Highland's Casey Myser opts for baseball at Ohio University

The most prolific scorer in Medina County football history was being tugged in different directions.Some colleges wanted him for football and others for baseball. A couple offered both.Highland senior standout Casey Myser did the smart thing and kept his options open, but his heart and unique familiarity with Ohio University won out. Myser accepted the Bobcats' offer of a half-ride baseball scholarship and declined to walk on to the football team simultaneously."Every single phone call was literally asking, 'What do you want to do? Do you want to play football or baseball?'" said Myser, who is leaning toward a major in business finance or education. "I was obviously open to both, but ultimately I decided to play baseball."The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder had other baseball interest from Miami of Ohio, Oakland (Mich.) and Ohio State and football offers from Mercyhurst (Pa.), Bucknell (Pa.) and Ashland. OU and Ashland gave him the chance to play both.Myser was considered a bit of a college tweener in football and wasn't too interested in changing positions or enduring the physical punishment before baseball, which was always his preferred sport. He began receiving baseball offers as a freshman, when he was ranked among the best players in his class by Prep Baseball Report, and blossomed last spring.Ohio, however, had multiple inside tracks. Parents Nathan and Mandi are graduates of the school, and first-year Bobcats coach Andrew See offered Myser a scholarship when he was an assistant at Ohio State. Former high school teammates Hunter Winston (baseball), Creed Hill (football) and Lukas Stiles (football) also gave insight to Myser during his official visits for both sports."My whole family's OU, from my mom, dad, aunts and uncles, grandma and grandpa," Myers said. "I've always been around OU."It's so funny. I was on an official visit there for football earlier in the (school) year at OU, and I got to see the football side of things. I went on my baseball visit there over the winter break and saw both sides of it. Both were awesome, but having those guys (Winston, Hill, Stiles) tell me everything about it was awesome."Myser will enter his fourth season as a starter for the baseball team, playing primarily the outfield while also dabbling in pitching. The left-handed thrower and hitter had a breakthrough 2025, leading the county in batting average (.508), on-base percentage (.620), slugging percentage (.814) and OPS (1.430) to go with two home runs, 16 RBIs and 29 runs,The Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Division III first-team All-Ohioan will join a rebuilding Bobcats program that enters today's home opener against Dayton 1-7 under See. Ohio was 14-37 last season."Baseball is what I went into high school wanting to play," Myser said. "That was always my favorite sport growing up." Football is the sport Myser is most known for locally after rushing for 4,847 yards and resetting county records for points (552), total touchdowns (92) and rushing touchdowns (80). The two-time Gazette MVP led the Hornets to consecutive appearances in the Division II, Region 6 championship game, where they were competitive in losses to eventual state champion Avon.Myser is content with the decision, preferring to look back with pride that his last time playing the sport was alongside his childhood friends."I love football," he said. "I loved going out there on Friday night with my boys, but I feel like college football wouldn't have been the same as my hometown on Friday night."Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.