photo by: Kim North

St. Clairsville graduate Braylen Blomquist is slated to be the starting shortstop for the Wright State University baseball team this spring. The true sophomore earned all-Horizon League and all-Freshman Team honors a season ago.

FAIRBORN – Braylen Blomquist comes from a baseball family. That family includes his father, Dave, and older brothers, Tyler and Kaden, both of whom starred at West Liberty.

However, being the youngest, Braylen had a chance to learn the game at a young age by watching.

“I grew up watching a lot of baseball. I’ve seen it all,” he said during a recent interview. “I’ve got a lot of baseball knowledge and I trust my instincts and just go out and play.”

Blomquist is penciled in to be the starting shortstop at Wright State University this spring as a true sophomore. He enjoyed a breakout freshman season that had its highs and lows.

In the fall, he was struck in the face during a scrimmage against Kentucky.

“I got hit in the face with a fastball, shattering my skull in two places and shattering my nose. I had surgery and I have a metal plate right here,” he said pointing above his right eye. “No shying away, though. I’ve got to get back to it.”

During the spring, the Raiders put together a 40-21 record, including a superb 25-5 in the Horizon League. They eventually won the Horizon League Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament

In the regular season, Blomquist earned all-Horizon League first team and All-Freshmen Team after batting .333 (54-162) with 54 runs scored and 35 driven in. He recorded 10 doubles, five triples, a pair of home runs and 80 total bases. He also walked 17 times, was hit with a pitch another 10 and grounded into just one double play, while recording four sacrifice flys and stealing nine bases in 12 attempts.

His lone weak spot was 31 strikeouts.

“No doubt. No doubt,” he said. “That was basically getting adjusted to NCAA Division I pitching. Changeups were a big adjustment for me.”

The Raiders earned the top seed in the Horizon League Tournament and the right to host the event at Nischwitz Stadium

“It was awesome. Being my first year, it was amazing, and to win it at home made it that more special,” he recalled.

The victory earned Wright State a berth in the NCAA Tournament, but as luck would have it, they were sent to the Vanderbilt Region at Hawkins Field in Nashville, along with East Tennessee State, Louisville and the host and the top-ranked Commodores.

The Raiders dropped a heartbreaker to Vanderbilt in the first game, but bounced back to defeat East Tennessee State, 7-5. That set up a re-match with the Commodores, who lost to Louisville, in a winner-go-home game. Wright State prevailed, 5-04, but were then blanked 6-0 by the Cardinals.

“It was unreal, but we knew we could hang with them,” he said of the 4-3 loss in the double-elimination event. “I think we proved that two games later when we beat them to knock them out.”

While traveling with the team to Tennessee, Blomquist didn’t play as he was injured in the Horizon League championship game.

“I pulled a hamstring in the 7th inning running out a groundball,” he recalled.

Now fully recovered, the slick-fielding shortstop is ready to get back after it.

“Just trying to repeat the process. I’m excited for our home opener. I’m excited about going down south again,” he added. “We’re just trying to get back to where we finished last year.

“The way we played in the regional gives us a ton of confidence coming back,” Blomquist said. “We know we can make it back there (to the regional), and maybe further.

“The sky is the limit. I firmly believe that.”

Having played shortstop his entire life, Blomquist had to make an adjustment last year. With a veteran ahead of him, the Wright State staff needed to find a way to get his bat into the lineup. They did so as he played a variety of positions, including second base and the corner outfield spots..

“Being versatile like that helped me tremendously. It helped me face a lot of adversity by learning how to play the outfield for the first time,” he acknowledged. “It benefitted me a lot. I was able to get my feet wet and kind of understand the flow of college baseball.”

Played SS my entire life.

“I feel very comfortable playing just shortstop,” he admitted. “That’s where I’ll always be.”

Blomquist has also signed a full contract to play this summer in prestigious Cape Cod League with the Harwich Mariners.

Wright State opens the 2026 season with a three-game weekend set in Athens, Ga. against the University of Georgia.

“It will be interesting. Going south and playing in warm weather against good competition will only help us down the road,” he said. “Having already played in big environments like that, we’ll be ready to play when tournament time comes around.”

Blomquist is also the son of Karin Janiszewski, of St. Clairsville.