Jack Zeller, Jake Thomas and Grayson Bradberry have each seen action for the Bulldogs early in the 2026 season. Photo by Bryan Malkowski.
OWEN PRISCOTT | STAFF REPORTER | opriscott@butler.edu
“Welcome to the Team” is a Q&A series where The Collegian sits down with first-year student-athletes who are entering their first season at Butler University. These articles will address why they chose Butler, what they hope to get out of this season and some personal tidbits that you won’t find anywhere else.
This week, staff reporter Owen Priscott sat down with the four first-years on the baseball team: Jake Thomas, Grayson Bradberry, Jack Zeller and Garyson Smiddy.
Jake Thomas is a 6’3” right-handed pitcher from Kansas City, Missouri. Photo by Bryan Malkowski.
THE BUTLER COLLEGIAN: How did you start playing baseball, and when did you realize you wanted to play in college?
JAKE THOMAS: I started playing baseball at a young age, I’d say five or six [years old]. I didn’t take it too seriously until my sophomore year, [when] I got better, so I thought that it would be cool to play in college.
TBC: How did you find out about Butler, and what made you decide to play here?
JT: My junior year, when [head coach Blake] Beemer reached out with interest, I came on a visit. I thought [Butler] was a cool spot [and] cool environment. I liked the vibe, the coaching staff, the goals that they had for the team and I wanted to be a part of that.
TBC: You were a closer in high school, and you are getting early action out of the bullpen here at Butler. What is your favorite part about coming out of the ‘pen?
JT: Coming out of the ‘pen, there’s a little bit more pressure, especially in a close game. So, I like the feeling of going out there and being able to play under the pressure [and] being in bigger spots. [There’s] more adrenaline for sure.
TBC: What has been the biggest adjustment you have made in the jump from high school to D-I?
JT: I would just say the focus on each pitch. In high school, you can get away with certain stuff [that in college], you cannot. So, taking each pitch and having a reason why you’re throwing that pitch, and being able to keep pitches low in the zone.
TBC: Based loaded, 3-2 count, up by one in the ninth, what pitch are you throwing?
JT: Curveball. Low and outside.
Grayson Bradberry is a 6’0” right-handed pitcher from Columbia City, Indiana. Photo by Bryan Malkowski.
TBC: How did you start playing baseball, and when did you realize you wanted to play in college?
GRAYSON BRADBERRY: [At] three years old, my parents put me in all the sports and I really liked baseball. I knew I wanted to play in college in like eighth grade [that’s when] I focused on baseball rather than football.
TBC: How did you find out about Butler, and what made you decide to play here?
GB: I knew about Butler [through the basketball team]. I have a couple [of] friends from back home, [whose] parents went to Butler. So, it [was] always a known school [to me]. I knew I wanted to play here [when] I came on a visit during the summer [of my junior year], and I met Coach Beemer. His energy around the game, his love of the game, it is not a business. He thinks it’s a game, and he really loves what he’s doing.
TBC: Being a pitcher and a quarterback in high school, how do you balance the two and how do they complement each other?
GB: Football definitely teaches you discipline and how to show up when you don’t want to. There are a lot of hot days in the summer where you’re putting on the pads and it is hot and grueling. You’re trying to put on weight, but at the same time, you’re sweating off five pounds a day. So that mindset of being a killer and showing up to work. Then baseball balances it because it’s much more mental.
TBC: You were named Big East Preseason Freshman of the Year by D1Baseball and Perfect Game. Has that changed your mentality at all?
GB: Not really. I set goals for myself that are outrageously high, so I was happy to see that [award], but it’s not going to change the way that I work. I take pride in my work ethic, so no matter if I’m the worst freshman in the conference or the best freshman in the conference, I work the same amount.
TBC: You already have three appearances so far this season. How have you adjusted to the college game?
GB: It’s tough. There’s definitely [more] discipline [needed]. A lot of times in high school, [hitters] swing at stuff that in college they will never swing at, and you have to adjust that. You have to adjust to the zones. It’s definitely a mental tax. It’s every pitch. Every action that you do, you have to do with intention, and the minute you don’t do it with intention, that’s when bad things happen.
TBC: Both you and your girlfriend, Addison Baxter, are playing D1 sports here at Butler. How special has it been being able to come to Butler after attending high school together?
GB: It’s really cool. You don’t see that too often. She definitely pushes me to be my best self, not only in the classroom, just in life and in athletics. So having that person there to constantly push me and be real with me is a blessing.
Jack Zeller is a 5’11” utility player from Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. Photo by Bryan Malkowski.
TBC: How did you start playing baseball, and when did you realize you wanted to play in college?
JACK ZELLER: I started playing baseball around three or four years old. My grandpa and dad got me into it. I realized I wanted to play in college right around my freshman year of high school.
TBC: How did you find out about Butler, and what made you decide to play here?
JZ: I [knew] about Butler for a while because the basketball team is historically good. When the coaches reached out to me a few years ago, that is when I started really looking into [Butler]. The coaches made me like it.
TBC: Who is a professional player that you look up to or model your game after?
JZ: Christian Yelich and Jazz Chisholm Jr..
TBC: You had a tremendous amount of success in high school, but what has it been like adjusting to Division I arms?
JZ: It’s been tough. Division I [players] have been really good, especially Murray State, who we just played this past weekend. They were really good. It’s definitely been an adjustment. The fall was my first look at [D-I pitchers], so [I’m] taking it slow, trusting the process.
TBC: If you had to go on a cross-country road trip with just one of your teammates, who would you choose?
JZ: Grayson Bradberry and definitely not Jake Thomas. [It] would be more realistic to go with Grayson [because] Jake would just try to troll the whole time, [but] we all get along really well.
Garyson Smiddy is a 6’7” left-handed pitcher from Defiance, Ohio. Photo courtesy of Butler Athletics.
TBC: How did you start playing baseball, and when did you realize you wanted to play in college?
GARYSON SMIDDY: I started playing baseball when I was four years old. I realized I wanted to play in college doing those little question things about your future in elementary [school]. I wrote that down in like first grade.
TBC: How did you find out about Butler, and what made you decide to play here?
GS: I actually didn’t know Butler existed until Coach Beemer reached out to me on Twitter. I got recruited really late [because] I missed my junior year. So, [fall of my senior year], I [realized I] had to put together a [good] spring season. Within a month I took two visits to Central Michigan and Butler, and felt [better with Butler’s] staff as a whole, and I saw Coach Beemer’s vision. So I decided to go with Butler, [and then] I learned it was really a good academic school as well.
TBC: Who is a professional player that you look up to or model your pitching style after?
GS: [Clayton] Kershaw because he’s a funky lefty. [He] doesn’t throw crazy hard, but gets outs.
TBC: What is something that you’ve learned from pitching coach Ty Neal since coming to Butler?
GS: To not try to throw as hard as you can, more so to just throw strikes. I think a lot of high school pitchers focus more on the [velocity] aspect when pitching, but with Coach Neal’s approach, he wants us to pitch for contact. In order to do so, you have to throw strikes.
TBC: If you were an MLB closer, what song would you run out of the bullpen to?
GS: I’d go with my walk out this year. ‘Bad’ by Michael Jackson.
