Baseball: Daniel Gladden relishes dual role for Olentangy Berlin Bears

Daniel Gladden was a force at the plate last season for the Olentangy Berlin baseball team, and now he’s making his presence known on the mound.

After the senior set a program record for batting average by hitting .419 last spring, he has emerged as the Bears’ top pitcher in addition to playing first base.

On April 20, he tossed a complete game but suffered a 2-1 loss at Dublin Jerome in OCC-Cardinal Division play. He gave up one earned run on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

“The biggest thing is that Daniel is not going to overwhelm you with his velocity, even though he’s an 83 to 85 (mph) kid at 6-foot-4,” said coach Mike Weaver, whose team was 2-10 overall and 1-4 in the league before playing Marysville on April 22. “I said it wouldn’t overwhelm you, but that’s still pretty darn good. He’s able to throw a second pitch, a slider, and hit his spots. When you can control and throw two pitches at any time for strikes on any count, that makes you effective.

“What’s really stepped his game up this year for us has been his consistency with hitting spots. That’s all due to the work he has put in during the offseason and working on his mechanics.”

Before April 22, Gladden had made four starts, going 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA, 26 strikeouts and 10 walks in 21 1/3 innings. Last year, he was 4-4 with a 4.34 ERA, 43 strikeouts and 34 walks in 51 2/3 innings.

He has a three-pitch repertoire with a fastball, change-up and slider.

“I’ve been playing baseball for as long as I can remember and I love all parts of the game: hitting, fielding, pitching,” said Gladden, who was honorable mention all-district and second-team all-league last season. “If I had to pick one, it would be pitching. Having the ball, having the ability to lead the game and having a role like that is exciting.”

To go with his .419 average last season, Gladden also had 13 RBI and scored 12 runs. Through 12 games this spring, he was batting .314 (11-for-35) with team highs in RBI (8) and doubles (4).

Weaver said Gladden was asking too much of himself early in the season.

“Daniel is looking to drive the ball, and he’s a gap-to-gap hitter that can also run,” Weaver said. “I think at the start of the season he got into a little bit of a rut striking out. Last year when he had (Jake) Kinkead, (Mitch) Herbst, (Ryan) Horstman and (Jacob) Moeller hitting ahead of him, his role was to complement them. You lose those four (to graduation), and you become the big dog. He was putting too much pressure on himself to do too much.

“We had a great one-on-one conversation about not doing too much and just being himself. I told him not to put too much on his shoulders. He’s been more focused on doing what he can do and taking what the pitchers give him. He’s gotten back to doing what he did last year.”

Gladden said settling in on the mound has been a help for him at the plate.

“When I’m pitching well, it helps my confidence (at the plate) and I understand situations better,” he said. “If I was in a similar situation as a pitcher, I know what I would do and where I would throw it. That’s what I look for.

“I just try to get a base hit, I’m not trying to swing for the fences. I just want to get up there and do my job.”

Gladden, who will play at Wittenberg, wants to help the Bears right the ship before the Division I district tournament. The draw is May 8, with games beginning May 16.

“I think we have the talent, but we’re struggling to put it all together,” said Gladden, whose team lost 5-1 to Orange in a Division I district final last season. “We have to come ready to play and show up to do our best.”

shennen@thisweeknews.com

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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Baseball: Gladden relishes dual role for Olentangy Berlin