'Comfortability' With BG Was Right For McKenzie

WHEELERSBURG - Cooper McKenzie was at a beach when he was informed where he stood with Bowling Green.

“I talked to the coach  and said we really like you, but we’re going to look at the transfer portal,” reflected McKenzie, who had just graduated from Wheelersburg at the time. “A week later he called and offered. I took a day to think it over but BG was where I wanted to be. I love the campus and where the baseball program is headed with the guys going there.”

One of those “guys” helped McKenzie get noticed by Bowling Green.

“They were looking at DJ Newman and he was pitching and I was catching,” McKenzie said about a game in Cincinnati while both were playing for Ohio Elite. “After the game the coach texted and said we really like you and said he wanted to continue to talk. We were off and on for six or seven months, one day it looked like an offer and the next it didn’t.”

But in the end it finally materialized for the 31st-ranked 2022 catcher in Ohio.

“They love the way I catch and the way I receive the ball,” the 6-4 215-pounder said of BG. “They think my body can play at the next level. They like my bat and said that power will come.”

Marshall along with JUCO schools and D-II colleges such as Lake Erie were being considered by McKenzie before Bowling Green made an offer.

“I have a good relationship with the coach,” McKenzie said about what made BG his top choice. “He kept me posted on what was going on. I trusted him as a person before a coach.

“Number one for me was the comfortability,” McKenzie added. “I knew it was a place I really wanted to be.”

But the commitment did not come without some anxious moments being uncommitted at the time of graduation.

“The whole recruiting process was tough for me,” McKenzie admitted. “Every day I was wanting a coach to call, I just trusted God to put me in the right place at the right time and thankfully He did.

“It was nerve-racking every day hoping someone would text me, but a lot of good came out of it. It was cool to see different coaches and people reaching out.”

The idea of playing at the next level started a half dozen years ago, according to McKenzie.

“Since I was 10 or 11 all I’ve wanted to do was play high school ball, then college ball and after that, if I’m lucky enough, to keep on playing,” McKenzie said. “I had a good year of high school ball as a freshman and also travel ball that summer and that’s when I felt I was good enough to do it.”

Getting recognized was not the easiest thing to do, however.

“I went to a few PBRs but I’m not a big showcase guy,” McKenzie pointed out. “I was smaller then and my velo wasn’t too great. My tools really didn’t play. But now that I’ve hit the weight room things have picked up.

“My hitting has come a long way. I’ve really grown the last few months and I’m getting my body moving in the right way and figuring out who I am as a hitter. My throwing has also improved. My pop time is better and I’ve gotten faster.”

One aspect of McKenzie has not changed.

“I have a winning attitude,” McKenzie said. “I’m a winning person on and off the field. I’m a person that succeeds at anything he tries to do, putting all my effort into it.”

Business is the planned major for McKenzie, a 3.4 student who is grateful to know what his future holds.

“It’s relieving,” the 18-year-old said of making a college commitment. “The whole spring baseball season I worried about where I would go after high school. It was the same playing summer ball before I committed. But once I committed the pressure was off my back and I felt like I could finally play.”

Wearing the brown-and-orange at Bowling Green is now just around the corner.

“I’m looking forward to meeting and bonding with my teammates on and off the field,” McKenzie concluded. “I’m really looking forward to this.”