-7 overall record and a 13-3 mark in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference last spring with their respective play in the field and on the mound.

Leemhuis, whose brother Matt plays football at the University of Virginia, batted .355 (27 for 76) with 15 runs, 20 runs batted in, four doubles, four triples and 16 stolen bases in 19 tries. Reed, used primarily in relief, went 2-2 on the mound with a 2.36 earned run average, totaling 20 strikeouts in 19 innings of work.

"Both are great kids," St. John's coach Mark Gibbs said. "I expect they'll be very good at their colleges. I couldn't be happier for them. It's great for Jimmy. He'll have a great pitching coach in Jim Farr and he really likes it there. Josh has been wanting to go [to North Carolina] since he was in third grade."