The swing will play…”The fastball is more, in the 88 to 92 range, and the breaking ball is more consistent. It took a few days to adjust.” – Braylon Cordonnier on his first weeks as a college baseball player. (Press Pros Feature Photo)
Last year’s athletic phenom at Russia has picked college baseball as his next athletic pursuit, and couldn’t be happier with the early returns at Marshall University.
Russia, OH – Braylon Cordonnier has never been one to toot his own horn…on the golf course…on the basketball court…or on the baseball diamond. He just performed, and usually won as a three-sport standout for the Shelby County League’s Russia Raiders.
So it wasn’t shocking Wednesday, over a double pepperoni at the Keyhole, in Newport, that he answered questions about his first test as a college baseball player this fall at Marshall with customary cool.
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“It was fine,” he said, sharing a wry smile. “It went well. I enjoyed it. Great place to be. I like the school, and I like Huntington.”
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and college baseball for Press Pros Magazine.com.
One of the two baseball best in modern history to come out of the Shelby County League – along with former Texas Ranger Jared Hoying (Ft. Loramie and University of Toledo) – Cordonnier became a recruiting priority as a freshman in the 2022 OHSAA state title game with Lincolnview. Then coach at Ohio State, Greg Beals, watched from the stands in Canton and made copious notes about the tall, skinny kid playing shortstop for Russia. That was Cordonnier, of course, whose throws to first base resembled a stretched clothes line, and he finished the title game with 3 hits in 4 plate appearances, with 2 runs scored and 2 runs batted in.
Beals was fired by Ohio State two weeks later, but when he cleaned out his desk he kept his notes about Cordonnier. And after the shuffling of life’s fates over the following winter, Beals made his way south to Huntington to take over the position at Marshall University. One of his priorities, besides change in wardrobe, were his notes.
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Cordonnier would go back to the state tournament again in ’23, ’24 and ’25, but lost in the title game to Berlin Hiland in ’23 and again to Hiland in ’24 in the semi-final game. Last spring the Raiders lost to Minster in the semi-final game, 4-2. Cordonnier was the losing starting pitcher in all three of those games with Hiland and Minster, throwing as hard as any pitcher in the tournament.
He caught the eye of Marshall coach Greg Beals, playing shortstop in the Division IV title game against Lincolnview. “This is the first time that Braylon will have the opportunity to concentrate on being the best baseball player he can be,” says Beals.
Depending on which scout you talk to, he’s blessed with at least four of the five requisite tools in baseball – arm strength, he catches the ball well, he hits, and he hits with power. The fifth tool is foot speed, and while Cordonnier runs well, he’s not Elly De La Cruz.
And tools aside, there was little question, unless it was Cordonnier, himself, about his going to Marshall and adjusting to the next level and speed of baseball.
“It was fine,” he said Wednesday, talking about the differences in the game.
“Everything is better than what you see in high school,” he says. “They don’t throw 70 miles per hour, anymore. The fastball is in the 88 to 92 range, and the breaking ball is more consistent. It took a few days to adjust.”
And according to eyewitnesses he hit a half dozen of the hardest baseballs struck during the Thundering Herd’s six week fall workout period. Asked about it, Cordonnier smiled and detailed every one of them.
Asked about where he might play in the field, he got considerable time at third base.
“I think where I play might depend on the other third baseman ahead of me,” he adds. “He’s played at the other two infield positions, and if he has to move over I would play at third.”
Or course, Cordonnier has plenty of experience at shortstop, so it’s no stretch that he could play there if asked.
“There’s some developmental things that will come with time, but you have to remember that this is the first time that Braylon has been able to concentrate on becoming the best baseball player he can be…without having to play golf and basketball,” said Beals, earlier in the fall. “We’re happy that he’s with us.”
Earlier this week he added: “Braylon had a good fall for us. The things that challenged him he dug down on and took care of them. If he plays at third he has to learn to play lower to the ground. You can’t play that position as high like you can in the middle of the infield.
“But he has the tools to be a legitimate major league prospert. And the thing that I really like is he’s going to push…he may not be in the lineup on opening day, but he’s going to be pushing our roster to be on the field. And I like that.”
That swing…that sweet, graceful swing that drove balls to the gaps and over the fence at every level of high school baseball, is still the same. He still wears #24. And with added time and strength it’s not hard to project that he’ll hit home runs in double figures against the Sun Belt Conference, one of the top-rated leagues for college baseball in America.
“There’s a guy at Coastal Carolina that throws 98,” Braylon smiled over the changes he’s conquering. “That’s different from the Shelby County League.”
But he didn’t seem concerned. It’s just baseball – what he signed up for when he signed with Marshall. Greg Beals has always believed in him.
And it won’t be long…until he justifies that faith.
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