Michigan's Minor Leaguers Making Up for Lost Season
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
June 28, 2021
Nick Plummer doesn’t necessarily view this summer as a make-or-break season, but he does realize the clock is ticking in his bid to make The Show.
Now in his fifth season in the St. Louis Cardinals chain, the former Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice star, like all minor league baseball players, suffered a setback when the 2020 minor league season was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. While some were called into alternate-site camps during the abbreviated Major League Baseball season, the majority simply sat out a year. The loss means players this summer are scrambling to recapture lost momentum and get careers back on track.
In a sport where development is the key to climbing the competitive minor league ladder, Plummer, one of a number of former Michigan high school standouts striving this summer in professional baseball, admits he needs to make significant progress playing for the Cards' Double-A affiliate in Springfield, Mo.
“Not playing in 2020 was a big deal for everyone,” said Plummer, the state’s 2016 Mr. Baseball Award honoree. “But I feel good about this season. Each year you need to develop and learn leadership and maturity.
“I worked on the mental side of baseball as well as working out (in Rochester). I tried to make the best of things, but it was tough.”
The season could mark a significant turning point in Plummer’s career. The center fielder had never hit over .228 during his four seasons, but is off to a quick start at Springfield, batting a career-high .283 with four home runs and 18 RBI over 145 at bats with a .386 on-base percentage.
Plummer, now 24, was drafted by the Cardinals in the first round, 23rd overall, during the 2015 amateur draft. He's part of an intriguing group of former Michigan prep stars trying to progress this summer.
South Haven’s Ryan Dorow is playing at Triple-A Round Rock in the Texas Rangers chain, located about 180 miles south of the parent club’s home in Arlington. A former baseball, basketball and soccer star in high school who helped those teams to a combined eight District championships, Dorow went on to become one of the greatest players in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association history at Adrian College where he hit .395 with 95 extra base hits while driving in 188 runs over 179 career games.
Dorow, a first-team all-MIAA pick all four seasons, said his goal is to simply improve each year as a pro. This season he’s hitting a combined .336 in 31 games across two levels, with six homers, 17 RBI and a .414 on-base percentage.
“You need to prove something to the organization and stay true to yourself,” said Dorow, who never hit less than .383 in any season at Adrian. “As a player you want to develop quickly, but everyone has their own timeline. You have to go out and have fun and improve.
“Coming out of high school and college, it was always in the back of my mind to play professional baseball, but you also have to understand that whatever happens, happens. I was just looking for another opportunity to play.”
Another former state prep star is making a radical switch in his opportunity in pro baseball. Grosse Pointe South’s Carmen Benedetti was the state’s 2013 Mr. Baseball, setting school records in average (.492), homers (22) and RBI (143). He became a 12th-round pick (367th overall) of the Houston Astros after batting .323 with 10 homers and 56 RBI in three years as a first baseman/outfielder at Michigan.
By his own admission, Benedetti, a three-time all-stater as a position player, was a less-than-stellar pitcher at South before throwing fewer than 30 innings for the Wolverines. But while an arm injury two years ago ended his hopes of playing in the field as a pro, the now 26-year-old Benedetti has turned to pitching this season with the High-A Ashville Tourists in North Carolina. He’s currently on the minor league injured list but was anticipating a mid-June return.
“Every year in baseball is a challenge, and I’ve just had to take (the switch) in stride,” said Benedetti, now in his fifth year in the Astros chain. “We all had 2020 off, and now we need to get the ball rolling. You still have to perform, and I’m going to do what I do. It’s a new road, but I feel like I’m lucky to get this far and now I’m just going to see another part of the game.”
Two more standouts who’ll be trying to make the most of their summers are brothers Chris and Mike Mokma of Holland Christian. Chris was taken in the 12th round of the 2019 draft by Miami while Mike – who threw a four-hitter with 14 strikeouts in an 8-5 win over Linden in the 2016 Division 2 championship game — signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers after serving as the staff ace at Michigan State.
