Brody Brecht has MLB or Big Ten in his future
ANKENY, Iowa (BVM) — There is a new feature for any Ankeny High School baseball game this year and that is the addition of some new attendees. Those new additions are Major League Baseball scouts and they are there to watch Brody Brecht.
“It’s a blessing for sure, but it’s kind of crazy at times,” Brecht said. “After every pitch you throw there are scouts throwing up their guns in the back, seeing where you’re at after every single pitch. It can be a lot sometimes, but you have to do your best to kind of flush them out.”
It’s true there are whispers from the stands as Brecht throws a 95 mph-plus fastball that you’ll miss if you blink or a slider that just drops off the face of the earth can be a bit of a distraction, but it’s nothing new for Brecht. Before it was MLB scouts, it was college scouts coming to see the Ankeny native not only play baseball but football as well.
Brecht played both sports growing up, football in the fall and baseball in the summer from when he was 5 years old, but it was football that he really fell in love with and began to excel at.
“For football it was seventh grade when I realized I was bigger, faster and stronger than a lot of the kids out there,” Brecht said. “Then eighth grade was a good year and freshman year I got pulled up to varsity. Not a lot of freshman are doin that so that was kind when I realized like, ’Hey I can do something with this sport.’”
It wasn’t easy being the freshman on a varsity football team, but Brecht persevered, and with the help of then-senior Drew Hill, he pushed through and began to thrive as a wide receiver. With his size, ability to locate the football and knack for being hard to take down, he was an instant threat on the outside.
At the same time, Brecht also began playing varsity baseball. Originally brought up for hitting, he quickly began showing what he could do as a pitcher.
By his sophomore year, Brecht had received an offer from Iowa for baseball, and with other colleges taking notice, a decision would have to be made on what Brecht’s future would look like.
“Playing both wasn’t the plan at first, I was just trying to play football at first because that’s what I loved to do,” Brecht said. “Then as I started playing more baseball and realizing that I could have a higher ceiling in that sport I started to like doing it more. I realized I couldn’t give up playing it because that could be my future.”
Brecht had the opportunity to play both sports at Kansas, Kansas State and Nebraska. However, he did not want to leave the state, so the decision ultimately came down to Iowa or Iowa State. It was a tough decision, but in the end, Iowa State lacked a baseball team and his longtime love of the Hawkeyes won. Brecht verbally committed to Iowa in May of 2020 and signed his letter of intent that December.
“It’s kind of hard to not go to the school you always cheered for,” Brecht said. “When I got the Iowa offer it was a dream come true and I think from that moment on deep down I always knew it was Iowa.”
With his decision made, Brecht heaved a sigh of relief and focused on his senior year of high school. That summer as a junior, he went 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 69 strikeouts over 34.1 innings pitched as the Hawks lost to Johnston in the state championship.
Then last fall as a senior, Brecht had 42 receptions, 599 receiving yards, and 12 touchdowns as Ankeny won a state title. Still flying high from the impressive accomplishment, Brecht was set on football and baseball at Iowa next year. However, as time went on and the MLB kept calling, Brecht softened to the idea of going pro.
“The plan right now is to still go to Iowa… But I would say the door is still open for the MLB,” Brecht said.
It’s no surprise why. Brecht can throw the ball over 95 mph with ease and many believe that it would not take long for him to get that up to 100. Add to that his size and command over his slider and scouts have been drooling over him since last year. This season he is already 4-0 with 47 strikeouts and a 1.20 ERA in just 23.1 innings pitched.
Brecht, through talking with family, friends and praying knows what threshold has to be met for him to decide to forgo a childhood dream of playing at Iowa, but either way, the name Brody Brecht will be one that’s heard often in the future. It’s just a matter of if it’s after a touchdown or a strikeout.
