Turner Looking Forward To Big Future At Bowling Green

Joey Turner RHP / SS / St. Clair, MI / 2025

SAINT CLAIR - The success of his older brother certainly did not hurt the cause for Joey Turner when it came to his college recruitment.

“He’s been a big influence on me and my biggest role model,” Turner said of his brother Jacob, who just completed his freshman year at Bowling Green.

In the not too distant future there will be another Turner at the Mid-American Conference university after the Saint Clair High School sophomore committed to the school in northwest Ohio.

“Playing D-I baseball is any brother’s dream,” Turner related. “I’m blessed to have the opportunity and I can’t wait for it.”

It was at the PBR Junior Future Games when BG head coach Kyle Hallock first saw Turner throw.

“That was a couple of years back, and then this winter I went to a BG camp,” Turner reflected. “I had good metrics and we talked. Then he came and watched me this spring and offered. It was a game against Utica and I threw well. My fastball was up to 88.”

There were other offers on the table, but Turner had little doubt about where he wanted to go.

“I kind of knew right away,” Turner explained. “My brother goes there and I like what they have going on and what he’s building. I think it will be a good spot for me. It feels like the right fit.”

Bowling Green sees promise in the 11th-rated sophomore right-handed pitcher in Michigan.

“I feel I had what they wanted,” Turner said. “The main thing is I like to work fast on the mound and that’s what they like. My brother had a good freshman season and we’re kind of the same type of pitchers. With him having a great first season, that helped me.”

An improved game was also beneficial for the 28th-ranked 2025 in the state, who last summer was maxing out at 82-83 and is now at 86-87, touching 88.

“The biggest thing for me this offseason was I hit the weight room more,” the 5-9 170-pounder noted. “Eating a lot of food and lifting more helped my velocity go up. I also worked with a pitching coach since December working on my mechanics. But it all started to come together in the weight room, that was the biggest thing for me.”

Turner pointed to a number of influences, his father being the biggest, that have helped in his baseball journey.

“My summer coach at USA Prime, Christian Penn, has always believed in me and on top of skill development built my confidence that I could be a D-I player,” Turner explained. “I’ll always be grateful to him for pushing me to reach my potential.

“My pitching coaches, Bob Riker and Mike Steele, have been an incredible help in my development as a pitcher,” Turner added. “Coach Riker helped me develop my offspeed and situational pitching ability. This past year coach Steele helped improve my mechanics and physical approach to pitching which both improved my velocity and took a lot of stress off my arm. The changes made have led to far better endurance and less postgame fatigue.”

Turner also credited his high school coach Nick Black.

“He pushes me to get better and has also given me opportunities to compete and learn,” Turner said. “Even last year as a freshman, he gave me the opportunity to start on the mound in important situations and the experience has been hugely valuable.”

It has all helped the 16-year-old on his path to a college commitment.

“That first time coach Hallock saw me at the Junior Future Games played a big role in him getting his eyes on me,” Turner explained. “Every recruitment is stressful with college coaches, but I enjoyed every minute of it. PBR definitely helped. Every time I was sending coaches out video and metrics PBR played a huge role.”

Turner, who carries a 3.4 GPA and plans to major in business, is confident about playing a significant part of the future success in the BG program.

“I’ll do whatever I can when I’m out on the mound,” Turner said. “Baseball is a sport that if everybody does their job you win. I’ll work hard on and off the field when I’m there.”

Nobody is happier to have him going to BG than his older brother.

“He loved it,” Turner said of his commitment to Bowling Green. “He was pushing for it and is super excited for me. The opportunity to play with my brother is awesome.”

Others were also happy for Turner.

“Living in a small town, I got so much love,” Turner related.

As for what lies ahead, Turner is expecting big things at BG.

“Honestly, what I’m looking forward to the most is winning,” Turner concluded. “I think when I get to BG, winning will be the mentality. I think we’ll have a chance to win the MAC championship and maybe even get to Omaha. I’m really looking forward to it.”