Worthington Kilbourne Wolves' Andrew Oh makes time in baseball count

Michael Rich, ThisWeek
·7 min read
Kilbourne senior pitcher Andrew Oh went 6-2 with a 1.37 ERA and 67 strikeouts while walking only 10 in 51 innings. He also delivered off the field, earning a perfect score of 36 on the ACT.
Kilbourne senior pitcher Andrew Oh went 6-2 with a 1.37 ERA and 67 strikeouts while walking only 10 in 51 innings. He also delivered off the field, earning a perfect score of 36 on the ACT.

Andrew Oh is all about numbers.

As a senior pitcher for the Worthington Kilbourne baseball team, he went 6-2 with a 1.37 ERA and 67 strikeouts while walking only 10 in 51 innings. He had a 1.22 WHIP and held opposing hitters to a .225 batting average.

But the most impressive number this year for Oh was 36 – a perfect score on the ACT.

“I’m just naturally a good test taker,” said Oh, who made nine starts on the mound for the Wolves. “The teachers I’ve had and the education I’ve received ... I had a good foundation academically.”

Oh’s career on the field is over, but his career off the field is just getting started. He plans to attend the University of Southern California, where he’ll major in applied and computational mathematics.

“I’m also thinking about double-majoring in something like computer science or I might minor in data science,” he said. “They’re all possibilities that I’m thinking about right now.”

Numbers led to a change in Oh’s pitching approach over the last couple of years.

“Freshman year and sophomore year, I used to be really slow. I would reset myself every pitch,” he said. “Somebody showed me that the time between pitches had a correlation to (hits) and errors.

“After the (lost) COVID season (of 2020), I just liked working faster because I’m working on my pace. (It’s) my rhythm. It forces hitters to adjust to me because they have to work off of my pace and I can just dictate the game.”

Oh’s numbers improved this year after going 9-1 with a 3.50 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 46 innings as a junior. He was 1-2 with a 4.61 ERA in 13 2/3 innings as a freshman.

“(Working quickly) is something that he’s done since we came in (before last season),” coach Ryan Sparks said. “But it’s something we stress a lot. (It helps) keep your defense engaged and the flow of the game going. When walks happen or pitchers take a long time, it really challenges your (players) to stay mentally engaged. If things happen quicker, it keeps the mojo and the energy going.”

Oh’s swansong came in the Wolves’ 8-3 win over 26th-seeded Dublin Coffman on May 16 in the first round of the Division I district tournament. Oh struggled early as the 14th-seeded Wolves fell behind 3-0 in the second inning.

Coffman pitcher Kyle Warnsman had a perfect game through 3 2/3 innings and a no-hitter through four, but the Wolves rallied and Oh found his rhythm. Junior Simon Abbott executed a squeeze bunt in the sixth to give Kilbourne the lead for good.

“He struggled in the first couple of innings, but once he gets cruising, we know he can throw a lot of pitches and not really tire out,” Sparks said.

The Wolves season ended with a 7-2 loss at 13th-seeded Hilliard Davidson on May 18 in the second round. They finished 16-11 overall and 9-5 in the OCC-Capital Division.

Kilbourne also loses seniors McKay Whitaker (utility), Jackson Judy (INF/P), Cole Archual (OF/P), Samuel Knuth (INF/P) and Will Gundel (utility).

Whitaker, an Indiana commit who missed the last three games with a shoulder injury, batted .493 with nine doubles, two triples, 24 runs and 22 RBI. Judy hit .382 with six doubles, 25 RBI and 20 runs. Archual hit .354 and scored 29 runs and went 5-2 with a 4.13 ERA over 42 1/3 innings in 10 starts.

“With our whole team this year, there wasn’t really a doubt in their want to win,” Sparks said. “I think our juniors and (underclassmen) that were playing up got an example of what it takes in the offseason and the daily work (from our our seniors).”

Abbott (utility) and classmates Ben Bartram (OF/P), Payton Metzger (INF/P), Kyle Earhart (INF) and Van Ferguson (C) are eligible to return, as is sophomore Gavin Scott (utility).

