College commitment: Avon Lake baseball standout Hayden Blosser to play for Ohio State

A second trip through the recruiting process pushed Avon Lake senior Hayden Blosser closer to home. Early this week, Blosser announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had orally committed to continue his baseball career at The Ohio State University. This came fewer than three weeks after Blosser decommitted from the University of Michigan. "Obviously, decommitting from Michigan was not ideal," said Blosser, a right-handed pitcher whose fastball was clocked at 90 mph this summer. "It was the right school at the wrong time, as my parents say. It was just for the better that I decided to decommit." Opening up his recruiting process again in his senior year, Blosser was worried whether scholarship offers would come. Then the Buckeyes came calling. "I was a little nervous. It was a pretty bad time to decommit but it had to be done," Blosser said. "There was a worry in the back of my head, 'Where am I going to go? What am I going to have to do now? Do any schools still have money or will I have to be a PWO (preferred walk-on)?"' Blosser said around 20 minutes after he put himself back in the recruiting mix, he heard from Ohio State. "Ohio State reached out and I fell in love again," Blosser said. "I am grateful for everything that was given to me. I am super happy they reached out to me again, being in my home state. It was hard to walk away from Michigan but I am grateful for the opportunity at Ohio State. I am ready to go there and compete." Blosser earned first-team Division I All-Lorain County honors last spring and followed it up with big performances on the mound and at the plate for his summer team, Bo Jackson Elite Baseball, based out of Columbus. He batted .382 with a .588 slugging percentage. "The summer was great, got cut a little short due to a torn labrum," Blosser said. "It was awesome traveling and playing some of the best teams in the country, competing against guys I will see at the Division I level. It was a huge confidence boost to have success against them." Blosser had surgery in September on his non-pitching shoulder. He anticipates returning to 100 percent by the start of the high school season. "I am recovering super well right now, working with my physical therapist," Blosser said. "My surgeon was amazing, (Guardians team physician) Dr. (Mark) Schickendantz." Blosser is already thinking about the first time he will pitch for the Buckeyes against the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "No disrespect to Michigan at all," he said. "They have been great. The coaching staff is amazing. I love their recruits but they aren't my team anymore, so I'm looking forward to competing against them. I wouldn't say it's going to be awkward. I'd say very personal. That's always a top-energy rivalry, one of the best in the country, but there's going to be something more behind it for me." Before heading to college, Blosser has one more year of high school left to help the Shoremen recapture the Southwestern Conference for the first time since 2021. "There's a ton of unfinished business," he said. "I'm excited for next year for sure. I'm guessing I'm going to finish on a pretty high note." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.