Landis Ready To Begin 'New Step In My Life' At Oakland

ROCKFORD - Andrew Landis is ready for step two.

“Everyone’s dream is to play college baseball,” the Rockford High School junior said after making a commitment to Oakland. “The next step is to help the team. I hope to be able to do that freshman year or early sophomore year. Oakland is coming off its best year and next year will be even better than this year. I just hope I can come in and help somehow, some way.”

Landis is confident he can be a valuable asset to the Horizon League program.

“I’m a hard-working kid,” the eighth-ranked junior shortstop in Michigan explained. “Rockford is one of the biggest schools in Michigan and takes weight training seriously.”

It proved vital in helping Landis make an impression on Oakland.

“They like that I’m an athletic kid, and they like my overall potential,” the 6-1 170-pounder pointed out. “But I have a lot of growing to do. Obviously, things can get better, but they like me at shortstop and overall how I play the game.”

A Rockford classmate was helpful in Landis getting seen by Oakland.

“I played in a lot of big tournaments,” Landis reflected back to this summer playing with D Las Vegas. “The first time they saw me was at Lake Pointe. They ended up coming to our games with Grant Garman committed there. They’d also heard about me. I was on their radar and they saw me pitch and play shortstop in some of our bigger games.”

A visit to the university 21/2 hours from home was followed by an offer in September.

“I went there thinking I was maybe going to be a two-way, but I’m going to focus on shortstop,” noted Landis, the 47th-ranked 2024 in the state who made a commitment to Oakland in October after also receiving interest from Michigan State, Xavier and Central Michigan.

“I just fit at Oakland, I love that a couple of buddies are going there,” Landis explained. “My overall goal was to play D-I, but my first priority was that they wanted me as much as I wanted them. My dad played at Michigan State and I wanted to go there, but after a while I saw that Oakland was a better fit for me.”

In his youth, Landis was unsure what sport was in his future.

“I grew up wanting to play college sports,” Landis said. “I was also a good basketball player, so the past couple of years I had to figure out which one to pursue. Baseball passed basketball in my skill level, but it was still tough letting basketball go.”

The recruiting process in his journey to play at the next level was enjoyable according to the 16-year-old.

“I was so excited going through my recruitment,” Landis said. “It was the most exciting part of my life, but it also brought on a lot of stress. I didn’t really think much about that happening.”

Rockford head coach Matt Vriesenga helped kick-start the process.

“He said ‘are you going to be serious about this?’,” related Landis, who also credited Brent Cummings with PowerStrength Training Systems along with summer coach Bob Riker with playing roles in his development and recruitment. “That was freshman year. Then I went to my first PBR freshman year and Aaron Wilson (former PBR Michigan Scouting Director) was there at the time. He guided me so well and it drove me to get better. After that showcase I took it seriously.

“I went to a couple of tournaments at Lake Pointe this year and that’s where my recruitment took off. It’s a blessing to have coaches talking to you but the tough part is telling them, ‘sorry, but I’m going to play for another guy.’ That’s the most stressful part.”

But a commitment to Oakland made it all worthwhile.

“I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” Landis admitted. “I sat down with my parents and we talked about my goals and trying to figure out where I wanted to be. Coach (Jordan) Banfield talked about what I can do there at Oakland and that let off a lot of stress. At the end of the day it’s not all about sports, the major is a big part of it.”

Health management is the planned major for Landis, a 4.1 student at Rockford who has aspirations to be a physical therapist. But first there is a matter of finishing up high school with college and playing baseball at Oakland to follow.

“The most exciting part for me is the chance to continue playing baseball,” Landis concluded. “Whether it’s D-I, D-II, D-III or NAIA, I’m just excited to keep playing baseball, meeting new guys and hanging out with a few. It can’t be more exciting than that. It will be awesome to start a new step in my life.”