Marlington senior Josh Dezenzo created his own identity on baseball diamond

During his three-year high school baseball career, Marlington senior Josh Dezenzo made a name for himself.

Preceded by his father, who played at the high school level, and his uncle and older brother who were recruited to play college baseball, the right-handed hitting third baseman has upheld the family tradition on the diamond.

"I'm very fortunate to come from a baseball family," Dezenzo said. "They've been an inspiration."

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Dezenzo, whose scholastic career ended when Marlington dropped a 2-0 decision to Louisville in the Division I district championship game Wednesday, batted over .300 in each of the last two seasons. He was a versatile infielder, starting at second base as a freshman, moving to shortstop as a junior and shifting to third base as a senior.

While he hit for average, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound right-handed hitter also had a selective eye, leading the team with 28 walks and reaching base 52% of the time. He also was a base-stealing threat, swiping a team-high 23 sacks this spring.

His efforts helped Marlington finish 20-5 overall, including 10-2 in the Eastern Buckeye Conference. While the Dukes' postseason run ended prematurely, Dezenzo was thrilled playing for his high school team and enjoyed bonding with his teammates, especially classmates Danny Grimes, Connor Evanich, Ben Yoder, Luke Tortola, Garrett Odey and Ian Mills.

"A lot of us have grown up playing together," Dezenzo said. "We knew each other. We knew what each one of us can do and how to communicate with one another."

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Josh Dezenzo says Marlington was successful in all three phases of the game

When a team wins 80% of its games like Marlington did this season, there are several reasons behind its success. Dezenzo listed three factors.

"We were good in all three phases of the game — pitching, hitting and defense," Dezenzo said. "Our pitchers threw strikes, everyone in our batting order did damage and we made the plays we've needed to make."

While his Marlington career has concluded, Dezenzo intends on playing college baseball. His choice is Division III Washington and Jefferson College (Pa.), which was ranked No. 24 and finished 37-10 after losing to Rowan University in the NCAA tournament.

"I like the smaller college than a big university," Dezenzo said. "They have smaller class sizes, which I like. They also have a great campus, a great baseball program and a turf field, which I like."

Dezenzo confided he attracted the attention from Washington and Jefferson and several other Division III programs like Mount Union and Marietta after going 5-for-7 in a pair of games at the Prep Baseball Report Ohio Showcase last September.

Finding the right baseball fit was important, but the 3.8 student placed more value on education and admitted Washington and Jefferson's engineering program interested him.

"I wanted to major in engineering but don't what type of program I want to study at this time," Dezenzo said. "I'll figure that out later."

Dezenzo's baseball roots are traced to his father Steve, a former Marlington outfielder; uncle Mike Dezenzo, an All-Ohio shortstop for the Dukes who went on to star at South Carolina, and older brother Zach Dezenzo, who started at shortstop for Ohio State the last four years and batted .319, with 19 home runs and a .700 slugging percentage this spring.

Josh Dezenzo was an eighth-grader when Zach Dezenzo was a senior at Marlington and batted .522, earning All-Ohio honors.

While his older brother would be in Columbus in 2019, making the transition to college baseball. Josh Dezenzo was a first-year high school prospect wearing his brother's No. 24. Having the same last name and wearing the same uniform number prevented Josh from entering high school baseball like most freshmen.

"I knew there would be expectations placed on me because Zach was such a great high school player," Josh said. "I didn't feel any pressure after he gave me some advice. He told me not to worry about all of the hype and just go out and play my game."

That game consisted of making contact and plate discipline.

"I just tried to hit line drives and work counts," Dezenzo said.

Marlington learned from its losses, said senior Josh Dezenzo

Marlington's senior-dominated team was aided by juniors Tommy Skelding, Drew Denham and Caden Bates, and the highs overshadowed the lows. Playing an unforgiving regular-season schedule, Marlington defeated reigning conference champion Salem and West Branch twice and also downed non-conference opponents Hamilton Badin and four-time state champion Walsh Jesuit.

Experiencing the highs following wins, Dezenzo also endured the lows following defeats. While disappointed with the setbacks, he accepted them graciously, especially the two regular-season losses to conference rival Alliance.

"The losses humbled us," he added. "You just try to learn from them."

Dezenzo was prepared to handle disappointment from his parents, Rachel and Steve, who helped mold him as a person.

"My parents [instilled values] in me to prepare me for my next (journey), things like being kind to other people," Dezenzo said. "I'm thankful to them for that and also for the sacrifices they made to allow me to play baseball."

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Marlington senior third baseman Josh Dezenzo has started three years