Pancake Has Always Been An Ohio State Fan

Trey Pancake III C / RHP / South Range, OH / 2021

SOUTH LIMA - There was no official visit. A walk around campus after a prospect camp last October was enough to sell Trey Pancake III on Ohio State.

Living in a household full of Buckeye fans made it easy. When OSU came on board, the South Range incoming junior made it official over the weekend with a commitment to the Big 10 school.

“They like how I play the game and how I am as a person,” Pancake said of Ohio State. “They can see me as one of their own and somebody they can trust in, someone to make the organization better.”

Pancake, who has attended “quite a few” Ohio State football, baseball and basketball games growing up nearly three hours away from Columbus, reflected on the camp and the walk around campus eight months ago.

“The coaches are people I think I can be around at the next level,” Pancake said. “Growing up in an Ohio State family, I can see myself being there.”

There was more the 28th-ranked 2021 in the state likes about the school and program.

“They’ve been very successful the past so many years,” Pancake said. “Coach (Greg) Beals I really like, not only as a coach but as a guy over the phone. He understands the whole family thing with three daughters. And I really liked the campus. I just loved the whole thing.”.

The prospect camp at OSU put Pancake on the radar of the Buckeyes.

“I don’t think they knew anything about me,” Pancake said about Ohio State prior to the camp. “I remember at the camp I went to outfield first and after that to catcher. He (Beals) didn’t realize I was a catcher. After that, he wanted to keep in contact with me.”

Improvement has followed for the fourth-rated junior catcher in Ohio, the fifth member of the state’s 2021 class to commit to the Buckeyes.