By Bill Bray
FREMONT– One of Spring Sport’s graduating seniors resides on the baseball diamond at Ross.
Senior Owen Wright has been the ace over the last two seasons for coach Jared King’s Little Giant baseball team. Wright has supplied energy on the mound that is shared by other members of the pitching staff.
“He’s a kid I always trust out on the mound,” King said of Wright. “He’s always going to be around the zone, two or three pitches on a consistent basis that always gives us a chance to win ball games. He has a smart baseball IQ.”
Wright has been involved in baseball since the age of 3. “He’s been around the game and has played long enough that you know you’re going to get that leadership out of him on the baseball diamond,” King said. Wright’s coach shared that his southpaw has one important trait. “He has a fun-loving personality that keeps his teammates relaxed. The game should be fun, and he brings that childhood playfulness to the game. It’s contagious to the other guys. It helps the team relax and with relaxing, they play better,” King concluded.
Wright started the process of getting better from the time he was three years old. “I started by playing T-Ball,” Wright said. “I got started with pitching in ‘kid pitch’ and have stuck with it ever since.”
“I started getting serious and liking the game when I was in 10U. “I played with the Ohio Hit Men’ (out of Fremont) twice until 12U, then 13 and 14 was with ‘Bay Area’ out of Sandusky where I mainly played with guys from Perkins.” Then I moved onto high school.” Wright said.
With that history of the game already behind him, his love for the sport and pitching continued to grow for the talented senior. “A pitcher gets to control the game,” Wright said. There is no secret what pitch is used the most by the South Paw. “I love the fastball,” Wright said. “I throw a fast ball roughly 90% of the time. I don’t always throw it hard passed the batters. Sometimes it is put in play, but my defense gets the out. While that is happening, I pretty much become a spectator.”
After having his sophomore season wiped away because of the Pandemic, Wright never missed a beat with an exceptional year in 2021. “I threw one no-hitter last season against Fostoria,” Wright remembered.
Through last season and into this season Wright has pitched 90 innings for the Little Giants. He has 14 starts and sits at seven wins and five losses. He has allowed 74 hits with 53 runs allowed. Currently his earn run average sits at 1.254. He has produced a two-season-total of 116 strike outs with 28 base on balls.
Wright contributes to the team in the batter’s box as well. Over two season’s Wright has played in 34 games. He has had 127 plate appearances and has had 99 at bats. Wright has connected for 23 hits including 23 singles and one triple. He has contributed offensively with 23 runs batted in and has scored 19 runs. He has also walked 15 times.
What is ahead now? “Because of the Pandemic, Wright has one more year of eligibly for Fremont’s American Legion team but may not use it. “I may just move on to the college league this summer instead,” Wright said.
Beyond summer, Wright is probably going the junior college route for a few years. Area colleges have their eye on the Little Giant fast baller. Tiffin and Findlay to name a few. “They like my ‘stuff’ they are seeing,” Wright said. “They like how I throw strikes a lot and how I throw strikes a lot along with my control.”
But before all that happens, coach King and the Little Giant baseball fans are hoping Wright and his teammates can make a run the rest of the season as currently they sit 10-1.