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South Medford's Thompson commits to Oregon By Kris Henry of the Mail Tribune Jun 18, 2020 04:45 PM A A It was April 28, 2013, when Bennett Thompson was able to attend his first collegiate baseball game. The site was PK Park at the University of Oregon in Eugene, and Thompson remembers every moment of the day when then-No. 13 Oregon edged No. 21 Stanford, 4-3, with a perfect squeeze bunt in the ninth inning by Mitchell Tolman to score Aaron Payne. “I was 10 years old and I did the Macarena on Stanford’s dugout,” said Thompson. “I wasn’t very good at it, but I did it.” Ever since then there’s been a special connection between the South Medford High senior-to-be and the Ducks, and that connection only grew stronger late Wednesday night when Thompson made his official commitment to play baseball at Oregon after he graduates in 2021. Thompson and the Ducks had been talking since last October, and everything ramped up Tuesday with a phone call from Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski prior to Thompson’s games with the Medford Mustangs against the Ole Athletics, coached by current Oregon junior catcher Sam Olsson. That conversation, spearheaded by longtime Eugene coach Kenny Niles, led to a fateful one Wednesday night with Oregon’s recruiting coordinator Jack Marder, who is also the Ducks’ hitting coach and responsible for the catchers. “Coach Marder reached out and said we want you to be a Duck by the end of the day,” said Thompson, “and it was a dream-come-true to hear. That’s something that all baseball players look forward to hearing at some point, that someone wants you to come play for them.” “Obviously it’s something I’ve been working for,” added the 5-foot-11, 175-pound catcher. “There wasn’t much hesitation on my part.” Last summer, Thompson helped lead the Mustangs to their sixth straight American Legion AAA state championship by batting .303 with 38 runs and 37 RBIs. In his second year behind the plate for Medford, he committed only one error in 167 total chances with 20 assists. Thompson originally was the one to reach out to Oregon, along with a handful of other schools, asking if they would be able to watch him play during a tournament in Arizona last October. He didn’t get any response to that plea initially, but the Ducks reached out to him a couple weeks later asking for him to fill out a player questionnaire. After talking with assistant recruiting coordinator/pitching coach Jake Angier, Thompson was invited to a prospect camp in November and his performance there left him to be one of a handful of players the Ducks continued to recruit out of about 100 players. In January, Thompson went through another workout at Oregon that included defensive drills and batting practice. Thereafter, Marder remained in steady communication, speaking with Thompson and South coach Josh Moody, and talked about how the Ducks really wanted to see him in game competition to gain a little more perspective on how well he would fit in with the program. That, however, never happened after COVID-19 forced the cancellation of his junior season this spring. With so much on the line, and the extended eligibility granted to Ducks players also in limbo, Thompson was admittedly concerned about his recruitment and potential to come to an agreement anytime soon. “This summer obviously was just a time to go out and have fun and keep getting better,” said Thompson, “but still in the back of my mind there was the thought of college and the thought of them wanting to recruit me. It’s not that it put any pressure on me in any way, but there’s still that little nagging in the back of my mind that I wanted to perform a little extra well.” Batting in the leadoff spot, Thompson served as a spark plug right away for the Mustangs on Monday in a sweep of the Eugene Challengers , coached by an already supportive Niles, and then he took it up a notch Tuesday against Olsson’s crew with a two-run home run to complement his steady all-around play for Mustangs coach Nate Mayben. Those efforts, combined by steady videos of Thompson’s workouts sent to Marder, led to the Ducks pulling the trigger sooner than anyone expected. Oregon coaches are unable to recruit players in person until August. “I know that it was not only challenging for me but it’s challenging for all college recruiters in a way as well,” said the 17-year-old standout. “I definitely wasn’t expecting it to come as quickly as it did but I’m really grateful it is and it’s just a blessing from God that we were able to get this done and I was able to get this opportunity.” Rest assured, Thompson isn’t about to rest on his laurels this summer or for his upcoming senior season. “It doesn’t make me any less motivated,” he said of his early commitment, “it actually makes me more motivated to keep getting better. But it does kind of take a little bit of that anxiety and that stress off my shoulders just knowing that there’s a program out there that I’ll be going to in a little over a year. It just gives that extra motivation for this upcoming year to keep getting better as a player.” “I think that now the focus just shifts to polishing my game all around,” added Thompson, “continuing to become a better hitter and understanding the game more because after this next year the game’s going to speed up a whole lot. Not only physically but mentally, I’ll have to prepare myself for that.” Thompson said feedback from Oregon’s coaches has been positive, from his defensive abilities in receiving and throwing the baseball to his focus at the plate. “Coach Wasikowski was saying from everything he’s seen and also heard from coaches that he loves the way I play the game and that I’m the type of player that he wants to have in his program,” said Thompson. All those assets will have to be taken up a notch moving forward, but Thompson has a good resource in what it’s like to compete in the Pac-12 Conference in former South Medford and Mustangs teammate Jacob Melton, who was a sophomore outfielder this spring at Oregon State. “I don’t think it’s fully set in yet the weight of the whole thing,” Thompson said of joining Oregon, “but being close with Jacob Melton and just being able to talk with him about how things are in the Pac and how the game’s changed from South and the Mustangs and how it translates to playing in the Pac, I’m excited for it. I know it’s going to be a grind and nothing’s going to come easy, but that’s how I like it. I like that added expectation and the added difficulty playing against the top guys.” Oregon has essentially been a .500 program (112-109 from 2016-19) as of late, but the Ducks made the playoffs in all but one season from 2010-15 after the program was brought back in 2009. This spring was Wasikowski’s first as head coach at Oregon after returning to the program following three seasons as head coach at Purdue. Wasikowski’s run as assistant coach to George Horton at Oregon was from 2012-16, and Thompson has full faith that his future head coach is exactly the person to guide the Ducks back toward the top of the Pac-12. “I think that coach Waz is the perfect guy for that,” he said. “Back in the early 2010s, he was the assistant coach there and that’s when they were at their best and making the playoffs. They went through a little drought but just from when I’ve talked with him, I really love the way that he approaches the game and the way that he goes about coaching. I think that with him, along with coach Marder and coach Angier and everyone else, just in a couple years Oregon could be back at the top of the Pac again so I’m really excited for that.” He’s also excited about getting back to PK Park, only this time as a player instead of a fan. “Ever since that first game in 2013, I’ve just loved the atmosphere of PK Park,” said Thompson. “Everything’s so close to the field and just the energy of all the fans in the stadium, there’s not a lot of places like it. It’s one of the best facilities in the Pac-12 and in the country as well so I’m excited to have that be my home for the next few years after high school.” And who knows, maybe there will be even better Macarena opportunities in his future. “I have had some time to practice since then,” joked Thompson. Have a local story idea? Reach reporter Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected] , www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune Medford Mustangs catcher Bennett Thompson heads to the dugout during Game 1 Monday against Eugene. Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune South Medford's Bennett Thompson gets a base hit for the Medford Mustangs during Game 1 Monday against Eugene.