Will Bednar has gone from Big Ten and Buckeye, to SEC and Bulldog.
Bednar is a star senior baseball pitcher at Mars High School, considered one of the top right-handers in the eastern part of the country. He originally thought he wanted to play for the Ohio State Buckeyes, but Bednar has decided he would rather have some Dixie in his college career.
Bednar made a verbal commitment Sunday to Mississippi State. He will sign a letter of intent with the Bulldogs in November.
Bednar committed to Ohio State last fall, but decided in June to back out of his commitment.
“I felt like I didn’t really explore all my options,” said Bednar. “I felt like I kind of rushed into it a little bit.”
A few weeks after Bednar backed out of his Ohio State commitment, coaches from Mississippi State called Bednar and the Bulldogs started recruiting him. Bednar made a visit to Mississippi State a few weeks ago.
“I talked to the coaches, but I really didn’t know what to expect before I went there,” said Bednar. “I wasn’t 100 percent sure about anything. When I went there, I saw an incredible place. They’re building what is probably the best stadium in all of college baseball. You can tell something special is coming.”
Mississippi State is a top program that has made nine appearances in the College World Series. The Bulldogs are regularly among the top in the country in terms of attendance. Two years ago, the Bulldogs averaged a little more than 8,000 fans a game.
Bednar is 6 feet 2, 220 pounds and his fastball has been clocked at 95 mph. He pitched in national showcases and events this summer and made the Post-Gazette 10-player All-Area team last season. He was dominant, going 8-0 with 120 strikeouts in 66 innings. He allowed only 39 walks and 11 walks and had a 0.64 ERA for a team that made it to the WPIAL 5A title game before losing to North Hills.
Bednar is the second WPIAL player to commit in the past year to Mississippi State. The other is West Allegheny junior outfielder Austin Hendrick.
A question with Bednar, though, is will he ever play for Mississippi State? You don’t find a ton of high school pitchers who throw 95 mph. He throws so hard and has so much potential that he could be taken in the early rounds of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. What then?
“I don’t want to think too much about that,” said Bednar. “When you think that far ahead, you lose focus of what’s important, and that’s constant improvement.”
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh
First Published: September 16, 2018, 8:13 p.m.
