From OSU Fan To OSU Commit For Kline

Caden Kline LHP / OF / Defiance, OH / 2020

The left-handed pitcher from Defiance will not have to change the color scheme in his room after a recent commitment to play baseball for the Buckeyes.

“I was almost ready to commit to Michigan State,” the 10th-ranked senior in Ohio explained. “They just talked to me for the first time since spring, so I went to Columbus to see what was going on. Nate Haberthier (Lakota East) is on my travel team and Kade Kern (Archbold) is going there, too. I liked their new pitching coach (Dan DeLucia). He’s a tall lefty like me, so I really enjoyed that

“I toured for almost four hours and then talked to the coaches in like a boardroom. Everyone said what they enjoy and they told you what to expect and what their culture is like. Then we talked academics.”

It was decision time for the 6-3 185-pound southpaw.

“I had my mind kind of set on Michigan State,” admitted Kline, who had also taken visits to Penn State, Toledo and Miami. “It was all really comparable. What drove Ohio State over the edge were the people. I could tell the Ohio State coaches hung out with their guys.”

A decision to stay in his home state followed and with it came the end to a long recruiting process.

“It was exactly what I expected, but it happened later that I thought it would,” Kline said. “After Penn State offered, I thought things would keep rolling.”

Improvement in his game proved helpful in drawing interest from Big 10 schools.

“Really a lot of it was working on my mechanics more than anything this summer,” Kline noted. “Once I found what I liked, I started getting seen a ton.”