Mike is playing with the High-Class A Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League. Chris is pitching with the Low-A Jupiter Hammerheads, who play in Palm Beach County, Fla., about 80 miles north of Miami. Chris has made eight starts, striking out 32 over just more than 41 innings. Mike started this season strong and is striking out a batter per inning over his first 10, all in relief, but has navigated some tough outings after returning from the injured list at the start of this month for the Midland-based Loons.
“The biggest goal is always development,” Chris Mokma said. “I’m still only 20, and it’ll be my first year of playing with older guys. I want to develop my pitching and my command and be able to throw any pitch in any count for a strike.
“Professional baseball has changed baseball for me a little, and now you’re just trying to evolve. If you pitch well, you move up. That’s still baseball. You can’t let the fun go away. At the end of the day you are playing a sport, but your goal is to get to the big leagues.”
There are several other former Michigan prep stars scattered throughout the minors this summer. Infielder Werner Blakely of Detroit Edison was taken in the fourth round (111th overall) of the 2020 draft by the Los Angeles Angels, the highest Detroit player taken since Northwestern’s Marc Washington was selected by the Tigers in the fourth round of the 1982 draft.
Blakely, who will play in the Arizona Rookie League in Tempe, was ranked as the country’s 260th best high school player by Perfect Game. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound shortstop batted .467 with five homers and 38 RBI in 96 at-bats his junior year before losing his senior year to COVID.
Also among notable Michigan players in the minors are five from the 2015 and 2016 Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Dream Teams, including four pitchers who helped the Wolverines to the 2019 College World Series finals. Tommy Henry (Portage Northern), Karl Kauffman (Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice), Jeff Criswell (Portage Central) and Jack Weisenburger (Rockford) are all in pro ball.
Oakland took Criswell in the second round (58th overall) of the 2020 draft after Weisenburger was taken by the A’s in the 20th round the year before. Criswell has made one scoreless two-inning appearance for High-A Lansing (Mich.) and is on the injured list, while Weisenburger is 1-1 with a 2.53 ERA and 35 strikeouts over 21 1/3 relief innings at Double-A Midland in Texas.
Henry was the 74th player taken in the 2019 draft and pitching for the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles (Texas) of the Arizona Diamondbacks organization; he’s 1-3 in 10 starts with a 4.93 ERA and 59 strikeouts over just under 46 innings pitched this season. Kauffman was the 77th overall pick in the same draft by the Colorado Rockies. He is pitching for the Hartford Yard Goats (Conn.) in Double-A, where he’s made nine starts.
Also on the Wolverines’ World Series club was outfielder Jordan Nwogu, previously a second-team all-stater from Ann Arbor Pioneer who was taken by the Chicago Cubs in the third round (88th overall) of the 2019 draft. He’s playing with the Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans (S.C.) and is off to a slow start at the plate but has stolen six bases.
Hamilton’s Grant Wolfram was nabbed by Texas in the 18th round of the 2018 draft. A pitcher, Wolfram will be spending his fourth year in pro ball with the High-A Hickory Crawdads (N.C.). He won 19 games with Davenport University and later pitched at Central Michigan. As a high school tennis player at Hamilton, Wolfram was 30-1 as a senior and named all-state. In all, he earned 10 varsity letters in tennis, basketball and baseball. He’s made eight starts with 43 strikeouts over just less than 31 innings pitched.
Pitcher Garrett Schilling had a remarkable prep career at Bishop Foley and also is playing this summer in Double-A with Hartford after being taken in the 18th round of the 2017 draft by Colorado. Schilling was an outstanding three-sport star in high school; he amassed a 36-0 record as a pitcher, was a two-year letter winner in hockey and made 7-of-11 field goal attempts as a kicker on the football team.
He helped Bishop Foley to three Division 3 baseball championships over his first three seasons from 2011-13 and a combined 146-12-1 record over four years until a line drive off his face at the end of his senior spring required season-ending surgery. Schilling went a combined 4-for-9 with five RBI in Finals wins over Bridgman, Lansing Catholic and Grandville Calvin Christian.
He wound up attending Xavier where he went from pitching seven innings as a freshman to earning 14 saves with a 1.91 ERA as a sophomore, to 15 starts and a 6-4 record and 3.57 ERA his junior year. He was a two-time all-Big East second-team selection. Schilling is carrying a 4.63 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning in nine starts.
