By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com
Southern Indiana native Camden Gasser is spending his summer with the North Adams (Mass.) SteepleCats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
In his first five games, starting shortstop Gasser has walked nine times, scored five runs and stolen three bases.
Gasser, a 5-foot-10, 165-pounder who swings from the left side, explains his offensive approach.
“I make sure I’m balanced and into my legs and not swinging all upper body,” says Gasser. “The main part is just being on-time (with the pitch). If you’re not on-time for a fastball you’re going to get beat 90 percent of the time.
“Stealing bags is one of my favorite things to do. Stealing a free 90 in awesome. It helps the team.
“Speed in general in baseball gets undermined. It’s nice when you have speed all around the field. When you have guys who can run you can create so much pressure for the other defense. It makes them play a completely different game.”
While he has moved around the infield, his preferred defensive position is short.
“My internal clock at shortstop is pretty good,” says Gasser. “I like being the leader and being the voice.”
Gasser, who turns 21 in December, is coming off his first collegiate season at the University of Michigan in 2023. In 15 games (two starts), Gasser hit .273 (3-of-11) with one run batted in and one steal for the Tracy Smith-coached Wolverines.
Graduate student and Carmel (Ind.) High School graduate Jack Van Remortel was Michigan’s everyday first baseman.
Gasser, who was recruited to school by Erik Bakich (now head coach at Clemson) and committed early in his sophomore year of high school, has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal but does not rule out going back to U-M to play baseball and continue to study Communication.
“I love the university,” says Gasser.
A three-sport standout at Southridge High School in Huntingburg, Ind., Gasser earned 11 letters (four each in football and basketball and three in baseball when the 2020 season was lost to the COVID-19 pandemic).
On the football field, Gasser was a wide receiver, running back, defensive back, punt/kick returner and holder for extra points and field goals. He was the Pocket Athletic Conference and team MVP as a senior.
“I would have loved to play college baseball but I don’t think my body would’ve appreciated that,” says Gasser.
On the basketball court, point guard Gasser earned all-conference and all-Southwest Indiana honors after setting school’s single season record for assists.
As a baseball senior, he batted .546 with 53 hits, 25 RBIs, 39 runs and 46 stolen bases. He also went 3-0 with the 1.09 earned run average on the mound and was named first team all-state by Prep Baseball Report Indiana and was selected for the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series.
Gasser played for two state championship teams at Southridge — 2A football in 2017 and 3A baseball in 2021.
Gene Mattingly is the Raiders head baseball coach.
“He’s a very good dude,” says Gasser of Mattingly. “I have a lot of respect for that guy. He ran the organizational very well.
“I probably got under his skin a couple of times. I definitely pushed his buttons. He pushed mine. They were all good buttons to push.
“He’s a great leader. I couldn’t have asked for a better high school coach.”
In the state championship game, Gasser started at third base and led off.
Classmate Colson Montgomery played shortstop and hit in the 3-hole. That summer he was selected 22nd overall in the 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Chicago White Sox.
Gasser and Montgomery played three high school sports together.
In the middle of senior year, Gasser tore the labrum in his left shoulder while swinging the bat. He spent the summer of 2021 rehabbing, but it popped out in the first live fall scrimmage at Michigan.
“I had to bite the bullet and get surgery,” says Gasser. “It was a lot of pain.”
He took a regular redshirt season in 2022, played for the Ohio Valley League’s Dubois County Bombers in Huntingburg that summer.
Born in Jasper, Ind., Gasser grew up in Huntingburg.
He was in T-ball and Rookie leagues before playing travel ball for the J-Cards, Indiana Bulls, Mark Peters-coached Ironmen and Canes Midwest. He and Montgomery were in Team Indiana in the fall of 2020.
Ryan Gasser, a plant manager, and Jamie Gasser, who works in human resources, have two sons — Colton and Camden.
Colton Gasser (Southridge Class of 2017) played football, basketball and baseball in high school and now works for Amazon.
www.IndianaRBI.com 