As memorable a moment as we’ve seen…Ronnie Dawson skips home after hitting the game-winning homer over Michigan State in the 2016 Big Ten Tournament. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
A weekend question prompted us to go deep into ten years of covering Buckeye baseball. It asked: Who’s your all-time opening day starting lineup. Considering everything, here’s our updated answer.
With thanks to a fan of our Press Pros coverage of Ohio State baseball, who wrote two years ago from Hilliard to ask …”Who’s your all-time Buckeye starting lineup for opening day?”
It’s coming up, you know, later this week, when for the thirteenth consecutive year we’ll write Buckeye baseball, starting with the Arizona State, who the Buckeyes split with last year in a four-game series.
Publisher/Editor Sonny Fulks writes the Big Ten and Buckeye baseball for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Logan Services, in Dayton, Cincinnati, an Columbus, is a proud sponsor of area sports on Press Pros.
It all began, of course, in 2012 with former Reds beat writer Greg Hoard, who’s no longer active as a day-to-day writer, but in those first years showed the way with how baseball is covered – a mix of personalities and on-field narrative.
Ten years later, hall of famer and former Reds beat writer Hal McCoy will join our Buckeye baseball coverage further helping us become the most comprehensive coverage team in the Big Ten.
Photographer Julie McMaken Wright is the other original from that 2013 debut, but through it all…since the 2015 season I’ve personally seen every opening day and about 90% of the last 560 games, not counting a few from the Big Ten Tournament and the three NCAA regional appearances.
So Craig Stichner, another reader from central Ohio, wrote this week to ask if the list has had any recent updates. It created an entire weekend of scrambling for data, photos, and whatever notes I could find back in 2023…and I cannot think of a better way to count down the final three days until Friday’s ‘titanic’ clash with the Sun Devils. And bear in mind…this is only for the past ten years, and with baseball the personalities are sometimes more memorable than their production. You might be surprised, or you might be delighted with some of the updates necessitated by what we’ve seen since that original list.
Catcher Dillon Dingler is probably the best all-around athlete we’ve seen…throwing arm, hit, hit with power, and he could run.
Catcher…(Dillon Dingler) There’s some competition here because the Buckeyes have had a pair of receivers recently that stand out. But because Dillon Dingler had all of baseball’s five tools – he hit, hit with power, he could run, catch, and was the best throwing catcher in the Big Ten. Currently appearing as the backup catcher with the Detroit Tigers’ organization, he’s the overwhelming pick for behind the plate.
1st base…(Conner Pohl) This gets murky, and remember that we only have ten years from which to pick. But from what I saw in those ten years my choice is Conner Pohl, from Arcanum, Ohio, who after struggling to find a spot defensively on the field, became an outstanding glove man at first in his junior and senior seasons, averaged about .290, and hit with power. There were some other colorful choices going back through the years prior to Conner, but he was the guy you wanted there, hitting third in the order.
Joe Mershon was a base hit waiting to happen. Makes our opening day list after just one season as the Buckeyes’ second baseman in 2024.
First baseman Conner Pohl clubs a home run at Illinois, April 2018.
2nd base…(Joe Mershon) He only played the one season…last season…but transfer Joe Mershon (College of Charleston) stepped in at second base to be the best offensive player at the position in the past decade, without question. An adequate glove man, as well, Mershon hit .299 with 4 home runs and drove in 29 runs. So yeah…Joe Mershon!
Shortstop…(Zach Dezenzo) There have been some good ones, but Zach Dezenzo is the best at the position in the last ten seasons. Maybe not as much range as others, but good hands, a powerful arm, hit with power…and he was a great leader – clutch when a big hit was needed. Taken by the Astros in the 2022 draft, he made his big league debut in 2024, and still one of classiest players I’ve met wearing a Buckeye uniform.
Nick Sergakis is our pick for third base…hit .332 as a senior before being drafted by the Mets.
3rd base…(Nick Sergakis) Without a question the guy I still remember best is Nick Sergakis, who former teammate Yianni Pavlopolous dubbed with the nickname, ‘Greek Crime’ for his great glove work at third base. Nick wasn’t very big, but he led the Buckeyes in 2016 with big plays, big hits, and big presence in the lineup. In 2016 he rebounded from hitting .250 in his junior year to hit .332 as a senior, killed Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament, and helped lead the Buckeyes to the tournament title with a win over Iowa. He was drafted that June by the Mets and spent several years in the minors.
Shortstop Zach Dezenzo led the Buckeyes with a .319 average, 19 home runs, and 56 RBIs in 2022.
