Baseball: Versatile Johnny Hill helping to lead young Columbus Academy Vikings

Columbus Academy senior Johnny Hill is closing out a prep career that has seen him excel in two sports.

Hill has been a standout in baseball and basketball and had the opportunity to compete collegiately in both.

But with a bloodline that includes two brothers who have played baseball at the next level, the decision was easy for Hill, a catcher, outfielder and pitcher who will play for Hobart College in Geneva, New York.

“It’s emotional,” Hill said of his athletic career at Academy coming to a close. “It’s been a good ride. I’ve made great relationships with the coaches and I’m going to miss it a lot.”

Before then, Hill hopes to first help lead the Vikings to an MSL-Ohio Division title followed by a long Division III postseason run.

After losing its first two games, Academy was 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the league before facing Wellington on April 22.

“We have such a young team, but we do have some veterans that know how the process works,” coach Todd Dunkle said. “Johnny and Tanner (Compton) have become great leaders for us. I’m happy with where we are, but we’re not satisfied with where we are.”

Through 10 games, Hill was batting .313 with 12 runs, five RBI and three doubles in a lineup that also includes sophomore Peter Tsung (.481, INF), juniors Dylan Ritzenthaler (.423, P/INF/OF) and Luke Boltz (.417, P/OF) and freshman Sunil Santry (.417, P/C/INF).

“Johnny’s been a jack of all trades,” Dunkle said. “He was our catcher last year. He’s going to college as an outfielder. Since we have a freshman, Joseph Gurwin, at catcher, we’ve been able to keep Johnny in the outfield, where he’s been an asset. … Johnny’s just a great young man. He’s pleasant to be around. He relates well with the middle school kids who we’ve asked him to work with.”

Last season, Hill was first-team all-league and second-team all-district after batting .426 with 25 runs and 22 RBI.

In basketball, Hill played on the wing and was honorable mention all-league as a senior.

“I have two older brothers who both played Division I collegiate ball and it’s always been a goal of mine to play up there,” Hill said. “Playing basketball helped me out a lot with that. I got a lot faster, a lot more athletic, but it’s always been the goal to play at the next level (in baseball).”

Hill also excels in the classroom, where he has a 3.66 GPA as a senior year and a 3.2 cumulative average over his four years.

Hill’s middle brother, Spencer, graduated from New Albany in 2020 and is a sophomore pitcher at North Carolina-Asheville.

“We talk all the time about baseball,” said Hill, who added that Spencer is getting interest from professional scouts. “It’s always a topic of discussion. We work together a lot. Spencer’s very intelligent when it comes to pitching because he’s done a lot of personal research. He helps me out a lot. Andrew is the same thing.”

Hill’s oldest brother, Andrew, is a 2017 graduate of Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Virginia, where he played baseball.

He then played three seasons at Wooster before transferring to Oakland University in Michigan, where he pitched for one season. With a year of eligibility remaining, he opted not to play this season as he prepares to enlist in the Navy upon graduation.

“It’s a reflection on the program and it’s a reflection on his family,” Dunkle said of Hill playing baseball in college. “He has a whole family line of baseball brothers. He comes from a very athletic family and baseball seems to be their No. 1 sport. He’s the only one that I’ve been lucky enough to work with.”

fdirenna@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekFrank

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Baseball: Hill helping to lead young Columbus Academy team