Ben Weaver ’23: Discipline and Discipleship
Words: Abby Dorman ’17
Photo by Tony Hughes
Center fielder Ben Weaver ’23 enters his final season of Wheaton baseball, having already made his mark in the record books. He ranks in the top ten all-time for most triples, doubles, total bases, and slugging percentage in a season. The future is bright for the heavy hitter on both the baseball and mission fields.
Wheaton baseball coach Matt Husted sees Weaver’s strengths contribute holistically to the team’s overall success. “He means much more to us than just being a great player,” Husted said. “He is a leader on the field and, in many ways, the heartbeat of our team.”
Weaver has learned to combine his love for sports and the gospel as a Christian formation and ministry major. In 2022, he traveled with Athletes in Action (the sports ministry of Cru, formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) to join the competitive Alaskan Baseball League, where his consistency at the plate earned him First Team All-League honors for the Chugiak–Eagle River Chinooks. Throughout the season, Weaver and his AIA teammates shared the gospel with other teams in the league and grew in their own faith through coach-led team Bible studies and discipleship.
Returning to Wheaton, he felt a sense of clarity in his goals for his senior season and beyond. While he aims to lead the team to success, Weaver’s driving motivation mirrors 1 Corinthians 9:25, which reads, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (ESV). Discipline, according to Weaver, is required for both spiritual and athletic training.
Throwback: Bart Moseman ’93
Bart Moseman ’93, 2008 Hall of Honor inductee, filled his years at Wheaton with accomplishments on the football field and the basketball court. On the football team, Moseman was a two-time All-American selection, two-time all-CCIW selection on both offense and defense, and three-time team MVP. After graduating, Moseman briefly continued his career in athletics as an assistant football coach before entering full-time ministry. Bart spent 19 years as a pastor and campus ministry leader before transitioning to his current marketing and donor care role for Langham Partnership. Today, his position allows him to participate in global kingdom work as Langham supports the training and equipping of pastors worldwide.
To learn more about athletics at Wheaton, visit wheaton.edu/athletics.