Sam Weatherly of Howell is pitching for the Low-Class A Fresno Grizzlies (Calif.). A first team all-stater in 2016, Weatherly was taken by Colorado in the third round (81st overall) of the 2020 draft after pitching collegiately at Clemson. He’s 2-3 with a 4.38 ERA – with 61 strikeouts in 37 innings pitched – over nine starts this season.
Former Detroit U-D Jesuit and U-M catcher Harrison Wenson is playing for his third minor league team and second organization this season, having begun in the Angels system, receiving his release from High-A Tri-City (Wash.) and signing with the Cubs’ High-A in South Bend, Ind.
A rare three-time draftee, Wenson was selected by the Tigers in the 38th round in 2013, in the 39th round by Pittsburgh three years later and then by the Angels in the 24th round of the 2017 draft. He was a member of the MHSBCA’s Dream Team as a junior and senior.
PHOTOS: (Top) Former Brother Rice standout Nick Plummer hauls his gear at Hammons Field in Springfield, Mo., as a member of the Double-A Cardinals this season. (2) Plummer follows one of his drives. (3) South Haven’s Ryan Dorow awaits a pitch for his Triple-A team in the Texas Rangers chain. (4) Holland Christian’s Chris Mokma begins his delivery for the Jupiter Hammerheads. (5) Brother Mike Mokma fires a pitch for the Great Lakes Loons. (Photos courtesy of the Springfield Cardinals, Round Rock Express, Jupiter Hammerheads and the Mokma family.)
Flint Powers Catholic, Spring Lake End Long Waits to Reach Season Finale
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
June 14, 2024
EAST LANSING – After his eighth-inning, game-winning hit to finish Flint Powers Catholic’s Division 2 Semifinal win Friday, Chargers senior Gavin Darling gave away the secret to how 42-year head coach Tom Dutkowski stays so young and energetic.
“That dude works out more than probably half the team, honestly,” Darling said. “He’s a great guy, and we just want to do it for him as well.”
What top-ranked Flint Powers is aiming to do is capture a state baseball championship. Powers has that chance after Darling’s walk-off single to deep left field scored Eli Sturgess for a 4-3 victory over Trenton at Michigan State University’s McLane Stadium.
Powers (36-6) will face Spring Lake (32-9) in Saturday’s 5 p.m. Final. The Chargers are seeking their first Finals title since 1980, and first under Dutkowski’s tutelage.
“We want to win for him, man. It’s not only for us, but it’s for him,” Darling said. “He’s been working hard just like we have.”
Powers and pitcher Grant Garman cruised through the first four innings Friday, Garman carrying a perfect game as the Chargers built a 3-0 lead.
Trenton (30-11-1) began to make Powers work for it in the fifth. The Trojans collected five hits and scored three runs in the inning, keyed by Carson Boike’s two-run single, to knot the score at 3.
The tie remained until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Darling came to the plate with one out and the bases loaded. Powers’ cleanup hitter saw a pitch he could drive, and the rest is history.
“Just (looking for) a pitch to hit, man. They were playing in, so I just had to go for it. I don’t care if it’s a bloop single or a shot like that, I’ve just got to do what I’ve got to do,” Darling said. “(It felt) pretty good to know that I had a guy on third that either way, if it’s caught, he’s tagging and we win the game.
“It’s an unreal feeling, man. These guys are my family, and I can’t thank them enough. They have my back just like I have theirs, and I can’t thank them enough.”
Garman allowed three earned runs on six hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk in five innings. Isaac Sturgess picked up the win in relief, not allowing a hit or run with four strikeouts and one walk over three innings.
Garman led the Powers offense with three hits, while Darling had a pair of RBIs.
Caleb Kidd finished with two hits to pace Trenton. Kidd got the start and worked four innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks in four innings. Joel Mator took the loss in relief for the Trojans, surrendering one earned run on three hits with five strikeouts and five walks in 3 1/3 innings.
“I can’t say enough about the fight that was in them,” Trenton coach Todd Szalka said. “He had a shutout (perfect game), we’re going into the top of the fifth, he’s throwing a no-hitter, and then, all of a sudden, we challenge them in the dugout and we come away with five hits in the fifth inning. I mean, that’s almost unheard of, especially against a good pitcher like (Grant) Garman.
