Jett Wedekind is giving it the ‘old’ college try

Jett Wedekind is giving a whole new meaning to the ol’ “giving it the old college try.”

In his case, we do mean old.

Wedekind, a 2016 Princeton High School graduate, entered Aurora University in the fall of 2017 after red-shirting at the University of Illinois-Springfield. Six years later, he’s still playing baseball for the Spartans.

“COVID gave us a couple (extra) years and I didn’t think I’d used any of those. But I was able to get a Masters degree in two years, so it worked out perfect,” he said.

The terms “grandpa” and “old man” are freely used around the Spartans’ camp in regards to the grizzly bearded “super senior” catcher.

“I think every team we played this year, when I came up to bat, ‘Grandpa’ was being yelled at me. My whole team calls me that,” he said. “Had a couple of people ask me where my cane was, so obviously I had to walk out like the bat was my cane a couple times.”

To put it in better perspective, Wedekind, who will turn 24 in June, is three years older than his Aurora senior teammates, including Josh Reinhardt, a 2019 PHS graduate, four years older than the sophomores and six years older than the freshmen.

“We got around talking about birthdays and I said I was born in 1998, and someone said, ‘Holy cow, you were born in the 1900s?’” he said. “They think it’s crazy. They’re all telling me, ‘Go get a job. Your parents insurance is going to be running out soon.’”

He takes great pride in it.

“Not everybody can stay around for seven years. I definitely embrace it,” he said with a laugh.

Grandpa still has some game.

The senior catcher was recently named as the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Player of the Week. He led Aurora to a 6-0 week as the Spartans clinched the 2023 NACC regular-season crown. He played in five of the six games, hitting .450 (9-of-20) with five home runs and two doubles to slug 1.300 while driving in 10 runs, scoring 10 runs with a .542 on-base percentage.

“I’ve been struggling overall, but that week helped me even it out a little bit,” he said. “Yeah, that was a pretty good week for me. I think it was five home runs. Had to catch up to our 2 and 3 hitters on our team, Justin Sartori and Jacob Ambuel, because we always give each other crap about hitting home runs.”

For the season, Wedekind is batting .302 with seven homers and 33 RBIs in 37 starts for the Spartans (39-4).

Aurora coach Adam Stevens said the Spartans have been blessed to have him.

“Jett is a legend of the program in every way,” he said. “All time hits leader, one of the very few NCAA athletics to ever get an opportunity to play in five NCAA postseasons, etc. He’s one of the smartest catchers I have ever coached and always a great teammate.

“He’s a winner and a leader. I’m glad I get to coach him more this season.”

Wedekind’s longevity has helped him set some all-time records.

A career hitter well over .300, Wedekind overtook one of his former teammates and coaches, Jeff Mayes (240), as AU’s career hits leader with 275 going into this weekend.

He also stands as the career leader in games played currently at 226.

“I think it took me 13 extra at-bats to beat (Mayes). He says there needs to be a little asterisks there,” Wedekind said.

While the hits record may not last, Wedekind thinks he’s game played may be unbreakable.

“I was talking to our SID (Brian Kinley) and he said the guy I passed, played in four regionals and maybe two World Series. It will be pretty hard to pass that one,” he said.

Wedekind, who will be making his NCAA record fifth appearance in a NCAA regional tournament, just wants to continue to live the dream as long as he can.

“Absolutely, I go out to the field every day, especially this last month, kind of look around and say, ‘Wow, I’ve been pretty lucky to play college baseball this long.’ I try to take it all in whenever I can,” he said.

“Two years ago, everybody said, ‘It’s time to get a job. I said, “Ah, you can only do this for so long.’ Everybody usually only gets four years. I can get six or seven, got to take advantage of it.”

Aurora is hosting John Carroll in a two-team regional this weekend in a best of five series. If they win, they’d played a three-game series the following weekend for the right to advance to the World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Wedekind, who received an undergrad degree in sports management and master’s in business administration, will return home to Princeton to assess his future plans. He’s got into the vending machine world around the Bureau County area part-time and would like to make it a full-time occupation.

He won’t sway too far from the ball diamond, however, as he plans to play in the Princeton Fastpitch Church League again this summer.

Kevin Hieronymus has been the BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com