Jamie Perebzak steadily evolved over a decorated run at Otterbein, contributing early on the diamond and remaining and all-around producer in both on the baseball field and the classroom.

The Wadsworth native began his career starting in the designated hitter spot, earning honorable mention All-Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) status while learning from star first baseman Luke Barber. After two years as the DH, Perebzak took over at the bag and continued developing…

He was named all-conference for the second time as a junior before a breakout senior campaign, where he became just the fourth Cardinal to ever be voted OAC Player of the Year. Perebzak led the league by a comfortable margin with 61 RBI that season, ranking Top-10 nationally and shattering Otterbein’s longstanding single-season record that stood for nearly four decades.

That true senior year featured an 18-game hitting streak, 18 extra-base hits and another crisp fielding percentage with his glove… as the Cards finished second in the OAC regular season and came up one game shy of the OAC Tournament Final. Included in that run was a victory over eventual national champion Misericordia on spring break, where Perebzak launched a memorable go-ahead grand slam in the middle innings.

As good as his production was on the diamond, Perebzak was even sharper as a nursing major by compiling a 3.79 GPA as an undergrad. He was 3x Academic All-OAC, 2x Academic All-District and saved his punctuation mark for last by earning second team Academic All-America honors after making the national ballot for a third time.

Jamie was the only OAC player (and one of 34 standouts in all of NCAA Division III) to make that heralded list after the spring of 2024, helping further a time/streak of notable baseball Academic All-Americans. He went on to work in the surgical intensive care unit at Riverside Hospital while choosing to exercise a fifth year of eligibility.