Brogdon leading Carnegie Mellon club baseball team

Junior Wade Brogdon grew up playing baseball.

“Everyone plays baseball in my area as a little kid,” said Brogdon, who is originally from Georgia. “It’s the most interesting and challenging game in the world in my opinion, and that’s what keeps me playing. You can never reach perfection — it helps you deal with failure, and it really prepares you for things off the field.”

Brogdon became interested in club baseball at Carnegie Mellon in the spring of his first year at the university. “I decided to contact coach Claudio to see when a tryout would be. He told me to go to the gym 30 minutes from then, and from that moment forward I was a part of CMU baseball,” Brogdon said.

Brogdon’s skills have been essential to the Tartans’ recent success. “Wade means a lot to our team on and off the field. On the field as our leadoff hitter he will hit .525 plus, as well as a high number of stolen bases which means a lot of runs for us,” said head coach Claudio Reilsono.

Three years later, Brogdon still feels that joining the team was a great choice. He is now the president of the club. “I enjoy the mixture of guys that we have with such a wide variety of backgrounds. The thing that brings us together and makes us such a good team and so fun to be a part of is our undying love for the game of baseball and our desire to win,” Brogdon said.

Brogdon takes pride in his team and himself for finishing the fall season with the best record in Carnegie Mellon’s recent history. Looking forward to next season, Brogdon has his goals set even higher for his team. “[Our goals] are to be perfect and undefeated, make the playoffs, and win the Club World Series,” Brogdon said.

According to Brogdon, between the young talent on the club baseball team and hard work, these goals are realistic. Brogdon also set his personal game to a high standard. “My personal goals are to improve my fielding percentage from last year, and bat over .500,” Brogdon said.

Brogdon is one of the all-around leaders of the club baseball team. “Wade is the prototypical leader. He’s confident, outgoing, and great with the new players. Above all he’s a great hitter and field general at shortstop,” said senior captain and starting pitcher Bennett Poepping.

Brogdon is a business finance major in the Tepper School of Business. He explained that he would like to be in the financial field next year, as a consultant or an analyst.
Being a student athlete is very important to Brogdon. “I think I can speak for most members of the team when I say that it keeps me sane. Being at CMU, you don’t get a lot of opportunities, if any, to alleviate stress, especially for athletes who depended on athletics in high school. Playing baseball gives me something to look forward to, makes my weekends infinitely more enjoyable, and gives me an opportunity to represent my school outside of the classroom. It’s very rewarding and makes us proud,” Brogdon said.