College commitment: Avon Lake's Hayden Blosser likes Michigan's pitch

When Avon Lake junior Hayden Blosser saw the chance to play Big Ten baseball he knew he had to seize the moment. Blosser announced last week on his Twitter account that he orally committed to continue his baseball career at the University of Michigan. "Right when I stepped on campus my heart was set on Michigan and I knew that's where I was going to be for the next four years," Blosser said. "There's something different about it. I went in the fall and the colors were all over the place, the campus was top tier, old but very new at the same time. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. It would be almost silly to pass this up." A right-handed pitcher, Blosser's fastball has been clocked at 88 mph, according to prepbaseballreport.com. "Since he's been in our program we've seen Hayden grow so much," Avon Lake coach Andrew Means said. "It was obvious to the coaching staff that he was very talented. He had every trait and characteristic you look for in a baseball player. "Some of things he can do you can't coach. The way he can move his body and get his feet in the right position, and his arm strength. His in-game situational awareness is exceptional. He's very intellectual when it comes to baseball. He's always a pitch ahead." Blosser has only played one year of varsity baseball but he caught the attention of the Michigan coaches at a showcase at the Ann Arbor campus this summer. "That was the first time the Michigan staff was able to see him in person and really get a good feel for who he is as a person and a baseball player," Means said. "They liked what they saw and I know Hayden loved what he saw." Blosser has been playing travel baseball since he was 8 years old but he never envisioned the game would take him to such lofty heights. "It's truly a blessing," Blosser said. "Never in a million years did I think I'd be going to a school like Michigan and have the academic and athletic ability to go there and show what I've got." Blosser is a dual-sport athlete. In the fall you can find him on the football field playing wide receiver and defensive back for the Shoremen. "Actually found out that playing football gives my arm a nice break," Blosser said. "I shut down baseball around Aug. 1 and I'll pick back up in a couple of months when football ends. It gives my body a break and my shoulder a break from those movements I do in baseball. It helps me take a lot of stress off and it helps me not get burned out." Nothing could dissolve the stress for Blosser like knowing the recruiting process is over and his future is set. "Right when I said the words, 'I'm committed,' I could feel stress leaving my body," Blosser said. "It was a process that I loved but at the same time I love that it's over." The best news for Blosser and the Avon Lake program is they can celebrate his accomplishment knowing he'll still be a key part of Shoremen baseball for the next two years, "With two years to go now I'm focusing on getting better, getting ready for Ann Arbor and getting ready to face top-tier hitters," Blosser said. "I'm excited to get after it. This team is special, I can't wait to see what our future holds." Means thinks Blosser will blossom into an even better player over the next two seasons. "There is so much more potential to unlock with him," Means said. "He's already so skilled and so talented but there's so much more in there that's not even tapped yet. He still has two really big years of development. He's just scratching the surface. He's just such a good kid. I'm excited to have two more years of him in the program." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.