Ohio State's Dillon Dingler drafted by the Detroit Tigers
The first day of the 2020 MLB First Year Player Draft came and went without All-American Buckeye catcher Dillon Dingler. While it may have been a bit disappointing for Buckeye fans, there was essentially no wait on day two of the draft. With the first pick in the second round (38th overall), the Detroit Tigers selected the Buckeye backstop.
He is the highest draft pick for the Buckeyes since Alex Wimmers was selected 21st overall in 2010.
Dingler is a Canton, Ohio native and played his high school ball for the Massillon-Jackson Polar Bears, where he was a state champion in baseball and basketball, and he was the Stark County Football Player of the year at wide receiver and safety.
Dingler comes from an athletic family, where is dad (Scott), played football at Denison University outside of Columbus. His mother (Pam) ran track at Bowling Green State University.
Now, he's the first to compete professionally.
“I was very fortunate,” Dingler said. “Massillon Jackson has a great baseball program. Bill Gamble has done a phenomenal job developing talent there. The recruitment process kind of snuck up on me. I loved campus, I grew up as an Ohio State fan, and once I got there I noticed the program was second to none. I’m positive you won’t find a better facility in the country. I loved every second of my experience at Ohio State and I’m proud to be a Buckeye.”
It wasn't an easy road though. His Buckeye baseball career took a couple of unexpected turns during his freshman and sophomore seasons. Despite being an All-Ohio catcher in high school, head coach Greg Beals asked Dingler to play some center field. He started 29 of his 53 games as a freshman manning the outfield and still earned All-Big Ten Freshman team recognition.
Dingler fought through a broken hamate bone as a sophomore last year, but he took great pride in his captaincy and still managed to play 44 games.
He was named second team All-Big Ten and was placed on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team after leading the Buckeyes to their 10th Big Ten title in program history. His RBI-single late in an opening round game against Michigan helped spark the 7th seeded Bucks to a championship - the lowest seed to ever win the tournament.
He was named second team All-Big Ten and was placed on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team after leading the Buckeyes to their 10th Big Ten title in program history. His RBI-single late in an opening round game against Michigan helped spark the 7th seeded Bucks to a championship - the lowest seed to ever win the tournament.
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