“The challenge now that applies to our soon-to-be seniors (is) this is how they worked and this how far they got,” Sparks said. “If we want more, then we have to work harder. But the foundation of what it takes to be a successful program was solidified by our seniors.”

Gannon Wentz was part of a productive senior class for Thomas. He led the Cardinals with seven doubles and 11 runs scored, and went 1-3 with a 2.88 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings.
Gannon Wentz was part of a productive senior class for Thomas. He led the Cardinals with seven doubles and 11 runs scored, and went 1-3 with a 2.88 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings.

•Thomas coach Chris Olson believes his team learned from its losses and showed signs of improvement.

The Cardinals finished 9-19, but 20 of 28 games were decided by four runs or fewer. They went 7-13 in those games, including a 4-1 loss at sixth-seeded Olentangy Orange on May 18 in the second round of the Division I district tournament. The Cardinals were seeded 33rd.

“We looked at this group and thought they competed every time,” Olson said. “We don’t give up. We’re going to fight to the very last out and I think that sets the group up pretty well moving forward.”

Thomas went 5-6 down the stretch, following a string in which it lost 11 of 12.

“When you lose tough games, you’ve got a couple of options,” Olson said. “You can just sit on that loss and think about all the things went wrong or you can view it as an opportunity to learn and get better. When I look at this group, I thought that’s what we did.”

The Cardinals will look different next year after losing seniors David Gams (INF/P), Caleb Kirker (INF/P), Josh Rock (OF/P), A.J. Rinaldi (OF) and Gannon Wentz (INF/C/P).

Rinaldi led Thomas with a .292 batting average and had 12 RBI. Kirker scored 10 runs while Wentz had seven doubles and 11 runs scored, leading the team in both categories.

Rock went 2-3 with a 2.17 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings, and Wentz went 1-3 with a 2.88 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings.

Gams was 2-0 in eight appearances, mostly as a reliever. He had a 1.53 ERA and struck out 24 in 18 1/3 innings.

Gaining experience were sophomores Nick Clay (OF/P), Jacob King (OF/P) Luke Neiger (INF), Jim Pawley (C) and Jerens Sanchez (INF/P).

King hit .278, scored eight runs and drove in seven, and Neiger had a team-best 18 RBI.

“We’ve got a ton of guys that are going to have a ton of experience,” Olson said. “They’re going to have a familiarity with how the game is played and the speed of the game, what it takes to be successful and how hard you have to play. It gets a little more comfortable (the more you play). That last tournament game against Orange, we had five sophomores out there. I think that sets us up as we’re going forward.”

mrich@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekRich

KILBOURNE

•Record: 16-11 overall 

•OCC-Capital standings: Canal Winchester (14-0), Westerville North (11-3), Kilbourne (9-5), Dublin Scioto and Westerville South (both 7-7), Big Walnut and Delaware (both 4-10), Franklin Heights (0-14)

•Seniors lost: Cole Archual, Will Gundel, Jackson Judy, Samuel Knuth, Andrew Oh and McKay Whitaker

•Key returnees: Simon Abbott, Kyle Earhart, Van Ferguson, Payton Metzger and Gavin Scott

•Postseason: Def. Dublin Coffman 8-3; lost to Hilliard Davidson 7-2 in second round of Division I district tournament

THOMAS

•Record: 9-19 overall 

•OCC-Cardinal standings: Olentangy (14-1), Hilliard Darby (10-5), Olentangy Berlin (7-8), Dublin Jerome (6-9), Marysville and Thomas (both 4-11)

•Seniors lost: David Gams, Jake Hanna, Tyler Kemp, Caleb Kirker, Jake Nye, Josh Rock, A.J. Rinaldi and Gannon Wentz

•Key returnees: Nick Clay, Jacob King, Luke Neiger, Jim Pawley and Jerens Sanchez

•Postseason: Def. Whitehall 11-0 (5 innings); lost to Olentangy Orange 4-1 in second round of Division I district tournament

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Worthington Kilbourne's Oh makes time in baseball count