Crusader red turned Cincinnati Reds- read about NGU baseball alum, John Michael Faile’s journey to signing with the Reds
Casey Burton, Staff Writer
John Michael Faile, “John Mike”, is an alumni North Greenville University baseball player who has just recently signed with the Cincinnati Reds.
Faile is from Boling Springs, South Carolina and has played baseball since the age of three. He has played nonstop throughout his life and was led to pursue a career in baseball by coming from a line of baseball players in his family.
His grandfather is his biggest role model in and outside of baseball. His grandad played baseball and football at Colorado state, then chose to get married rather than go pro. He coached John Mike and sparked his love for baseball and the rest was history. His grandad came to every baseball game and was always his biggest supporter over the years.
His grandad was also a big reason Faile found his way to play at NGU. During Faile’s junior year of high school, he went to a baseball banquet where NGU’s baseball’s coach, Landon Powell was speaking. After talking, Powell ran into Faile’s grandfather in the bathroom and God played out his plan. Since this interaction, Powell took a chance on Faile, and they talked about NGU’s baseball program. The same day Faile visited NGU, he committed after discussing playing time and seeing how much fun the players had together.
Faile has a long list of baseball achievements during his baseball career. During his senior year of high school, he won 5A player of the year. His freshman year at NGU, he won All-American, Conference Freshman of the year and National Freshman of the year. The following year was the hit of the Covid outbreak. His junior year consisted of him winning All-American, Conference Player of the year, Region Player of the year, Male Athlete of the year and Division-two player of the year. This was the year that going pro became more of a realistic conversation. In 2022, Faile won All-American, tore his meniscus, then had surgery. After missing games, NGU went on to play in the National Championship 19 days after his surgery. His first time back at bat, he hit a home run. The team went on to win the National Championship. During Faile’s senior year, he broke an all-time division-two homerun record and RBI record.
The big turning point of his career was after winning all his achievements in college and seeing that his lifelong dream of going pro could become a reality. After college, Faile played for the Billings Mustangs in Montana during the summer. There, he won rookie of the year of the Pioneer League. In September, he came back to Tigerville to help the coaching staff for NGU baseball. This was until December, when he got a phone call from the Cincinnati Reds and contacted his agent about signing. The next day, his agent called to confirm the likeliness of his dream coming true. While sitting in the NGU dugout, he got a call being told to sign his minor league contract over email and he was officially signed.
“It was a dream come true like all those years finally paid off. My grandpa cried and it was an amazing day to say the least,” Faile said.
The next few steps are Faile’s spring training for the Reds. The spring training is held in Goodyear, Arizona. He will be there as a catcher for months and will see where God places him.
