![Retired Hastings baseball coach Bernie Oom stands with the record board he’s created that is displayed at the school’s diamond.](/sites/default/files/2024-05/240529_Hastings_2H.png)
Record Board Celebrates Hastings Record-Setters Over 7 Decades on Diamond
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
May 29, 2024
Bernie Oom had no intention of letting the past slide into history.
So the 88-year-old retired longtime Hastings baseball coach embarked on a meticulous two-year labor-of-love project that recognized the Saxons’ record-breaking ballplayers from the last five decades.
The result is an impressive 63-by-52-inch record board attached to the baseball field's press box located directly behind home plate. The board chronicles a myriad of individual pitching, hitting and team marks derived from Oom's 22 years as coach as well as statistics from his six successors.
Included are records from the top players in Hastings history, including a former Saxon who collected the last hit off hall-of-famer Nolan Ryan, a slugging catcher who was drafted by Seattle and Cincinnati and spent time in the Boston organization, and a Hastings pitcher who owns the oldest mark when he fashioned a 0.35 ERA with just two runs allowed in 40 innings in 1969.
Oom, a member of the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association (MHSBCA) Hall of Fame, always kept close track of statistics and records as a coach. Two years ago when his son Wayne began a similar project with the Hastings track program, Oom thought it was time for his former diamond stars to be recognized. While a handful of schools may post scattered records in gymnasiums, it's extremely rare for a school to post records at a baseball field.
"I always liked statistics, and I decided I wanted to keep that kind of stuff up. I'm kind of a stickler for remembering things; details are important to me," said Oom, who compiled a 272-188 record with eight West Central and Twin Valley titles as coach from 1966-87.
"I talked to a lot of my old players, and they thought this was a great idea. But part of the real value is having a ninth grader looking at this and saying, 'I see this, and I want to be up there some day.' I think it will spur things in the program."
In collecting info for the board, Oom went through his 22 seasons of statistics and records, then contacted the six coaches who followed him, including one, Jeff Simpson, who now lives in Arizona. Oom and his son visited local schools such as Grandville and Grand Rapids South Christian for ideas and decided to work with a company called School Pride out of Columbus, Ohio, to produce the board. Oom and the company took two years to get it right, Oom said.
The result are 12 team, 10 offensive and nine individual pitching records as well as a list of the program's all-staters noted on the board.
Point to any records and the still razor-sharp Oom will have a story about the player or the team that produced the mark. Among them is the 15 doubles clubbed by star Dann Howitt in 1982. Howitt, who played 115 major league games across six seasons with six clubs, has a unique claim to fame as the last player to collect a hit of Nolan Ryan on Sept. 22, 1993. A 46-year-old Ryan, who finished with 324 wins and 5,734 strikeouts, walked the bases loaded against the Seattle Mariners, bringing up Howitt, who promptly drove a Ryan fastball over the left field fence. Ryan, a right-hander, tore a right elbow ligament pitching to the next hitter and exited the game, never to pitch again.
Oom remembers Howitt more as a line-drive hitter than a power threat. He actually hit more homers as a major leaguer (five) than he did as a Saxon (one in 120 at-bats over two seasons). The doubles record is the only time Howitt appears on the board, despite batting a combined .392 as a junior and senior.
"Teams would pitch around Dann," Oom said of Howitt, whose other claim to fame is backing up stars Mark McGwire, Tino Martinez and Frank Thomas at the major league level.
Among the other records are indicators of arguably the greatest season ever produced by a Hastings hitter. Nick Williams owns program records for batting average (.591), hits (52), homers (8), RBIs (42) and runs (47) all set in 1991. Williams said among his sharpest memories from that spring is struggling through his only hitless game of the season. He went 0-for-3 in the finale to drop below .600 for the only time all spring. At the time, no Michigan high schooler had batted .600 for one season.
"The ball looked big to me all year," said Williams, who was drafted out of high school by the Mariners, out of Central Michigan by the Reds after his junior season and eventually signed with the Red Sox as a free agent. "I had a pretty good high school career, and I was pretty confident as a senior. I had put a lot of work in hitting on a tee in our garage. Then I would play ball all summer. I improved steadily, and I saw the results that summer."
Former Saxons pitcher Steve Pocernik holds the oldest mark on the board after surrendering a meager two runs in 40 innings for a 0.35 ERA in 1969. After 55 years, Pocernik isn't completely sure but thinks the runs came in one game against St. Johns.
"I didn't throw hard, but I had a curve and I could put the ball where I wanted," he said. "(The record) kind of took me by surprise. I think it's super that Bernie had done what he's done. It's a nice thing for the guys who played for him."
Does keeping the record for five and a half decades come as a surprise? Kind of, Pocernik said.
"Yes and no," he said. "Yes in that it's been a lot of years. No because I don't think pitchers today pitch like we did. There are a lot of guys who've come after me."
Another of the Hastings pitching marks is the tiny total of 12 walks in 57 innings by Mike Hause in 1979. That's an average of just 1.4 walks over seven innings. Like Pocernik, Hause said he didn't throw hard. He mixed a curve with a fastball that rode in on righthanded hitters. Speed aside, Hause explains the low number of walks with having a definitive plan as a pitcher. He remembers focusing on throwing first-pitch strikes and then keeping hitters off-balance with an occasional knuckleball.
"I would work on hitting my spot even in the preseason in the gym," he said. "We put up a strike zone mat with holes in it, and I would try to throw the ball through that spot. I didn't throw as hard as some guys, but I threw strikes."
PHOTOS (Top) Retired Hastings baseball coach Bernie Oom stands with the record board he’s created that is displayed at the school’s diamond. (Middle) A Battle Creek Enquirer story from 1991 discusses Nick Williams' accomplishments. (Photo by Steve Vedder.)
![Nick Plummer](/sites/default/files/2021-06/210628_Minors_2H.jpg)
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.)