Easton Nuzum and the rest of the Athens Bulldogs baseball team are in the midst of a historic season, currently riding the program’s first Tri-Valley Conference-Ohio championship since 2019. While it’s the collection of student-athletes who came together to make history for Athens, this was seemingly destiny for the rising junior.
Todd Nuzum, the current head coach for the Bulldogs has always been a baseball lifer. An All-Ohio player in The Plains during his time for the Bulldogs before blossoming with the Bobcats for Ohio University, the Athens Athletic Hall of Fame member already set his son up to be a baseball lifer before ever being born.
“He was pretty much named after the bat,” Nuzum said with a laugh in an interview with The Messenger. “I always thought that if I had a son, that was the name I was going to name him.”
The father-son duo is part of a multi-generational group of Bulldogs who have taken pride in representing the Athens community. Even going back to his father, Ralph, who is also a part of the AHS Athletic Hall of Fame, the Nuzum name has been a mainstay in this area.
Getting the chance to create more memories for Athens and the community for the high school team with his son, the opportunity and privilege of this special time has not been lost on Nuzum.
After staring during his time with Athens under Bob Woodell, who he credited to being a big reason to his success, the native got the opportunity to continue his athletic career at home after graduating in 1982 and never looked back.
“It was home and I wanted to stay close to home. I love the OU program,” Nuzum noted when asked about how his commitment to the Bobcats came about decades ago. “I went and watched OU since I was six, seven or eight years old. It was my dream to play over here.”
Nuzum ultimately became an all-conference player for the Bobcats, cementing even more of a resume on the diamond while representing his hometown.
After a stint on the staff at Joliet Junior College following graduation, Nuzum returned to Athens to work for the school district. For someone so deeply ingrained in the community, it was just another way to give back.
Eventually getting the opportunity to use the name he always envisioned when Easton was born, another chapter of the baseball journey opened up for the Nuzums.
One of the staples of America’s pastime is the family connection. Whether it’s shown in countless forms of media or written numerous times, the idea of a father and son playing catch is a unique and ubiquitous experience that fuels generations’ love for the sport.
Finally, getting to raise a ball player, it’s those memories that Nuzum looks back at as being some of the fondest.
“It’s definitely kept me young,” Nuzum said with a chuckle. “It’s been a blessing to watch him grow as a player. I remember him out in the front lawn in the snow, throwing on his pitch back and things like that.”
Growing up, it didn’t take long for the now starting shortstop of the Bulldogs to take on the family game, mentioning how he immediately felt connected to the game from an early age.
“Just the satisfaction of fielding,” the junior immediately quipped when asked about what drove him to the sport originally. “I just found it fun and I just kept working on it.”
Well, it’s not too bad of a situation to have one of your closest role models be someone qualified to help you along that journey. While it’s something he may not fully appreciate until years down the line, Easton is aware of how lucky he his to have his father there every step of the way.
“Not everybody has that, so it’s just great to have a person like that to guide me,” He said. “If I have a bad game, I’m always texting him ‘What did you see?’ and it’s always nice to have that to improve.”
That communication became easier when Todd took over as head coach of the program in 2018. For someone who has prided himself on giving back to the community he called home, it was just another way to help out.
“Athens baseball, I feel like the tradition goes way back, and I just wanted to try to keep the tradition (going) that’s been all these years. Once it opened up, I applied for the job and fortunately I was hired for it.”
The baseball mind didn’t take too long to find success and make an impact at the school, winning a district title in the 2019 season with a loaded team. Losing the 2020 season and looking to build back up ever since, Nuzum and the rest of the Bulldogs squad are primed to try and make another run at the districts this year. It’s just an added bonus that he gets to watch his son along the way.
“Coaching your son sometimes is a dream come true, but sometimes it’s really hard,” Nuzum admitted. “I’m a little tougher on him than anyone else just because he’s my son, but it’s definitely been a dream.”
While he’s still a coach in name, Nuzum will always be a father at heart. Despite having to be some separation issues at times when going through sports while coaching your kin, he also knows to embrace the moment and situation that he’s in.
“It’s awesome. Knowing that he’s one of the guys you want in the situation, whether it’s at the plate or a ground ball to him. I have so much confidence in him that he’s going to perform.”
“One of the guys” is pretty fitting. Athens, as exemplified with the TVC-Ohio crown, is loaded with young talent that look to lead the Bulldogs for the foreseeable future. Despite having a lot of responsibility as the shortstop and three-hole hitter, Easton knows that he doesn’t have to carry the load here.
“It’s real fun. I love all the guys, I’ve been playing with them for 10 years with them. It’s fun to build connections and then go and have success with those same people,” Easton said about this current crop of Bulldogs. “Even if I struggle in one of those aspects of the game, there’s a whole bunch of great guys around me that can pick me up and we can still win the ball game.”
It’s not just exciting for Easton, who still gets at least one more year with this talented collection, it’s also tantalizing for Nuzum as a coach. Knowing he gets more than just one season with this team, it’s an exciting time to be around the Athens program.
“It’s going to be rough when they go because I’ve been with this group since they were eight years old and followed them all the way up.”
Time runs out eventually for everything, but there’s still time to enjoy the moment as it currently stands. Both the Nuzums and the rest of the Athens program were essential in bringing back gold to The Plains. While it’s just one step in the journey, Nuzum has his sights set on getting back to what he achieved early in his tenure as coach.
“It’s always nice to bring that back to the great tradition of Athens baseball,” the head coach said. “Obviously the TVC is the No. 1 goal to start our year off, but we have to build off that. I want to get back to the district title like 2019. It’s a great group of kids, it’s just baseball, they work their tails off and hopefully we can accomplish that.”
The postseason is just about to start but no matter what happens in the unpredictable game that is baseball, both Todd and Easton Nuzum continue to carry a proud, multi-generation lineage that brings pride to the community of Athens.
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