NORTH ROYALTON - Brady Sasse admits he had no idea how the recruiting process worked.

“Growing up, baseball was my whole life,” Sasse reflected. “I dreamed of playing college baseball but I didn’t know about recruitment and how it even worked going into high school.”

Fortunately, a friend was there to help.

“Gavin Jones kind of taught me,” Sasse said of a high school teammate at North Royalton who is two years older and now a freshman at Alabama. “He knew I had potential and I trusted him. He’d gone through the process.

“I played with Ohio Elite that summer and he got me connected with the Warhawks organization and I played fall ball with them. I started training with Gavin and getting ready for winter camps. I went to Bowling Green, Toledo and Kent and got to see what it was all like.”

Toledo stood out in the eyes of the 11th-rated 2024 pitcher in Ohio.

“Toledo just stuck out more to me,” Sasse related. “I really liked their pitching coach. He was new and very instructive. He helped me out a lot.”

Sasse found more about Toledo that drew his interest.

“Their program has really developed over the last year,’ Sasse pointed out. “They finished third, their team ERA is going down and they had two pitchers drafted.

“I pitched at the Toledo field in the fall and they said they liked me and wanted to see me again. I came back in the winter for a camp.”

The 16-year-old continued to make an impression on the Toledo coaches.

“They liked my mechanics and projectability,” Sasse noted. “I’m still trying to gain weight but they said I had the stuff that they're looking for and thought they could work on me on the side of diet, eating and gaining weight. He thought my mechanics were there.”

Now up 20 pounds, the 6-4 185-pounder has been putting in hard work.

“I’ve been training at Prospect Performance Academy and I’ve put on strength and gained weight over the last year,” Sasse related.

It has the 36th-ranked junior in the state on track to play college baseball at UT.

“After my freshman spring, once I got to play varsity when I was moved up during the year, people started asking am I getting looked at,” Sasse explained. “I just laughed. It never crossed my mind. But once I was with the Warhawks and the connections Adrian (Abrahamowicz) had, it was kind of crazy. I changed from a positional guy to mainly pitching which is where he said I had the best chance. I’m glad I changed because I started to get looked at by colleges.”

Things were definitely changing from the beginning of ninth grade.

“Coming into high school I thought recruiting would start later, I had no idea it started this early,” Sasse admitted. “Going to the Warhawks’ organization was a big help. Going to the Top Prospect Games was also a big help. There were tons of coaches there and that helped the process start going well. The rankings by PBR are also a big help with people checking them out on your profile. It was an awesome process.”

To make a commitment was another “awesome” experience according to Sasse.

“My brother, who is 10 years older than me and pitched in the state championship game, was the most excited that I was committing this early,” Sasse said in reference to Noah Sasse, a 2014 North Royalton graduate. “I’m more than excited, too, with Toledo only two hours from home so family can come see me play. That’s a big plus.”

Sasse believes he can make a positive impact at the Mid-American Conference program.

“Hopefully, I’ll bring energy and become part of their family,” Sasse said. “Hopefully, I’ll bring pitching talent and develop into a starter to get some wins for Toledo.”

Business or sport management are potential college majors for Sasse, who carries a 3.8 GPA at North Royalton.

“I’ve always dreamed of playing college baseball, so to play Division I is crazy to me,” Sasse said. “My goal has always been to play professional baseball, but to just get more time to play baseball after high school is incredible.”