Justin Zeller is a senior outfielder for the Wheaton baseball team and also a wide receiver on the Thunder football team. He earned All-American status in 2010 in baseball and is among the school’s career leaders in almost every offensive category. Below is a brief interview with Justin.
Q: What is your major?
A: Applied Health Science.
Q: What plans do you have after graduation?
A: I will be heading out to North Carolina to do some coaching and begin working towards an administrator’s license in order to eventually become an Athletic Director.
Q: Why did you choose to attend Wheaton and play baseball?
A: It was paired with my decision to come play football here. I knew I wanted to go to a school in which I would be able to play both. I have a unique situation because the baseball coach that recruited me actually resigned before I arrived as a freshman. However, I became familiar with Coach [Lee] Driggers right away through his son Austin, who I was classmates and teammates with on the football team.
Q: What do you enjoy most about playing baseball at Wheaton?
A: The game of baseball can be extremely enjoyable in itself if played and appreciated correctly. I think that side of the game is available to any ballplayer across the country no matter what school he plays for. Specifically at Wheaton, I have enjoyed getting to know some awesome guys that I’ve played with throughout the years. Along with that, there are some Wheaton families that love to spoil us baseball players on our spring break trip via all-you-can-eat meals, an experience that is always a highlight of the season.
Q: What do you enjoy most about Wheaton?
A: Wheaton is what it is because of the people. In my four years here, I have grown close to so many amazing people who have impacted me for the better. At the end of the day, I think it’s what separates this place from everywhere else.
Q: What is your favorite baseball memory so far in your time at Wheaton?
A: Two stick out in my mind, and they both involve beating Augustana. The first is being fortunate enough to be a part of the first Wheaton baseball team to win a postseason game in the history of the school during my freshman year. We were playing Augie in the conference tournament and came back from two runs down in the ninth inning to capture the first playoff win ever for Wheaton baseball. The second memory happened a year later at Alexian Field, also against Augustana. We were playing them in a double header and had two ninth-inning comebacks that both resulted in walk-off hits. The second game we won on a walk-off home run by Mark Price, a senior who was a role model for me and had invested a ton in the program. That was probably one of my favorite baseball memories of all time.
Q: What has it been like to play on the new all-turf baseball field at Lee Pfund Stadium?
A: An absolute blessing. Once that project is finished, Wheaton College will boast the best baseball facility in the CCIW, and quite possibly one of the best in all of Division III. I feel very honored and humbled to be on the first team that gets a chance to play on that field. It’s awesome to finally see the culmination of all the hard work behind the scenes that went in to making that stadium a possibility.
