End Of Baseball At BG Brings Shock, Agony To So Many

May 19, 2020
Bruce Hefflinger and Dylan Hefflinger
PBR Ohio Senior Writer and PBR Ohio Editor in Chief/NW Scout

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End Of Baseball At BG Brings Shock, Agony To So Many

If no 2020 baseball season in high school or college was not bad enough, the situation has gotten worse … at least at Bowling Green State University.

Last Friday the Mid-American Conference school eliminated the sport of baseball effective immediately.

The financial move by BG leaves so many in limbo, disappointed and upset with a decision to bring an end to the sport of baseball, which in 1915 established the first school-sponsored athletic team at the northwest Ohio campus.

But a little more than a century later, a decision has been made to terminate a program that has produced 49 Major League Baseball draft selections.

Many former, current and future players were hoping to follow the steps of players like Bowling Green graduates Orel Hershiser, Doug Bair, Andy Tracy, Burke Badenhop, Roger McDowell and Nolan Reimold in working their way up the ranks of professional baseball to the big leagues. Instead, those players are left with decisions to make ...

Should they stay at Bowling Green as a student only, all but ending their days as a baseball player? Or should they move on to another college to keep their baseball dreams alive?

Some have football as an option. Levi Gazarek of North Baltimore was planning on playing both baseball and football at BG while Max Carevic is another with football as a consideration. The 2017 Wellington grad was a standout on the gridiron in high school before attending Cuyahoga Community College for baseball prior to going to Bowling Green.

Here is what a number of current as well as committed Falcons of the future had to say about the ordeal they are now facing.

HOW DID YOU FIND OUT?

Max Carevic RHP / Wellington, OH / 2017

Rankings StateRank: 155 / POS: 52

The team had a zoom meeting Friday at 1:45 about the cancellation of the baseball program. I was in complete disbelief.

Tyler Hays RHP / 1B / Copley, OH / 2018

Rankings StateRank: 18 / POS: 8

Since the season ended we’ve had a few zoom meetings to stay connected as a team and updated on workouts. A zoom meeting was scheduled for Friday, May 15th and we received the horrible news about BG eliminating Baseball. I was shocked when the athletic director told us. The last few days have been very emotional ... everything from sadness to anger.

Griffin Parrill RHP / 3B / Perrysburg, OH / 2018

Rankings StateRank: 46 / POS: 20

We first heard about this at 1:45 on Friday through a zoom call. My first reaction was shock. It didn’t start to set in until the next day when it was time to figure out a new plan. It was devastating thinking I wouldn’t get to play with those guys anymore.

Gage Schenk RHP / C / Wapakoneta, OH / 2018

Rankings StateRank: 88 / POS: 31

We had a zoom meeting and our athletic director broke the news to us. I was shocked. Didn’t expect anything like that.

Tanner Egger C / SS / Avon, OH / 2019

Rankings StateRank: 77 / POS: 6

I first found out in a zoom meeting. Coaches and the AD brought the team together and broke the news to us. First I was shocked and mad because I enjoyed my teammates and the atmosphere so much. But as some time has passed I have come to realize I need to find what’s next.

Adam Fallon 2B / SS / Bishop Watterson, OH / 2019

Rankings StateRank: 90 / POS: 3

We found out through our coaches and athletic director as a team when they told us. My initial thought was that everyone’s time here was gone too soon and that we wouldn’t be able to step on the field together with a college and program we all loved to represent … Bowling Green Baseball.

Mason Montgomery SS / RHP / Vermilion, OH / 2019

Rankings StateRank: 83 / POS: 10

All of this news came as a surprise when we were told to get into a zoom meeting with the team and coaches and we were informed in there by our athletic director. My initial thoughts were to think that this can’t be real. I was in shock and I started to think about 100 things at once.

