JACKSON TWP. — Landon Thiel takes the mound and all eyes — and radar guns — are on the big lefty with the big arm. A high school baseball game feels like a personal showcase for the Jackson senior ace.
For his part, Thiel only is interested in competing for the win.
“He’s out there pitching for us, not for the scouts,” Jackson head coach Bill Gamble said. “That’s a big deal.”
It had a big impact Tuesday, April 21 as Thiel pitched into the seventh inning and Jackson scratched out enough offense to beat rival Hoover 4-1 in a matchup of the Federal League’s top two teams.
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A big crowd under a sunny April sky watched host Jackson (8-4, 6-1) score three times in the fifth inning to break a 1-1 tie and hand Hoover its first league loss. The two rivals will go at it again on Wednesday, April 22 in North Canton.
Thiel was a dominant force, striking out 13 batters and allowing one hit in 6.1 innings to move to 3-0. Carter Lukens’ single to lead off the fourth inning for Hoover (10-2, 5-1) marked the second hit Thiel has allowed this season. The Ohio State recruit has struck out 56 batters in 23 innings.
Thiel’s 6-foot-7, 220-pound frame and fastball in the low 90s has professional scouts at pretty much all of his starts. Several were in the crowd Tuesday as he battled control issues (four walks, two hit batsmen) but ultimately displayed what makes him such a prospect.
“It’s a huge honor,” said Thiel, Jackson’s all-time strikeouts leader who owns a 21-3 career record. “Being a professional baseball player is my dream and I know the type of work it takes to get those guys here watching. It’s a testament to my family and my coaches and the type of people that pour love into me.
“But when it’s game day, I’m worried about going out there and getting the ‘dub’ with my boys. There’s nothing more special to me than being out there with my friends. I feel like you can see that when we play. We’re all pretty close.”
Senior Kenyon Oakes, a University of Akron recruit, reached base three times and scored two runs for Jackson. He led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored two batters later on junior Brody Folk’s groundout.
Folk finished with a pair of RBIs. Senior Luke Leatherberry singled twice and scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning for Jackson. He had one of two bunt singles for the Polar Bears, who executed multiple sacrifice bunts.
Hoover got its only run of the day in the fourth when Lukens stole third and then continued home when the throw went wide of the bag into left field.
Senior right-hander Evan Fuller kept Hoover in the game. The Youngstown State recruit allowed just one earned run on six hits over six innings in a typical Hoover-Jackson contest brimming with intensity.
“It really gets both teams ready for what it’s like in tournaments,” Gamble said. “You’ve got two elite arms going at each other. You’re grinding to find a way to get a run. You’re trying to move a runner, extend pitch counts and get into the pens.”
Hoover’s lineup, featuring Bowling Green recruit Jack Andes and slugging senior Jack Ziarko (a Michigan State football recruit), battled Thiel’s mix of changeups, curveballs and sliders to go with his devastating fastball. The Vikings just couldn’t square him up.
“The challenge is baserunners,” Hoover coach Bryan Ashby said. “He’s a big, imposing guy. For high school kids, they have to have a mentality that we can’t give in because we have a guy up there throwing 90-plus miles per hour. Our kids did a great job of fighting and fouling off balls and drawing some walks. But he’s a great pitcher and he did a great job today.”
The Vikings committed two errors Tuesday after entering the game with six on the season. One of them contributed to Jackson’s three-run fifth inning, which included Hoover allowing a runner to get back to third base after having him in a rundown.
Leatherberry scored on a dropped ball at home to put Jackson up 2-1. Folk followed with an RBI sacrifice fly and senior Evan Beard tacked on another run with a sharp RBI single to left field.
“These types of games, you have to figure out a way to get them around,” Gamble said. “Whatever way you get them, you take them.”
With his pitch out at 106, Thiel ran out of gas with one out in the seventh inning. Jackson senior right-hander Clayton Macaluso entered and registered the final two outs with strikeouts for his first save of the season.
Gamble has enjoyed watching Thiel go to work. He recently threw a five-inning no-hitter during which Perry failed to put a ball in play in fair territory (14 strikeouts, one foul pop).
But Gamble’s admiration goes beyond game day for a kid who put on 30 pounds of muscle in the offseason.
“It’s enjoyable to watch and to see the progression from where he was a year ago to what he is now,” Gamble said. “He’s turned into a man. I’ve said it to reporters and scouts: You’re all here now, but you didn’t see his September and August. You didn’t see the five days a week he was in the weight room. You didn’t see the bullpen sessions. I’m proud of him about those things, when there weren’t scouts around, when there wasn’t a big atmosphere.”
Thiel could face a major decision when the MLB Draft happens July 11-12. He wasn’t thinking about that possibility on Tuesday.
“I’m focused on having a great senior year and having as much fun with my friends as possible,” Thiel said. “It doesn’t last forever. I feel like yesterday was the first time stepping on the mound as a freshman. I’m trying to enjoy this as much as I can. When that time comes, it’s going to be a great decision either way: Ohio State or professional baseball. Both are my dreams and I’m really excited.”
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Ohio State recruit pitches Jackson to Federal League baseball win
Reporting by Josh Weir, Canton Repository / The Repository
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