Left field…(Ronnie Dawson) One of the best human beings you’ll ever meet, a powerfully built guy who could play either corner outfield spot, but what he did well was punish the baseball at home plate. Ronnie Dawson was a hitter, and peaked with his performance in the 2016 Big Ten Tournament, hitting a dramatic home run to right against Michigan State in an elimination game to push the Buckeyes forward to the Sunday final with Iowa. Drafted by the Astros in the second round that year, he’s still active and played in Korea last year for the Kiwoom Heroes.
Dominic Canzone is unquestionably the best hitter we’ve seen in our decade covering the Buckeyes.
Center field…(Dom Canzone) Dominic Canzone, hands down, was the best hitter I’ve seen wearing a Buckeye uniform in those ten years, and spent the majority of his time actually playing right field. But this is about the best lineup, so we’re moving Dom to center, where he did play at times, and played well. On a given day he was no worse than 2 for 4, and as a senior hit .345, with 16 homers, 18 doubles, and drove in 43 runs with a slugging % of .620. Ironically, I remember him, too, for a lot of line drives that weren’t hits – that got caught. Great arm, always made the right play, and there’s a reason why he’s in the big leagues now with the Seattle Mariners.
Mr. ‘Tax Day’, Buckeyes right fielder Mitchell Okuley, 2024.
Right field…(Mitchell Okuley) As a college hitter, he annually got hot right around April 15, tax day, and for that final month of the season Mitch Okuley was capable of carrying the team, offensively. One of the updates on this year’s list, he hit .314 with 4 homers and 43 RBIs in 2024, his last as a Buckeye, and over five years his hot streaks at the plate were sufficient to literally carry the offense. But as an outfielder, he was the best defensive right fielder I personally saw from 2020 on. If Okuley made an error it became front page news. Graduated now with a degree in engineering, welcome to the lineup, Mitch.
Seth Lonsway struck out 17 Indiana Hoosiers in April of 2021 in a two-hit, 6-0 shutout.
Starting pitcher…(Seth Lonsway) On April 2, 2021 Lonsway struck out the first nine Indiana hitters he faced, then proceded to strike out 17 of the 21 hitters he faced in a 7-inning, 2-hit, 6-0 shutout over the Hoosiers. It was the most dominant starting performance by a Buckeyes pitcher in a decade, and set the stage for the Celina, Ohio native to be drafted in the 6th round later that summer by the San Francisco Giants. He threw hard and his 12-to-6 curveball was unhittable when he threw it in the strike zone. Currently with the Giants at the Double A level, he replaced former Buckeye Tanner Tully from the original opening day starter list.
Seth Kinker is our pick for reliever…an All-American in 2018 after a 6-2, 2.27 ERA season.
Relief pitcher…(Seth Kinker) You talk about a workhorse? What Kinker did in his senior season of 2018 was simply remarkable. He appeared in 30 games, pitched 63 innings, had a record 0f 6-2 with a 2.27 ERA, struck out 60 and walked 5. I’m not sure he ever threw 90 miles per hour, but just mixed the two-seam fastball with a dependable slider and always…always…always…threw a first-pitch strike.
Some memorable characters….Dr. Tim Wetzel, who played a pretty good left field and went on to be a resident physician with the University of North Carolina hospital. Talk about the all-academic team? Tim was mad once because a professor gave him an A-, the only grade less than an A he got at Ohio State…Joe Ciamocco, who hit .276 in 2013 while playing center field, and once bragged to us that no one could throw him out stealing. Or course, he got thrown out (twice) the very next game….Brent Todys, another new name, for this willingness to play anywhere, anytime. An average catcher behind home plate, with men on base he became an absolute menace to pitchers with memorable home runs in 2019 against Maryland and Nebraska.
Former centerfielder Kade Kern robs a Nebraska hitter of a home run in 2022.
We remember guys like outfielder Kade Kern (left), who played centerfield from 2021 to 2023 and was known for being one of the most athletic players in the Big Ten – remembered for his ability to go to or over the wall to rob hitters of extra-base hits…Hard-throwing righthand pitcher Ryan Feltner (2016-’18), who completed his fourth season in the Colorado Rockies’ rotation in 2024…and first baseman Brad Hallberg, from Wisconsin, who in the early days then-coach Greg Beals called “my beer league first baseman.”
And Jacob Bosiokovic, for having the most memorable, and hardest name to pronounce. Public address announcers struggled with it for three years before he was finally drafted by the Rockies in 2016. But Bosie could play, and because of his powerful throwing arm, was ultimately converted to a relief pitcher by the Rockies organization. Currently with the Twins organization, he was recently assigned to their AAA affiliate, the St. Paul Saints.
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