There’s an old saying that goes: “Good things come in small packages.” Ohio State’s freshman pitching sensation Greg Prenger is living proof that good pitchers come from small towns. Very small towns. Prenger said that his home town of Harpster, Ohio, is a “sneeze-and-you-miss-it” town located halfway between Upper Sandusky and Marion in northern Ohio.”There are about 100 people living there,” Prenger said. “No stoplights, but there’s an intersection with a stop sign. There’s a convenience store in town, but that’s about it. There was an elementary school when I was a little kid, but that closed when I was in fourth grade.”Baseball was a big part of my childhood,” he said.Without a school in town, Prenger went to high school in Upper Sandusky. His older brother starred there until suffering an arm injury during his sophomore season. Prenger was a three-time district honorable mention selection in his high school career and was a first team all-league selection during his senior season in 1998. That year, Prenger was a team captain and went 7-3 with a 1.48 ERA. There’s another old saying that says “The best things in life are worth working for.” Prenger definitely agrees with that one, as well. Prenger came to OSU because, well, every Prenger has been a Buckeye. Seven of his relatives, including both of his parents, are OSU grads. He was not offered a scholarship when he arrived on campus. He was not even offered a chance to play as a walk-on. Instead, Prenger came to Bill Davis Stadium on the day that OSU head coach Bob Todd and his coaching staff held open tryouts. “There were about 40 of us,” Prenger said. “It was a great atmosphere because everyone was really supporting each other, but it was kind of sad, too. Thirty-eight guys went home that night knowing that their baseball careers were basically over.”Prenger was one of only three players to make the Buckeye team that day. The other two are no longer with the squad. Prenger stuck it out, and was red-shirted in 1999, practicing with the OSU team during its Big Ten championship season, but not playing. This season, Prenger started his first official collegiate season in the bullpen, appearing mostly in middle relief until sophomore starter Nate Smith injured his shoulder and was lost for the year. OSU pitching coach Pat Bangston said that Prenger’s importance is measured in the number of quality innings he pitches.”With the injuries we’ve had and the schedule during the Big Ten tournament, it’s important to have a lot of good arms. The freshmen (Prenger, Kyle Brown, and Kevin Wynk) are a big part of that.”Prenger won his first Big Ten start against Indiana, then threw back-to-back complete games against then-Big Ten leaders Illinois and Penn State. The Buckeyes split those games, winning in Illinois and losing in Penn State, but Prenger pitched well in both games.The kid from the tiny town of Harpster is succeeding in a very big way on one of the biggest stages in college baseball. He’s quickly becoming a fan favorite, too. Maybe it’s because anyone who has ever played baseball can relate to him: the way you can tell how much he loves the game; the way he plays every game like it could be his last. It’s almost as if he’s terrified that someone is going to tear the uniform off his back and make him live a life without baseball. Most guys play hard, but few college players have come as close to losing the game as Prenger.Prenger is an easy guy to root for. It’s easy to admire the guts it took for a kid from a small town to stand up in front of a crowd of coaches and players, most of them just as desperate to keep playing, and pitch his heart out to earn a uniform, to hold off the post-baseball world for just a little longer. Prenger’s final start of the regular season will be during Saturday’s doubleheader against Michigan State.