Alder senior will continue baseball career at BGSU

After discovering his love of baseball, Jonathan Alder’s Chase Chopin knew he was bound for the college level.

Chopin leapt right into summer travel baseball following the conclusion of the Pioneers’ spring season in 2023. During that time, the now-senior was handling both his recruitment while traveling outside the borders of Ohio.

Jonathan Alder’s Chase Chopin connects with an incoming pitch during a home matchup against visiting Kenton Ridge. The Pioneer senior intends on continuing his academic and baseball careers at Bowling Green State University.

(Photo by Aleksei Pavloff)

He has decided to play at Bowling Green State University.

Chopin, a student of the game since he was three years old, set out to play in college when he was seven years old. 

After spending time with his family watching the game and studying all aspects of the sport, he hopes baseball will be a thing he does past college.  

“I loved baseball at a young age,” he said. “I grasped the concept of playing in college… that’s when I was really into it.”

Chopin took a step back from playing high school and travel baseball during his sophomore year due to injuries. However, things changed his junior season of 2023.

Last winter, he attended showcase camps with several collegiate scouts seeking to add to their rosters. That’s when college programs started to reach out inviting him to campus.

Bowling Green made itself known to Chopin in the early days of summer. He eventually took a visit to the campus with an eventual offer coming down the pipeline.

“They’ve been following me for quite a while apparently,” he said. “I was circling through two or three [schools] during the winter.”

Chopin made the decision public on social media announcing he will be a member of Bowling Green State University’s baseball program following his senior year.

“The coaches and the program are what drove me over there,” he noted. “When I took a visit before they offered, I loved everything that I saw.”

Getting colleges interested in his abilities was a long and tedious process.

In his freshman season at JA and maturing into his frame, his didactic approach to “getting better every day” has always included playing at the next level. Being a player at Jonathan Alder also gave him insight into how to improve his game.

“Alder baseball has taught me a lot,” Chopin said. “You have to have certain things to be a part of the program. You have to be competitive and play with your heart out… I think (head coach) Craig Kyle has really done that and developed me in many ways.”

Kyle, along with other Pioneer coaches, preach to be a good teammate first above anything else. Chopin commented how those teachings helped him become a better player.

Chopin intends on studying business while attending BGSU.

However he left open the possibility of focusing on other majors.