Hoban baseball player Masud Jennings attempts to match father's state championship victory
Archbishop Hoban sophomore baseball player Masud Jennings is two wins away from a being a Division II state champion.
His father, Markus Jennings, knows what it feels like to be a state champion after being a senior running back and punt returner on the 1987 Buchtel High School football team that won a Division II state title.
Markus Jennings scored a touchdown in Buchtel's state semifinal win over Cleveland Benedictine and in the state final victory over Steubenville 35 years ago. Buchtel beat Steubenville again in the 1988 Division II state title game when Jennings was a freshman baseball player at New Mexico State University.
This weekend, Markus Jennings, 51, will be a spectator at Canal Park as his son attempts to help Hoban win its second consecutive state crown.
Hoban (22-9) is set to meet Hamilton Badin (25-6) at 4 p.m. Friday in a Division II state semifinal game at Canal Park. The other state semifinal pits Columbus Bishop Hartley (19-7) against Chardon (22-9) at 7 p.m. Friday. The state final is set for 7 p.m. Saturday.
Masud Jennings, 16, is Hoban's leadoff hitter and starting right fielder. His path to success in Akron is different in that he has lived most of his life in California with his father, mother, Brenda Ramirez-Jennings, and sister, Basiana, 12.
The family moved to Ohio in August of 2021 when Markus was officially hired as the Deputy Athletics Director and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Akron alongside Athletics Director Charles Guthrie.
"It is so great to see Masud getting an opportunity to be part of a championship team," said Markus Jennings, who was raised in Akron by his parents Gloria and Eugene Jennings.
"This is unreal as a parent. I have classmates from Buchtel High School that still talk about us as seniors in 1987 winning the state championship in football. That is a memory that you will never forget. That is something you will always share with not only your teammates, but also your classmates."
Markus Jennings was a leadoff hitter and center fielder on Buchtel's baseball team. He then played college baseball at New Mexico State, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1994. He added an M.B.A. with a concentration in finance from Clark Atlanta University in 2001.
Masud Jennings played center field on the Pleasant Grove High School junior varsity baseball team last year in Elk Grove, a suburb of Sacramento, California. He was the only freshman on the JV team at the public high school with over 2,500 students grades 9 through 12.
"The biggest change for me was the weather because it was super cold here at times," Masud Jennings said. "Meeting new people was important. I have some cousins here, too, so that helped with meeting new people."
Jennings' cousins, Davion Jennings and Deron Jennings, also attended Hoban this school year. Davion, a football and track and field athlete, graduated from Hoban in May and Deron, a basketball player, just competed his freshman year.
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'Masud is a great asset to the team'
"Masud is a great asset to the team," Hoban senior second baseman-pitcher Shawn Parnell said. "He brings a lot to the table. I love that he is young. I love that he is fired up. He is a great kid to have around. It was very surprising to watch him come from California and step up into the role that he is in now."
Masud Jennings, who is 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds, said he had seen snow before during previous trips to Ohio, and during visits to Lake Tahoe, California and Reno, Nevada.
"It is not new to me, but actually living in it and not visiting to see it is different," he said.
Masud was born in Kansas when Markus was working in finance for Sprint. Markus worked in the private sector for 14 years before taking a job as a special assistant to the athletics director at New Mexico State in 2007.
The Jennings moved to Indiana in 2008 when Markus became the development director for athletics at Valparaiso University. In 2011, Jennings took a job at Kent State University as the assistant athletics director and associate director of advancement.
The family relocated again 2014 when Sacramento State hired Jennings to serve as associate athletics director for external affairs, a position he held until August of 2021.
"We're like a military family," Markus Jennings said. "To really advance in this career, many times you gotta move to a different institution. I have aspirations to be an athletic director. For Masud, our longest stint was our California stint. We were out there for eight years. At the end of the day, his formative years were in California. That is mostly what he knows.
"That is why quite frankly, coming back here was the biggest decision I ever made. There are several factors with this being my hometown, my mom lives here and our athletic director Charles Guthrie is a great friend of mine. He is somebody who I respect very much. ... I care about the city of Akron and my passion for the University is strong."
Masud Jennings played JV soccer at Hoban in the fall. Baseball is his primary sport, and he is generating interest from coaches at Virginia Tech, San Jose State, Indiana and James Madison. He has also been in contact with Stanford, Princeton and Akron regarding potentially majoring in engineering.
His focus presently is on helping Hoban win its second baseball state title in a row.
"It has been cool hearing about their past success," Masud Jennings said. "They really want to repeat as state champions, of course. It is cool to be a part of this team. It is their dream to repeat."
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Jennings said fellow sophomores Noah LaFine, Michael Ciavolella and Parker Falkenstein have helped him get acclimated to varsity baseball.
"It is cool to be around those guys," Masud Jennings said. "I have learned from them. They have had a lot of playoff success. They look like they have been there. Me being a JV player last year, we didn't have playoffs so I am new to this playoff stuff and competing for a state championship. It is cool to learn from those guys."
Jennings added that seniors Caleb Kepler, Nolan Holmgren and Max Alexander and junior Zack Zimmerman have helped him succeed.
"Masud is pretty quiet, but he does bring a lot of energy to the team," said Falkenstein, Hoban's center fielder. "Obviously, he is quick and it is a big help having him in right field because we cover a lot of ground. We call it the no fly zone in the outfield."
'A really good feel for the game'
Jennings said he played shortstop growing up and his favorite MLB players remain shortstops Francisco Lindor and Tim Anderson.
Jennings' strengths on the diamond are his speed on the bases and in the outfield.
"From the second Masud stepped on the field, you could definitely tell he has been raised around the game," Hoban coach Andrew Bonnette said. "He knows what the strike zone is. He has a really good feel for what pitches to swing at. He is very fundamental in the outfield and gets great reads on the ball. He plays an amazing right field for us.
"You can definitely tell that his dad has raised him around the game and he knows how it works. From the first day that he stepped onto the field at Hoban, he knows where to be at all times and he has got a really good feel for the game."
Jennings and freshman Jordan Kievman shared right field earlier this season before Jennings took over as the main starter in May.
Kepler, Dylan Feltovich and Andrew Hardman occupied right field for Hoban last season. Feltovich graduated in 2021, Kepler is now primarily pitching and Hardman did not come out for the baseball team this season after suffering a foot injury playing on Hoban's boys basketball team.
"Masud has been awesome on the field and he is amazing in the classroom too," Bonnette said. "... The kid is brilliant. He is a really, really good kid and nice person."
Jennings has a 3.949 GPA and takes honors classes in mathematics and pre-engineering.
"Masud works harder than most," said Ciavolella, Hoban's center fielder. "... When he is up to bat in the leadoff spot, he finds any way to get on base. It doesn't matter what — walk, hit by pitch or hit."
Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.
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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Masud Jennings of Hoban strives to join father as a state champion
