Calvert basketball star also shines on baseball diamond

Garrett Spaun is a basketball player by trade. One of the top point guards in northwest Ohio, the Calvert senior is headed to Heidelberg University next season to further his education and be a part of the Student Princes' basketball team. But, Spaun grew up playing both basketball and baseball and with this year being his final one inside the royal blue uniform for the Senecas, he took the opportunity to play baseball for Calvert and it has paid off dividends. Spaun is comfortably nested in the No. 2 slot in the lineup for the Senecas and he's been a big part of why Calvert will face No. 3 Lincolnview (23-6) in tomorrow's Division IV state semifinals at Akron's Canal Park. "I played a lot growing up. I played travel baseball," Spaun said. "I played all the way through and played my eighth grade year. My freshman year, I quit to do travel basketball. My sophomore year was the COVID year. They played in the summer and I played that, but it was six or seven games. My junior year I didn't play because of travel basketball." Spaun noted University of Findlay head coach Matt Palm and current Columbian head coach Curt Mellott were two of his coaches growing up. Spaun was thrown into the fire quickly this year as a player with experience. The start to the season wasn't pleasant for the Senecas, who made it to last year's regional championship game before losing to eventual state champion Warren John F. Kennedy. "We got off to a rough start," Spaun said. "I wasn't questioning playing baseball, but I thought baseball was going to be more fun than what it was because we weren't really winning and playing the best. Once we started winning toward the end of the season, we got stuff figured out." Calvert has made a quick turnaround over the past six weeks. The Senecas were just 7-11 at one point in the season, but enter tomorrow's game at 18-12, winners of 11 of their last 12 games. Calvert has been four games under .500 four different times this season, but Spaun has been a big part of the team that has played its best baseball lately. "We just had to remind ourselves it was just baseball," Spaun said. "It's supposed to be a fun game. It's not something you are supposed to be stressed about. You should look forward to playing in games and having fun with your friends. (Calvert head) coach (Matt) Coleman is big on convincing us in that type of matter." Spaun's first career home run came in a win over Bristol in the regional semifinals and that victory was perhaps the Senecas' most comfortable of its last four tournament games. First, Calvert knocked off No. 2 Hopewell-Loudon in 10 innings, scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to shock St. Paul, defeated Bristol, then overcame an early 5-0 deficit in the regional finals to topple No. 5 Hillsdale. Against Hillsdale with the game tied, Spaun led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and scored the game-winning run on his birthday. "It is crazy to think about," Spaun said. "We are taking it all in because we know we were a pitch or two away from our season ending in early May. We are thankful to be playing in June." Spaun has 38 base hits — good for second on the team — this season, including 10 doubles. He is second on the team with 24 runs scored and is hitting .376. "I think confidence is the big key," Spaun said. "1 through 9, all of us go up with the mindset that we are going to do good and create contact to get on base. Finding any way to get on base is most important." The ups and downs of a season was never more apparent than this season for Spaun. He's found the right spot where he is in the lineup, but it didn't come without difficulties. "I was hitting fifth in the lineup to start the year," Spaun said. "We played Huron and I was 4-for-4 and did really good. Then, I went 1-for-25 in my next 26 at-bats. I moved down in the order a little bit. Once the season picked up, I figured it out." The accolades Spaun has received on the basketball court are plentiful. But what he has been able to do on the baseball diamond has led Calvert to the biggest of stages. "Garrett got inserted into the middle of the lineup," Coleman said of early in the season. "He is a high-quality player that played a lot of ball early. To move from sixth or seventh in the lineup to the 4-hole to being sure he is one of the three guys that are getting up as much as possible — he has done a great job." Spaun was on Calvert's regional finalist basketball team this past winter where the Senecas came up just short. He watched as last year's team also lost before the state tournament. "Personally, going to state for baseball has made up for not going to state in basketball," Spaun said. "Basketball is obviously my primary sport, but I'm still with the same guys I was with in basketball. We all came out and played baseball. It feels like it's the same to a certain degree." Calvert has also won two volleyball state championships while Spaun has been in school. He would like to bring a big shiny trophy back to Seneca County this weekend. Making the state final four to wrap up his high school career has been icing on the cake."It means a lot," Spaun said. "I remember when I was in middle school, I thought I couldn't wait to play at the high school level. Now, looking at it from this perspective that it is already over, it's definitely kind of weird because I'm going to be looked at as an alum and it feels like I've been looked at as a player for 10 minutes. It flew by."