‘Baseball first’: Spokane Indians first base Aidan Longwell turned down college football for dream of ‘The Show’

Lots of professional athletes played multiple sports in high school. Participating in more than one sport provides cross-training benefits, allows young athletes the opportunity to engage with peers in different ways and be exposed to various coaching techniques and disciplines.

It’s also just fun to play different sports and be involved at school.

But most college-bound high school athletes have a pretty good idea which is their “best” sport early in the process, and which sports they play for “fun.”

For Spokane Indians first baseman Aidan Longwell, baseball was always his first love.

“I’ve always considered myself a baseball player,” he said after batting practice last week at Avista Stadium.

But in the high school football-crazy town of Massillon, Ohio, he’s still known as the quarterback who picked baseball over football.

“I grew up in a football town. I was blessed enough to play in a beautiful facility and a great program. … But I chose baseball, and I’m glad that I did. It’s been a dream of mine to play professional baseball since I can remember, and you’re not going to do that playing college football.”

There aren’t too many places outside of Texas where high school football gets played in front of a crowd of 15,000 fans on Friday nights.

“It’s a special place. The people care about their football there. They’re very passionate,” Longwell said. “And I think it’s part of the reason I am who I am, because I was able to play in front of those big crowds and in that intense atmosphere every Friday night, which is really special.”

Longwell’s name is all over the record book at Massillon Washington High School, one of the oldest and most successful programs in the country. He holds career marks for passing yards, completions, attempts, completion percentage and touchdown passes – and not just by a little bit in most cases.

“There’s some great names in that record book that have come through that school, been great football players go on to play in the NFL,” Longwell said. “So for my name to be in there, it’s pretty cool.”

He could have played college football just about anywhere he wanted, including Ohio State.

“I grew up a Buckeyes fan, but you can’t play pro (base)ball if you’re playing quarterback,” he said.

“As long as I can remember, it was always baseball first. That was always what I wanted to do – eventually get to ‘The Show.’ It was a great experience to go on the recruiting trips and all the visits, see all the beautiful campuses. But the at the end of the day, I knew it was going to be baseball.”

He chose another in-state option – Kent State – for baseball.

“It felt like family as soon as I got on campus,” Longwell said. “It was close to home. My family was able to come watch every weekend, which was really important to me. And I grew up watching Kent State. They were the closest major college for me, and I was able to go watch their games all the time. It was just somewhere that was a dream school for me.”

Longwell hit .404/.475/.652 with 10 homers and 75 RBIs in his final season with the Golden Flashes and was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 17th round of the 2023 MLB draft.

“It was definitely a dream come true,” he said about draft day. “All the hard work paid off. All the long days in the cages with my dad, hitting and working out from as long as I can remember. So, it all paid off to ultimately get that call. But there’s still a lot more work to do.”

He hit over .300 last year with Low-A Fresno, and entering play on Tuesday the 23-year-old is slashing .304/.368/.551 with 10 home runs and 48 RBIs in 58 games with the Spokane Indians. He’s fourth in the league in average, first in doubles, tied for seventh in homers, and second in RBIs – all despite missing 10 games with a lower leg injury in the late part of May/early June.

Longwell has been on a tear since his return – he’s hit in 14 out of 15 games, going 23 for 60 (.383) with a .439 on-base average, three homers and 15 RBIs.

He’s always been a “hit-first” type of player, but Longwell and the Rockies organization are making a concentrated effort to add more power to his game – without selling out for it.

“The bat-to-ball skill was always there out of out of college, and now we’ve kind of opened up this new area for him where he’s pulling the ball in the air a little bit more, hitting for more power,” Indians batting coach Trevor Burmeister said. “He’s gone from a guy where instead of just getting a pitch to get a hit on, he’s getting a pitch to do damage on.”

“A big focus for me this off season was generate some more power, find a way to drive the ball more,” Longwell said. “I can consistently barrel the ball and don’t swing and miss a ton. So, being able to unlock that power aspect has been a huge thing for me this year.”

Burmeister said Longwell’s experience as a quarterback and his natural athletic ability makes it easier for the player to receive instruction and act upon it.

“It really helps, from a coach’s standpoint, when you have guys like that because they typically can ‘feel’ their bodies a little bit better,” he said. “Right away, you can suggest this little move and show him, and then right away he knows how to find it. … He’s pretty special in terms of giving instruction and being able to apply it.”

Longwell is happy to see his power numbers on the rise, but he didn’t set any goals for the season – other than the team’s overall record.

“A goal for me is always to win. If you win, it takes care of a lot of things,” he said. “Your numbers will be what your numbers are if you’re winning. So, the goal for me is just to continue to win and help the team get a championship this year again.”