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Tough Choice
Sophomore Zach Wentz opted for baseball over football and couldn't be happier he did
By Jim Otis
In the game of baseball there are good players, and there are outstanding players. There are players who have success standing at the plate and hitting the ball, and there are players who thrive by throwing the ball to the plate from 60-feet 6-inches away. There are also players like Bison sophomore star Zach Wentz. Players like Wentz do both. Wentz, one of NDSU’s tri-captains, enters his second season with the Bison as one of their leading hitters and pitchers.
           
As a freshman last year Wentz led all NDSU hitters in at-bats (169), hits (59), doubles (11), home runs (3), RBI (25) and total bases (81). His .349 batting average was second on the team and was the tenth best average in school history. Along with his prowess at the plate, he had success on the mound as well. Wentz was 3-2 with a 5.03 ERA in nine appearances for the Herd last year. He struck out a season high six hitters in a game vs. St. Thomas (Fla), and was named Summit League Pitcher of the Week after a 3-1 complete game win over South Dakota State. In that game he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
           
The success is amazing considering that last year was only the first year of collegiate baseball for Wentz. It’s also interesting to think that Wentz’s athletic success at NDSU almost didn’t take place at Newman Outdoor Field but just down the street at the Fargodome. As a standout two-sport athlete at Bismarck Century High School, Wentz was recruited by both the NDSU baseball and football teams. “After my junior year (in high school) I was being recruited in both sports,” Wentz said “I went to a football camp in the summer after my junior year, and then a baseball recruiting trip in the summer.”
           
The decision was a tough one for Wentz, who was being recruited to play quarterback for the Bison football team. “It was late in the summer before I decided to play baseball. When I was first being recruited it was right after football season had ended so I was really thinking a lot about football…but at the end of the summer I had to decide on one or the other, and I loved everything that baseball had to offer; I couldn‘t pass up the chance to play Division I baseball,” Wentz said “I made some calls…the football coaches were understanding and very thankful.”
           
Choosing to pursue baseball over football may have been a tough decision, but it’s one that Wentz is happy he made. “I love baseball. I love the atmosphere around the ballpark…there is just something about the game — I just can’t stop playing it. Even in the off season,” he said. With the eligibility rules that are in place in college sports, there’s always the chance Wentz could suit up for a year on the gridiron after his four years of baseball are over. “There’s always that one year,” Wentz said. “There is always an opportunity…it would be hard, but I think that it would really help that I was able to play in a college program for four years if I ever decided to try it.”
           
For now Wentz’s main focus is on the baseball field where the Bison have as talented a team as there has been in these parts in a long time. “The talent level on this team is a big difference from in years past,” Wentz said “(Head) coach (Tod) Brown and the rest of the staff are doing a great job of getting the right players in here…this is a special group of guys.”
           
Wentz is part of the first recruiting class for Brown when he took the reins of the program in July 2007. The fact that the players have been together in the same program for the same amount of time has allowed them to really come together as a team. “We all came in around the same time — even the junior college players came in around the same time that I did as a freshman,” he said. “We’re all such good friends…I’ve never been closer to a team than I am with these guys. We want to lead the movement of the baseball program.”
           
That closeness means it should come as no surprise that his goals are more about the team’s success than personal accolades. “The number one thing is to turn the program around, and we have the players to do that,” Wentz said. “When I’m done here it would be great to be able to realize that we were a part of something special…when you look back people forget personal stuff, like stats, but nobody forgets winning.”
           
That’s the attitude that has allowed Wentz to earn captain status on the team despite only being a sophomore. Brown said that to turn a program around, the guys you need to get are guys like Wentz. “He’s just one of those quality kids…he’s the type of big time recruit you need to turn a program around,” Brown said. “He’s not only a great player, he’s a 4.0 student…we really felt like he could be a leader on this team. That’s what it takes to turn a program around and we couldn’t be happier that he’s here.”

Off the field Wentz is much like you’d expect a star athlete to be. “I’m a big sports fan; I love watching football and cheering on the Vikings,” Wentz said. “I’m also a big Twins fan…I like to watch Joe Mauer. He’s the type of player that everyone wants to be like, both on and off the field.” Mauer was also a two-sport athlete in high school, who reportedly turned down a football scholarship offer to play quarterback at Florida State to sign with the Twins. So it looks like by choosing baseball Wentz has already begun to emulate the Twins catcher, much to the delight of Bison baseball fans everywhere.
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