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Jake Ogden’s Unlikely Journey: From Overlooked to Miami’s Leading Hitter

by:Jeremy Shodell•03/20/25
Jake Ogden
Jake Ogden (photo courtesy of Miami Athletics)

Jake Ogden doesn’t follow the typical storyline of a highly recruited high school baseball player fast-tracked to the University of Miami.

Far from it.

And it’s not just about a lack of interest from major programs when he was coming out of Miami Coral Reef High School, with Ogden initially playing for Division II Barry University and then UNC Greensboro before transferring to Miami this year. Oh, and did we mention yet that Ogden leads the Canes with a .378 batting average along with a team-high 22 runs scored and 44 total bases? He’s hit three home runs and has batted anywhere from leadoff to cleanup.

So what else makes this an atypical baseball rags to riches story, so to speak?

Well, Ogden hasn’t just had to battle naysayers along the way who said he wasn’t big enough, didn’t have enough power, this or that. He also battled Type I diabetes since age 5.

“He never wanted it to (affect his childhood) so he didn’t let it,” Ogden’s father, Michael, said. “He’s a warrior.”

“I have lived with it my whole life so it is second nature to me,” Jake says. “At times, dealing with maintaining blood sugars and all that while playing can naturally be tough, but it has helped me in maturing and growing up a bit.”

His former high school coach, Chris Leon, adds “There’s another layer, his diabetes, where he is dealing with this other thing that he never uses as a crutch… he’s not a high maintenance individual even though he is dealing with something most people would let hinder their mentality. He doesn’t give a crap that he’s diabetic. He’s going to deal with it and go about his business… for him, it’s just a norm. In three to four years, there were maybe two to three instances where you knew he needed to go get a Welch’s pack or sugar.”

The Unlikely Star

Ogden is the definition of an underdog story.

And one undercurrent cutting through it all is his dream of someday playing for his hometown Miami Hurricanes. He’d watch and go to games, but never thought he would be taking the field at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

“It’s cool, you know, seeing all the people that I watched growing up,” Jake said. “I never thought I’d be in their shoes now.”

Perhaps it’s no surprise Ogden’s reached this point. Growing up with diabetes, battling the naysayers in his recruitment – it all taught him how to battle hard and fight for his dreams.

Nothing was given to Jake, it was all earned.

Including his spot at Miami. Hurricanes coach J.D. Arteaga certainly is glad he took a chance on the 6-0, 195-pounder who hit .322 with eight homers as a freshman at Barry University and then hit .313 with eight long balls at UNC Greensboro last season.

“Jake is a kid that does everything right,” said Arteaga, whose team has a 13-9 record and is gearing up for a huge Thurs-Sat. home series vs. rival Florida State. “You never have to repeat yourself. … He’s a guy that just goes about his business, very professional, plays the game right, plays it hard. And whether you hit him leadoff or cleanup, play him at shortstop or (elsewhere), wherever you put him he has a smile on his face and gives his best effort every time out.”

Jake never let anything slow him down on or off the field. He started playing travel baseball at a young age, then on to high school ball with Coral Reef, always competing at a high level.

And he’s always been a perfectionist at doing the little things right. That took root right away at Barry, where he started and had an on-base percentage of .402. And he wasn’t just a fielder/hitter there. He made four pitching appearances, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings with four saves. After the season he was honored as Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year. Then he headed to the transfer portal looking for a DI opportunity. He got that at UNC Greensboro, and he succeeded at that level as well, playing third base and starting all 54 games.

Ogden credits that team’s shortstop, Aidan Brewer, for helping his development … and Jake’s primary position now is shortstop.

“Aidan – I was learning from him, how to handle failure and everything that the game entails,” Ogden says.

Ogden’s mentality every day, every game is simple: “Believe in yourself. Stay confident. Even if you’re not playing well, just be confident. Trust your ability.”

He trusted his ability to play at an even higher level. So after last season in Greensboro, it was back to the portal. The goal: Fulfill his dream of playing for the hometown Hurricanes.

Now he says one of his favorite parts of playing for Miami is “just being at home. My family is here. My parents don’t have to travel far and they come to all the games. Not at Greensboro (where) they would come to as many as they could.”

Ogden’s parents supported him throughout his baseball career and now, as a star player at his favorite team, he relishes watching them cheer from the same bleachers they took him to in his youth.

Between The Lines

Another aspect that perhaps makes Ogden a bit atypical at this level? He’s humble, down-to-earth, quiet.

Earlier this season he drew laughs from media when he said he’d be fine with the team’s identity being “boring.” For Ogden, apparently, boring means leading the team in batting average and making sensational plays in the field at the highest level of collegiate baseball.

“He’s a man of few words,” Michael says of Jake. “If you watch him, he’s very level-headed.”

Leon adds, “Every day you know what you’re going to get (from Ogden) … this guy has the right attitude.”

Perhaps they need to create a baseball thesaurus where boring and consistent are synonymous.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s 0-for-3 or 3-for-3, you are going to get the same Jake Ogden every time,” Leon says. “Calm, cool and collected. You just wish he would rub off on everyone around him… he plays in the now. That’s all he’s worried about.”

A final thought from Ogden?
That’s on how he views diabetes as it relates to his baseball career.

“It doesn’t affect me out there,” he says.

A simple statement.

Boring, perhaps.

But true.

Just ask Miami’s opponents.

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