“No. 1 team in the state, you’re down 3-0, stakes are on the line, you’re looking at your last nine outs and our kids just continued to fight and went into extra innings. They got the big play when they needed it, and we had gotten the big play the last three games with walk-offs. I’m really proud of the way we came out today.”
Dutkowski instructed Darling to be “short to the ball” on his game-winning hit. The coach was very happy for the player, who “works as hard as anybody.”
Dutkowski believes his team is plenty battle-tested, too, competing in the Saginaw Valley League.
“The Saginaw Valley League is a gauntlet, especially for a school like Powers (as) the smallest school,” he said. “Not that we feel bad about that because we’ve got great players this year, but it is tough.
“ … We beat Bay City Western two out of three this year, and we beat Northville in the Flint Champions Tournament. Neither team was pitching their best, but we beat them. Yeah, we’re battle-tested.”
Dutkowski said that in his younger years, he might have been jumping up and down in the third-base coach’s box during the walk-off play.
On Friday, he said he stayed planted and wanted to make sure Eli Sturgess was tagging at third in case Darling’s deep fly ball was caught.
“I used to be what you’d call an athlete. I used to do all the histrionics, but now my job is to kind of keep guys steady, you know – get them back to neutral as soon as possible,” Dutkowski said.
“I have an ankle-foot orthotic. I am drop foot. I had fusion surgery about 19 months ago on L-4/L-5. No, I’m a wreck. I have this carbon fiber thing,” he said as he pointed to his lower right leg, “that keeps me upright. I’m retired now, so I work out.”
Spring Lake 5, Richland Gull Lake 2
“Next pitch” has been a theme for the Spring Lake baseball team during its run to the Finals.
Of course, when you have Zane Stahl throwing the pitches, that always helps.
The 6-foot-6 Louisville commit scattered five hits and pitched to contact in powering Spring Lake to a 5-2 victory.
On Saturday, Spring Lake will be making its first Finals appearance since 1995 and third overall. The Lakers got there Friday in large part because of Stahl, the defense behind him, and timely hitting.
Stahl, a right-handed junior, struck out four, walked four, and allowed two earned runs in the complete-game effort.
“(The defense) has been incredible. I’ve been able to make my pitch,” Stahl said. “You know, it’s not always about strikeouts; it’s about making the pitch and getting a ground ball. I mean, they’ve been able to make the routine plays that they’re supposed to and even make them outside of that, so it’s been great.”
Stahl helped his own cause, too. He finished 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs. Oliver Smies doubled twice for Spring Lake, while Gabe Trask had two hits for the Lakers, who have won 19 of their last 20 games.
Spring Lake took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and created separation with four runs in the fifth inning on four hits.
“Somebody else always seemed to pick us up at the right time. We got a couple of nice ground-ball double plays, so some things have fallen into place for us but I’m also a believer, sometimes you make your own luck,” Spring Lake coach Bill Core said. “What we’ve been impressed with so much is somebody always seems to pick up their teammate or somebody’s been coming through with a big play at the right time.
“We’re not a bunch of superstars, but everybody has a role and we’ve got a different hero (each game).”
Gull Lake (26-12) showed life in the later innings, scoring a run on two hits in the sixth and another run on two more hits in the seventh.
Western Michigan University commit Julian Harris took the pitching loss for the Blue Devils. The right-hander allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in four innings.
“When you get to the final four, no one’s weak, especially against a good arm like (Stahl’s) – you’re scratching and clawing for every run that you get,” Gull Lake coach Reggie Walters said. “If you tie that ballgame up, it just changes the feel of things instead of chasing.
“We wanted to wear (Stahl) down and he started to show that in the sixth and the seventh, but he threw a great game. … It was like, ‘Man, if we would have started it one inning earlier, you don’t know where you’re going to end up.’”
PHOTOS (Top) Flint Powers Catholic's Eli Sturgess (3) crosses the plate for the winning run during his team's Semifinal victory Friday at McLane Stadium. (Middle) Spring Lake’s Gabe Trask drives a pitch.