Rigo Ramos LHP / 1B / Archbold, OH / 2019

Rankings StateRank: 70 / POS: 10

We received the bad news over a big zoom call with all of us players, coaches and the athletic director. You can imagine how quiet everybody was because nobody could believe it.. We still can’t believe it.

Owen Recker RHP / 1B / Kalida, OH / 2019

Rankings StateRank: 13 / POS: 4

I heard about it in our team zoom meeting and I had absolutely no clue that that type of information was coming. On first hearing it I was obviously initially shocked and it was a little overwhelming at the time. it took me a while to be able to process the information. I was also very disappointed because I loved playing with the group of guys at Bowling Green and I’m definitely going to miss getting together with them every day and playing the game we all love together.

Nathan Rose SS / 2B / Shaker Heights, OH / 2019

Rankings StateRank: 91 / POS: 12

We were told on Thursday that we would have a team meeting on Friday afternoon. Since Friday was the last day of finals, I figured it would be an end-of-the-year meeting. When the meeting started it was clear that it was very serious and the AD delivered the news. The news was very upsetting and emotional. My heart sank when I realized that I wouldn’t be playing with my teammates again.

Tyler Ross SS / RHP / Olentangy Orange, OH / 2019

Rankings StateRank: 88 / POS: 11

We had a team zoom call in the early afternoon and our AD was on the call. He was choked up and told us the news. Initial thoughts are kind of hard to remember cause it was just so emotional you kind of go numb. Then our coaches talked to us and that was hard to hear. Looking on the screen you just saw a lot of guys with red faces and were just shocked.

Levi Gazarek RHP / SS / North Baltimore, OH / 2020

Rankings StateRank: 47 / POS: 19

I heard about this on a call from the baseball staff. My initial thoughts were that I was shocked and really didn’t even know what to think. It was definitely the last thing I expected to hear that day the news broke.

Landon Willeman RHP / 3B / Napoleon, OH / 2020

Rankings StateRank: 78 / POS: 30

I got a call from the coaches and I could tell by their voices something was up. When I got the news I was in shock and that’s when the emotions started to hit.

Peyton Wilson RHP / 3B / New London, OH / 2020

Rankings StateRank: 57 / POS: 25

I was in the middle of taking my AP final exam and I got the call. I knew it had to be important for it to go through. I answered it and I just knew it wasn’t good. I was devastated and still am. I was so excited to go play baseball at Bowling Green and I felt like I had it ripped from me. It broke my heart to have all of us players and coaches looking for new homes for the upcoming season.

Jake Armsey SS / RHP / Walsh Jesuit, OH / 2021

Rankings StateRank: 39 / POS: 11

I received a text asking if I had heard about what happened to Bowling Green. I said no and went on Twitter and saw they cut baseball.

Connar Penrod RHP / SS / Wauseon, OH / 2021

Rankings StateRank: 32 / POS: 10

I initially read it on Twitter and then shortly later was called by coach Hallock who added the other coaches into the call as well. They explained that they were informed shortly before I got the news and they were deeply sorry for this happening.

Christian Ramos 2B / SS / St. Edward, OH / 2022

Rankings StateRank: 17 / POS: 1

When I heard the news about the decision regarding Bowling Green’s baseball future I was getting ready to go work out and I got a text from a friend asking me if I heard the news and if it was true. After I saw multiple posts on Twitter about the program getting shut down, I honestly did not know what to think other than how tough it must be on the athletes and families, and tough to think about the coaches who put a lot of effort into helping the players grow. That is what kind of stuck with me. I feel for everyone who is going to be affected by this.

Samuel Seidel SS / 2B / South Central, OH / 2022

Rankings StateRank: 28 / POS: 10

The first thing I saw about it was PBR on Twitter. I wasn’t too worried about it because I thought it was just for the year 2021 and then everything was normal, but about 10 minutes later I got a call from the BG coaching staff and they explained what had happened. I was just shocked. It was so random and unexpected that I was just in disbelief. You could hear the sadness in the voice and that it was definitely not a call they wanted to make.