By Wes Mayberry

SPRINGFIELD — Wittenberg senior Conor O'Malley has been active in sports for about as long as he can remember.

"I have an older sister, and she was into youth sports, and I wanted to play really badly. So I actually started playing with her team when I was 4 or 5 years old," he said. "I was just running around having fun. I played soccer, football, baseball and basketball."

Fast forward several years, and O'Malley has become one of the top student-athletes in the history of the Wittenberg baseball program. Not only has he posted some impressive stats throughout his time with the Tigers, but he has also been a standout student. His success both on the field and in the classroom garnered him a special honor this year.

On March 21, Wittenberg Director of Athletics Brian Agler gathered members of the Wittenberg baseball team together to recognize O'Malley as the school's men's sports North Coast Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete Award winner for the 2023-24 school year.

"It's a massive honor to represent the school and the student-athlete side of things that oftentimes gets swept under the rug with other awards that come with baseball," O'Malley said. "A lot of people focus on baseball-specific awards, and I've gotten a few of those. But I'm most proud of this award because it recognizes what I'm doing off the field as well."

Instituted by the NCAC during the 1990-91 school year, the Scholar-Athlete Award annually recognizes one man and one woman from each member institution for outstanding academic and athletic achievement. Wittenberg baseball head coach Brian McGee said O'Malley is an excellent choice for such a special award.

"We thought Conor was a winner when we recruited him, and he proved that by having the impact he did on our program and university from day one. No question this is a special young man," McGee said. "How could you not be proud of him for his accomplishments on the field, in the classroom and around campus? He has a positive influence wherever he goes and with whatever he is doing. There is no doubt he will continue to make an impact elsewhere in his life's next chapter."

O'Malley has definitely found success both athletically and academically during his time at Wittenberg. Entering play on March 29, the Avon, Ohio, native had amassed 129 hits, including 14 home runs and 29 doubles, to go with 105 RBIs and 96 runs scored in 105 career games. A career .339 hitter, O'Malley ranks eighth all-time at Wittenberg in home runs and continues to approach top-10 all-time status in hits, doubles and RBIs. He was named to the All-NCAC First Team and D3baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings All-Region teams last year when he batted .368 with 60 hits, 14 doubles, six home runs, 55 RBIs and 52 runs scored. He has been recognized for his achievements in the classroom as well, earning Academic All-NCAC honors following his sophomore and junior campaigns.

According to O'Malley, the key to it all has been a strict focus on time management.

"Being a student-athlete at the college level teaches you really good lessons. Classes get tougher when you get into college, and sports get tougher as well, and that makes you work that much harder in both areas," he said. "Blocking out times of your day to devote strictly to school is the biggest key for me. I like to wake up early and do my schoolwork in the morning and then have the rest of the day with an open mind."

That approach helps him give maximum effort on the baseball field.

"I realize I'm not going to get to play this game forever, so I approach it like every practice and every game is my last," he said.

Though he played several sports growing up, O'Malley narrowed his pursuits to football and baseball at St. Edward High School, playing quarterback and catcher, respectively. A self-described late bloomer in baseball, he earned his opportunity to play at the varsity level as a junior and took advantage of it, earning All-State Honorable Mention honors. That standout year caught the attention of McGee, who began recruiting O'Malley to play at Wittenberg. The opportunity to become a Tiger stood despite his senior season being wiped out by the Covid pandemic.

"I was recruited by Coach McGee in my junior year, so I knew where I was going before my senior year even started," O'Malley said. "I was lucky enough to have that option after high school."

O'Malley credits McGee with being a strong recruiter who engaged his interest in Wittenberg from the very beginning. It was that connection that ultimately sold him on not only picking baseball over football to play at the collegiate level but to do so at Wittenberg. He credits the school's top-notch athletic facilities as a huge draw as well.

"Wittenberg is a special place to me," he said. "There's obvious curb appeal when you get on campus and see all the athletic facilities like The Steemer and the baseball field. That's what draws you here, and then once you get on campus, you meet all the great guys on the baseball team and Coach McGee and his coaching staff and all the other great people. It just feels like home here."

That homey feeling has only increased throughout O'Malley's four years on campus.

"My favorite thing about Wittenberg is being able to walk to class every day and see multiple people that you know. This is a small school, and you get to know a lot of people," he said. "I've met people from all over the place, so it's always fun for me to walk to class and say hello to a bunch of different people and realize that there's a lot more people that you know than you think, which is fun."

Perhaps the bigger adjustment to college life came on the baseball field. O'Malley came to Springfield as a catcher, which happened to be one of the Tigers' deeper position groups at the time. Wanting to get O'Malley in the lineup more, McGee suggested that he transition to the outfield.

"Coach McGee came up to me one day and asked if I had ever played outfield, and I said, 'I've never played it in my life.' He was like, 'Why don't you go out there and give it a try,'" O'Malley said. "So I started running around in the outfield and tracking down fly balls, and it was pretty fun, and here we are now."

O'Malley cites his ability to remain level-headed and keep everything in perspective as his greatest strengths as a baseball player. It has certainly helped him post big career stat totals, including that impressive junior campaign when the Tigers won a program record-tying 32 games.

"Last season was special," O'Malley said. "The seniors were good, and the underclassmen were playing well. We hit our stride at the right time and were playing some really good baseball."

With graduation on the horizon, O'Malley knows his baseball career is coming to a close and already has a job lined up. After developing a strong interest in his accounting classes at Wittenberg, he switched his major from business to finance and has since accepted a job offer from Sherwin Williams as an internal field auditor.

For now, O'Malley is focused on closing out his academic and athletic careers at Wittenberg on a high note. Throughout the remainder of the baseball season, he will continue to climb the school's all-time leaderboard in multiple statistical categories. But he hopes his Wittenberg legacy stretches far beyond his numbers.

"Obviously being in the record books is really great, but the legacy I want to leave is to be remembered for what I did off the field as well and for being there for everyone on the team," he said. "That would be better than any record book I could put my name into."