By STEVE KRAH
Jeff Pawlik has enjoyed competing with friends throughout his athletic life.
He will get to do that with a new set of pals as a baseball graduate transfer at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind.
Pawlik, a 2019 graduate of Penn High School in Mishawaka, Ind., spent the past four seasons (2020-23) at Grace College in Winona Lake, Ind., with 2020 being curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic leading to an extra year of eligibility which he will use at IWU.
The Lancers and Wildcats are both members of the NAIA and the Crossroads League.
“I’m thankful to Grace baseball for the four years I was able to play there,” says Pawlik, who turned 23 in June. “It was a big part of my life and where I found a true passion for the game.
“I’m thankful for everyone who helped me there and all the relationships I was able to build.”
Pawlik’s head coach with the Lancers was Ryan Roth.
“I really enjoyed it,” says Pawlik of his time playing for Roth. “He treated me with care and gave me an opportunity to play which is something I’m really thankful for in my life.”
Pawlik developed a special bond with Grace assistant Justin Love.
“The coach that has impacted me the most is Coach Love,” says Pawlik. “He developed a work ethic and a mindset in me that helped me be successful in baseball. I don’t think I’d be in the place I am now without him coaching me and being there for me on and off the field.
“He’s definitely a big part of my life and my baseball career.”
Deciding not to play in the summer of 2021, Pawlik stayed at Grace, lifted weights and worked with Love on his swing.
“It’s probably one of the best things I’ve done,” says Pawlik.
In 153 games at Grace, the lefty swinger hit .267 (136-of-509) with 11 home runs, two triples, 35 doubles, 94 runs batted in, 102 runs scored, a .788 OPS (.379 on-base percentage plus .409 slugging average) and 16 stolen bases.
In 2023, Pawlik batted at a .293 (43-of-147) clip with seven homers, one triple, 10 doubles, 35 RBIs, 40 runs, .962 OPS (.445/.517) and 11 steals in 46 games.
Pawlik, a 6-foot-3, 205-pounder, knocked in five runs in a Feb. 19 against Aquinas at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind.
He tied a program record with three doubles in a game vs. Aquinas in 2022.
After producing 12 multi-hit games in 2022, he posted 11 in 2023 as Grace tied the single-season school record for victories with 21.
In his first 11 games with the 2023 Xenia (Ohio) Scouts of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League, Pawlik was hitting .250 (8-of-32) with nine RBIs and six runs.
The Colby Watilo-managed Scouts are affiliated with Athletes In Action.
Pawlik played for AIA’s Rochester (N.Y.) Ridgemen (managed by former Richmond (Ind.) Roosters infielder Taylor Hargrove) during the 2022 New York Collegiate Baseball League summer slate and had such a good experience that he jumped at the chance to play in Xenia.
A lefty-throwing first baseman, Pawlik prides himself on his D.
“At a young age I learned defensive play wins the game so I’ve always had a big drive to the best at that,” says Pawlik, who counts reading the hitter and making the necessary plays as keys at first base.
While Penn now his turf, that was not the case when Pawlik was there. Grace has also had grass and dirt. IWU has a turf field.
“The natural field has helped me become the fielder I am because you don’t get the luxury of turf hops and you learn to deal with bad hops,” says Pawlik.
After Pawlik announced he would transfer for his grad year, he talked to Ian MacDonald — who is now head coach at Indiana Wesleyan.
“There was super high interest from both sides,” says Pawlik. “I just really like how they carry themselves and what they’re about at (Indiana) Wesleyan.”
He visited the campus a couple of weeks into the summer.
“I loved everything about it — the coaches, the facilities. A couple of days after that I decided to make it official and make it my home for my fifth year.”
IWU went 41-20-1 overall and 26-10 in the Crossroads League and made its first NAIA World Series appearance in 2023.
Born in South Bend, Ind., Jeff Pawlik grew up in nearby Granger with parents Rod and Lisa and sister Lexie.
Rod Pawlik is a longtime Penn football assistant coach.
Lisa Pawlik is a Health/Physical Education teacher and former head volleyball coach. She guided Penn to state championships in 2010 and 2011 — the first one with the help of Lexie Pawlik (Class of 2011), who went on to play at the University of South Carolina and Western Michigan University and was a coach as Lexie Banks.
“(My parents) instilled in me the hard work ethic growing up,” says Pawlik. “I was always in the gym with them or on the field. I got to see them go about their business.
“They also taught me to have short-term memory if things aren’t going well and just move on to the next.”
Jeff played at what is now Harris Township Baseball Softball and was in travel ball with the Granger Irish, Michiana Scrappers, Mark Haley-coached South Bend Cubs and Mike Marks-coached Hitters Edge (Sturgis, Mich.).
Pawlik was on the Penn varsity as a junior and senior, playing for Greg Dikos (who is Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer and recently became a six-time state champion coach).
“It was a good experience,” says Pawlik of his time with the Kingsmen. “I had a lot of fun. Those were my buddies growing up.
“We just got along really well and it was a super-competitive atmosphere.”
Rod and Lisa also played videos of Michael Jordan for their son.
“I could see how competitive he was and how intensely he played the game,” says Pawlik. “Watching how successful that made him made me want to play the same way.
“Obviously I don’t have the same talent he does, but I can carry myself in the same way.”
Pawlik, who has been honored as CSC Academic All-District and Academic all-conference during his career, earned a Sport Management degree with a Business Administration minor and began working on his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Grace and says he will look to finish it at IWU.
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