Bellevue's Ray picks baseball and Findlay

Tyler Ray figured he'd head to Bowling Green State University this fall and try to walk onto the Falcons' baseball team. A recent visit to the University of Findlay changed his mind. Ray, regarded as the area's top male three-sport athlete this past school year, has committed to play baseball for Findlay, an NCAA Division II program that competes in the Great Midwest Conference. The Oilers finished 32-22 in 2023, setting a program record for most wins in a season, and placed second in the GMAC's South Division with a 20-12 record. Ray, the MVP in the SBC Lake Division, will compete as a pitcher and catcher. "I'm so excited to play at a higher level," Ray said. "I played with a lot of guys there now. I got the opportunity to play ball and I had to take it." Ray visited Findlay in mid-June and committed a few days later. He said UF coach Matt Palm guaranteed him a roster spot. Palm is entering his third season guiding the Oilers. Palm, who also is UF's assistant athletic director, was head coach and AD at Heidelberg for many years before taking the Findlay job. His son Nick, a first-team All-Ohio selection this year at Tiffin Calvert, also is headed to Findlay. "Coach Palm had watched me last summer (on Tiffin's Legion team) because his son was on the team," Ray said. "At the time I don't think he had any idea I was interested in playing at the next level." That all changed this spring. Ray said Bellevue assistant coach Todd Brown and former Columbian coach Curt Mellott, who coached the Legion team, reached out to Palm about Ray. "They did more than I did in the recruiting process and I can't thank them enough for that," Ray said. Ray, who will major in business, had some Division III football and baseball programs showing interest before choosing baseball and Findlay. "I was thinking about football for a while. But I'm pretty undersized (5-11, 165) and not an extremely freaky athlete," he said. "To play collegiate ball at a high level like I want to, basketball and football were kind of ruled out. I'm not the fastest or tallest and don't jump the highest." Ray was athletic enough to leave his mark in three sports — a rarity in this age of sports specialization. He led the SBC Lake with 65 receptions for 1,080 yards last football season and caught six touchdown passes. He also made 38 tackles as a defensive back. In basketball, Ray was a unanimous first-team Lake selection. He averaged 13.4 points per game for the Redmen, who finished 16-7 overall. He said focusing on just one sport was never in the cards when he was growing up. "I never put much thought into it until high school when people started making a big spectacle of it," Ray said. "When I was a kid I got to play with my buddies all the time, whether it was travel baseball, pee-wee football or Hardwoods (youth) basketball. Playing with my friends was a blast. I guess I stuck with all three because I loved doing them." In baseball, Ray batted .429 (30 for 70) as a senior for the Redmen while catching and pitching. On the mound he had a 7-3 record and an earned-run average of 0.81. He struck out 87 batters in 60.2 innings pitched and was named District 9 Player of the Year. This summer, Ray is playing in the Back Bay League at Sports Force Parks, where Brown is his coach. At Findlay he'll join former Bellevue teammate Ethan Mohr and former SBC standouts Cam Farrar (Clyde), Carson Mellott (Columbian) and Austin Adelman (Willard). Farrar, who has hit a program-record 30 career home runs for the Oilers, has one more season of eligibility. "Get to catch E-Mo some more," Ray said. "He was always kind of chirping at me, jokingly, like, 'Come over to Findlay.' He loves it. They have a really strong culture and hit home on being a family."