Some days, Tucker Zdunich (RU-2024) trades his cleats for work boots. When the former Reinhardt University baseball standout isn’t traveling across Ontario playing professional baseball, he can often be found back home helping on the family farm. Since graduating, Zdunich has continued playing in independent and semi-professional leagues, including time with the Ottawa Titans and the London Majors.
During the off-season, Zdunich returns home to recharge and spend time with family between long stretches on the road. While professional baseball keeps him traveling much of the year, those quieter months offer a chance to reconnect with the people who supported his journey long before his name appeared on a professional roster.
Ask Zdunich where his journey accelerated, and his answer comes without hesitation: Reinhardt.
“It felt like home within weeks,” he recalled.
After beginning his college career at a junior college in Kansas, Zdunich was searching for his next step during the uncertainty of the COVID-era transfer landscape. A recommendation from his former high school coach connected him with Reinhardt’s baseball program and its then-head coach Jonathan Burton.
When Tucker and his father first arrived in Waleska, the campus made an immediate impression.
“We drove around campus and looked at the baseball and athletic fields and just thought, ‘Wow, this is pretty beautiful,’” Zdunich said.
What sealed the decision wasn’t the scenery. It was the people.
The tight-knit community, the friendships formed with teammates from across the country, and the everyday moments between classes and practices quickly made Reinhardt feel like home.
But some of his favorite memories from Reinhardt had little to do with baseball.
Many of those memories happened in the most ordinary places. Gordy Dining Hall, for instance, became an unofficial gathering place for the baseball team. Between early morning workouts and evening practices, teammates would fill tables, sharing meals, stories, and plenty of laughter.
“The cafeteria was definitely a big spot for our team,” Zdunich said. “You’d always find a couple of teammates there. Those were good times just hanging out and bonding.”
Of course, the most unforgettable moments happened on the field.
During the 2024 season, Reinhardt baseball reached one of the program’s biggest milestones — winning the opening round of the NAIA playoffs and advancing to the World Series. Hosting that opening round at home made the victory even more special.
After years of competing and falling just short, the breakthrough felt deeply personal.
“When we finally won and got to celebrate with Coach Burton and the guys who had been grinding together for years, it just felt like all the work paid off,” Zdunich said.
That season also reinforced one of the biggest lessons baseball taught him: resilience. Even after earning All-American honors earlier in his career, Zdunich experienced the pressures that come with high expectations and learned to trust his teammates and the process.
Beyond the statistics and wins, however, the longest-lasting influence came from the people who shaped his time at Reinhardt.
Burton, now Reinhardt’s Vice President for Athletics, left a lasting impression on Zdunich’s approach to leadership and character.
“Coach Burton always made it clear that he wanted us to be good people, not just good baseball players,” Zdunich said.
“I can’t say enough good things about Tucker Zdunich,” Burton said. “He’s a coach’s dream both on and off the field. Tucker leads by example and truly values relationships and hard work. Players like him elevate a program in ways that are felt for years. He was one of the best players on our team, but you wouldn’t know it from the way he carried himself. He just kept working to be the best player and teammate he could be.”
Today, as Zdunich continues pursuing baseball at the professional level, the lessons he gained at Reinhardt remain close to him — discipline, leadership, and the value of perseverance.
He also carries something less tangible but just as powerful: the relationships formed along the way.
“Going through adversity together and then celebrating success — that creates bonds that last forever,” he said.
For Zdunich, Reinhardt was more than a stop on the path to professional baseball. It was the place where his journey took shape, and where he discovered a campus that felt like home within weeks.
Give to Love celebrates stories like Tucker’s that began with opportunity. When you support the Fund for Reinhardt, your gifts help provide scholarships, strengthen programs, and support the experiences that shape Reinhardt students on campus, in competition, and long after graduation. Let your love for Reinhardt inspire a contribution today.
-By Sherelle Morgan, Director of Annual Giving & Alumni Relations
