By STEVE KRAH
Doug Loden was on his way from junior college to NCAA Division I baseball when he had to push the pause button.
A 2020 graduate of Lake Central High School in St. John, Ind., who lost his senior prep season to the COVID-19 pandemic, Loden put up some head-turning numbers as a Joliet (Ill.) Junior College freshman in 2021.
The lefty batter/righty thrower played in 56 games (51 starts) for the Wolves and hit .297 (51-of-172) with (a single-season school record) 16 home runs, 13 doubles, 63 runs batted in, 41 runs scored, a 1.079 OPS (.428 on-base percentage plus .651 slugging average) and four stolen bases and also made 13 mound appearances (12 starts) and went 5-5 with a 5.53 earned run average, 76 strikeouts and 36 walks in 71 2/3 innings.
Loden was selected for National Junior College Athletic Association all-region honors.
In the summer of 2021, he was a Midwest Collegiate League all-star pitcher while playing for the MCL Minutemen.
In the first game of the 2022 Joliet JC season, Loden was pitching and humming along when something happened.
“It was going to be my last inning in the fifth and everything started getting tight and I couldn’t (get the ball to) home plate,” says Loden. “There was no pain, but I was super-tight.”
Loden saw limited action the rest of the spring. He pitched in three games (that one start) and went 0-0 with 1.50 ERA, seven strikeouts and one walk in six innings.
In 11 contests (seven starts) as a hitter, he posted an average of .300 (6-of-20) with one double, five RBIs and five runs.
Playing with a partially-torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament, Loden played in the summer for the Lake County CornDogs of the Northern League (rebranded from the Midwest Collegiate League) and represented the first-year franchise and league champions as an all-star hitter.
But on Aug. 4, 2022, he underwent Tommy John elbow surgery.
By this time, Loden had committed to Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., and played for Horizon League‘s Golden Grizzlies head coach Jordan Banfield.
Loden took a medical redshirt in 2022-23, stayed home, took online classes at Joliet JC, served as a Lake Central assistant coach and went through his rehab.
When the summer of 2023 rolled around, Loden, who turned 22 in late May, had a choice to make. Would he sit it out as a player or get back on the field and getting ready for Oakland in the fall?
“I decided I need to start playing again,” says Loden, who has been at first base and batting clean-up for the Justin Huisman-managed CornDogs.
In 12 games, he is hitting .214 (9-of-42) with four homers (tied for the Northern League lead), three doubles, 11 RBIs, 10 runs and a .936 OPS (.365/.571). He has not pitched for Lake County this summer. He was named the Player of the Week for the wood-bat circuit on July 10 after a stretch where he hit .333 with two homers and six RBIs.
Loden, who has at least two years of remaining eligibility and maybe three, says he will get the opportunity to be a two-way player (likely first base or DH and pitcher) at Oakland, where he will also plans to be a Interdisciplinary Studies major with an Operations Management minor with an eye on getting his Master of Business Administration degree after completing his undergraduate work.
Born in Munster, Ind., Loden grew up in St. John.
He was on the Lake Central junior varsity as a freshman and played varsity ball for the Indians as a sophomore and junior.
Loden is thankful for what his coaches brought out in him as a high schooler and junior college athlete.
“I absolutely loved playing for Mike Swartzentruber,” says Loden of the Lake Central field boss. “He was a big influence on me. He pushed me to my limits.
“I give him credit to this day for my baseball abilities and pushing me to become a better man. He taught me a lot about the game of baseball.”
Loden’s grand slam in the semifinals of the 2019 LaPorte Regional helped the Indians beat Crown Point.
Gregg Braun is JCC head coach and director of athletics.
“I loved that man to death. He pushed me to extraordinary limits. He made me find my true potential as a baseball player.
“(Joliet assistant/Athletic Performance Psychology coach Scott Halicky) helped me find the mental side of baseball.
“He made me really focus on that and I saw my game really increase to a different level.”
Loden, a 6-foot-1, 215-pounder, explains his offensive approach.
“My thought in the batter’s box is to be on-time,” says Loden. “Timing is literally the ultimate cheat code of hitting a baseball. If your timing is on-point you will hit that baseball no matter what pitch it is.
“I am a big believer in positive self talk. You need to go into that box with all the confidence you have. My main goal to make the pitcher look bad in front of his mom.”
The pitch clock is finding its way to D-I baseball. On the mound, Loden tends to be up-tempo.
“I’m a fairly quick pitcher,” says Loden. “I like to move at a fast pace. I like my defense in the game. I’m not a fan of moving at a slow pace. It gets your defense in flat-footed position.
“I like making hitters guess instead of anticipate which pitches I’m going to throw.”
Mother Joan Loden is a Lake Central math teacher. She has taught for more than four decades and been a long-time cheerleading coach. Father Keith Loden has been in the Lake Central School Corporation transportation department for about 15 years.
Sister Haley Loden (Lake Central Class of 2013) was in cheerleading, softball and track at LC and is now a physical therapy specialist.
Brother Brad Loden (Lake Central Class of 2017) played baseball in high school and is now a law student at Indiana University in Bloomington.
www.IndianaRBI.com 