By Cal Logan | Reporter
Baylor baseball juniors infielder Hunter Teplanszky and outfielders Ty Johnson and Wesley Jordan are consistent pieces of the Bears’ lineup. But before they were starters on head coach Mitch Thompson’s lineup, they were all teammates for the Marcus High School Marauders in Flower Mound.
“It’s always funny. There’s some games where we’re back-to-back-to-back in the [batting] lineup,” Teplanszky said. “We’ll walk up and be like, ‘Hey it’s the same way it was in high school.’”
These three all reunited in Waco, but this wasn’t their first stop after high school. Teplanszky transferred from TCU, Johnson moved from McLennan Community College and Jordan was formerly at Navarro College.
“For me, I never thought I’d play with either of them again, because I didn’t know where I was going to go,” Jordan said. “When I got the opportunity, Ty was already committed, and Hunter was already here last year. I just jumped on it, because I wanted to play with them again.”
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Johnson is surrounded by two of his high school teammates and four other teammates who transferred with him from MCC, which is where Thompson coached before coming back to Baylor.
“Change is hard, especially in college baseball — transferring schools, having a whole new set of guys,” Johnson said. “But I previously played with seven or eight guys on this team already, so coming in, that added a sense of confidence.”
The Bears (18-20, 9-9 Big 12) had won 10 of their last 11 games before dropping the final two contests of their series against Kansas over the weekend. Teplanszky said the closeness of this team may be one of the biggest factors for Baylor’s recent success.
“In high school, we were a really close-knit team,” Teplanszky said. “That’s something this team has done really well throughout the fall and in the spring.”
Johnson was one of the first people Teplanszky met at Marcus, and now they live together in Waco and live across the street from Jordan.
“I’ve gotten to build these relationships for years and watch it continue,” Teplanszky said. “Now I go across the hall and give Ty crap about MLB The Show, so it’s fun.”
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The trio from Flower Mound has a special bond it has brought to the banks of the Brazos River, and it hopes that team chemistry will continue to help on the field.
“Going back with these guys since high school adds a sense of comfort and confidence,” Johnson said. “They know who I am as a player. I’m ready to prove anything.”
