In The Dugout – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 15, 2003
Around the Ohio State clubhouse, there is no shortage of stories about small-town kids traveling to the big city to chase their sports dreams. Several members of the Buckeye squad have come from small towns in Ohio to the state capital to play for the big state school.
Junior pitcher Josh Newman certainly falls into this category. Newman hails from Wheelersburg, Ohio (pop. 5,113) and went through the shock of adjusting to life in a city nearly 300 times the size of his childhood country town.
Newman, like many of his teammates from Ohio, chose Ohio State because of its close proximity to his hometown.
“Wheelersburg is only two hours away,” Newman said. “That’s one of the reasons I came here: so my family could come watch me play and so they could always come and visit me.”
In choosing to attend Ohio State, Newman said it was the academic realm that took the most adjustment.
“Coming from a graduating class of 130 to having this many, if not more in a single class, was hard,” Newman said. “School was very hands-on back home and it takes a lot of dedication and hard work to make up for that change. Being a junior now, it’s a lot easier, but that’s why I tried so hard to get off on the right foot as far as academics. It’s really paid off.”
Putting academics first indeed was a smart decision for Newman, who last season was named Academic All-Big Ten and an OSU Scholar-Athlete.
Outside the classroom, Newman has enjoyed the transition to the big city.
“It has been pretty nice to go from back home, where there’s hardly anything to do, to a place like Columbus, where, you name it and they have it,” Newman said. “When you go out with your friends here, you can do pretty much anything. Back in Wheelersburg, we’d just go to a buddy’s house or go fishing and hang out at the pond.”
Most of all, Newman enjoys life in a place where he constantly meets new and interesting people.
“You know everyone (in Wheelersburg) and that’s one of the things I like about a small town,” Newman said. “Everyone is your friend, but at Ohio State, you meet someone new everyday. I like to meet new people and see new things and that’s something I get to do everyday in Columbus.”
Like many of his teammates from small towns, when Newman does venture back home, he takes on a role of a local “celebrity.”
“When you have somebody from a small town go and play Division I athletics, the community supports you,” Newman said. “It comes along with being a student-athlete at a top-notch university like Ohio State. I appreciate when people take time out to see how things are going for me with baseball and academics.”
All in all, Newman hopes his performance on and off the field at Ohio State can open the door for other talented athletes from Wheelersburg who may be vying for a spot at Ohio State or another Division I institution.
“I see more and more people from my hometown coming up and watching games and that’s good for Wheelersburg,” Newman said. “A lot of baseball players from my town get overlooked because it’s a smaller school, so hopefully I can set the stage for other guys to get chances at big schools.”
