Maier to play baseball for IWU Wildcats

Thursday, April 1, 2021
In signing his letter of intent to play baseball for Indiana Wesleyan University, Ethan Maier is joined by father Andy Maier, mother Annette Maier and grandmother Janet Stephenson.
Courtesy photo

Sitting out most of the basketball season and the start of the baseball season has been anything but fun for Greencastle senior Ethan Maier.

One thing he could be happy about sitting down to do recently was determine his post high school direction as the Tiger Cub signed on to continue his baseball playing days at Indianan Wesleyan University in the fall of the 2021-22 school year.

Maier, a catcher by trade, played in 27 games as a freshman and hit .216 before breaking out at the plate with a .425 average in 25 games as a sophomore.

While there was no baseball last year, his first two years were enough to catch the attention of the Wildcats, who have found a run of success under head coach Rich Benjamin.

The skipper has guided Indiana Wesleyan to two NAIA National Championship Opening Round games, a first for the school, as well as helped the Wildcats win a share of the Crossroads League Conference for the first time in 31 years in 2016.

“He’s super on the baseball side of things,” Maier said about Benjamin. “What I mean by that is he’s really looking at the fundamentals from an old school perspective but doing it with a modern flare, talking about home runs and big power, things which fit my mold really well.

“He’s sold me on that kind of stuff, that I would fit the mold of a hitter with power, swagger and energy, as well as being someone behind the plate that’s a big backstop who can throw dudes out. He drew me in with that energy.”

As far as education, Maier had already decided what to study at the Marion-based campus.

“I’m going to study biology with premed requirements,” Maier said. “My goal is to be a sports medicine physician so once I graduate, I plan on going to med school from there.”

While the signing was a big moment, Maier also recently was cleared to resume practice ahead of a return to the field this season, welcome news for the senior after last season was lost due to COVID-19.

“It’s great,” Maier said about getting on to the field again. “I’m really excited to go out on the field with my teammates again.

“We have a good group of seniors and it’s been fun to play with them all, especially since we missed last season. My goal is to build friendships that last a lifetime and win a couple of ball games along the way.”

Maier won’t be behind the dish upon his return and while he anticipates playing there at the collegiate level, getting some time at a different position wouldn’t hurt his chances of seeing the field in the future.

“The coaches have told me they like my bat and they want me to be at catcher but there’s been talks about playing at first, so we’ll see how it goes,” Maier said about playing first base and designated hitter this season.

Getting time on the field would be beneficial ahead of playing at the NAIA level according to Maier, who anticipated seeing a lot of live arms in the college ranks.

“The quality of pitching is going to be much higher,” Maier noted. “Dudes will be pumping 90-plus m.p.h. at every game, something that’s hard to find around here outside of one or two players.

“They also have a three-pitch mix and can locate their stuff everywhere.”

As a whole, Maier expected to be challenged on-and-off the field at Indiana Wesleyan but he was also eager to meet it.

“Probably the rigorous classwork, especially going into pre-med,” Maier said about what the biggest transition to college would be. “There will be intense chemistry and biology classes and I will be part of the Honors College, so there will be a couple of classes with that, so handling all that, practice and games will be the biggest challenge.”

While he’ll get a chance to take to the field this spring for Greencastle again, Maier was already looking forward to joining a Wildcat program moving in the right direction next season.

“I’m really excited to be going next fall,” Maier said. “I’ve talked with the coaches and am looking to get in on the atmosphere of winning, hitting some home runs and playing with some swagger.

“I’m looking forward to all of that.”

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