Great players deliver when their team needs them the most. Terry Gladis certainly did, lining a walk-off solo homer to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning of an elimination game at the 1994 Mideast Regional to keep The College of Wooster baseball season going. Later that day, he tied Wooster's 9-7 win over Wittenberg University up at five with a double as part of the Fighting Scots' seven-run fourth and went on to score the go-ahead run. Wooster took the winner-take-all championship game from Wittenberg the next day 7-5 to claim its second regional title and advance to the Div. III World Series.
Wooster's excellent education and reputation, Coach Tim Pettorini and the baseball program, and the close proximity to Rocky River, Ohio, attracted Gladis to Wooster. Gladis' speed stood out, and he was a frequent pinch runner for the Scots' 1992 team. As a first-year, Gladis ranked sixth on the team with 23 runs and stole seven bases in 31 games. He broke into the starting lineup partway through his sophomore year and finished with a .326 average (28-of-86) with 21 runs and nine stolen bases.
Elite speed paired with a near-.400 average made Gladis one of Div. III's biggest breakout stars in 1994. Gladis became the second junior to earn All-America honors in program history after batting .394 (71-for-180) with 63 runs, a program-record 44 stolen bases, and 37 RBI on Wooster's second World Series team. Of note, while he ended 1994 with 60 career steals, the 44 as a junior would have been good for a standalone top-five career program record.
Gladis swiped 35 more bases as a senior to finish with a still-standing program-record 95. He batted .386 (61-for-158) with 44 runs, 19 RBI, and 15 walks to earn American Baseball Coaches Association All-Mideast Region and All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors for the second time.
Gladis is one of three players in program history to steal five bases in a game. His 63 runs as a junior were the third-most in program history at the time, and he is one of two in program history with multiple 30-steal seasons.
"Terry was anything but a finished product when he arrived at Wooster," shared Pettorini. "As a matter of fact, I'm not sure he had ever seen a weight room until Wooster. Once there, he worked tirelessly to improve himself in all aspects of the game. Blessed with great speed, he used that gift, plus his work ethic to turn himself into one of our great players."
The history alumnus has lived in London since 1998. There, he is a history and social studies teacher and head baseball coach at The American School in London. Gladis and his wife, Stephanie, have two children, Keely and Lane.
