St Francis, Frankfort Setting Title Sights
April 6, 2018
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
TRAVERSE CITY – After an MRI earlier this year revealed a torn labrum in his right shoulder, Traverse City St. Francis all-state pitcher Joey Muzljakovich decided on surgery that would end his senior season before it even started.
Then, Wayne State University coaches intervened.
“I was scheduled to have surgery two weeks after the MRI,” said the 18-year-old, who signed with Wayne State in November. “Wayne State called back and (the coaches) were super nice about it. They said, ‘Play your senior year.’ They said there was the potential that I could (damage it further) if I pitched or played third, where I would throw a lot, but that I could play first and hit. I’ll have to be careful with how intense my throws are (at first), but I’m so thankful for the opportunity.”
Muzljakovich, who said he will meet with the orthopedic surgeon at Wayne State and set a date for surgery after the season concludes, is a key cog for the Gladiators, who went 38-4 and finished runner-up to Madison Heights Bishop Foley in the MHSAA Division 3 Final last spring.
The Gladiators are ranked No. 2 in this spring’s preseason state coaches poll. A school St. Francis has close ties with, Frankfort, is ranked No. 1 in Division 4. Five St. Francis and two Frankfort players were on the A. Green North travel team last summer. The team was coached by Frankfort’s Mike Zimmerman, who was assisted by Gladiators head coach Tom Passinault. The team competed in tournaments across Michigan and the Midwest.
“(The St. Francis players have) become some of my best friends,” said Panthers catcher Brett Zimmerman, who was recently named a Collegiate Baseball preseason All-American. “We play and travel so much together in the summer that I know them about as well as I know my teammates at Frankfort.”
Coincidentally, Zimmerman and Muzljakovich will be teammates and roommates at Wayne State. The two were among six recruits the Warriors announced in November. Zimmerman’s older brother, Kyle, previously played for Wayne State.
Frankfort finished 36-1 a year ago. Its MHSAA title hopes were dashed in the Regional with a 2-1 10-inning loss to Muskegon Catholic Central.
Both the Panthers and Gladiators, who have ramped up their schedules, return talented rosters. And the St. Francis roster still includes Muzljakovich, who was the Traverse City Record-Eagle Player of the Year as a junior. On the mound, the righthander was 10-0 with a 0.58 ERA. He struck out 102 batters in 60 1/3 innings. At the plate, he hit .425 with two home runs and 35 RBI. He scored 38 runs.
“It was a devastating blow when we thought he wasn’t going to play at all,” Passinault said. “He was set to have surgery in February. It was very classy what Wayne State did. He had already signed with them.
“Just his presence on the field makes us better. The kids look up to him. He’s a natural leader.”
Casey Peterson, who teamed with Muzljakovich to give the Gladiators a potent one-two combination on the mound, will be the ace. The University of Dayton signee went 9-2 with a 0.47 ERA last season.
“He’s the man,” Muzljakovich said.
Juniors Josh Bradfield (5-0 with a 1.44 ERA) and Tyler Prichard will battle for rotational spots, too. Juniors Keaton Peck (5-1 with a 1.90 ERA) and Danny Passinault (3-0 with a 3.73 ERA) add experience, but their value in the field gives Tom Passinault pause to pitch them too much.
A year ago, Gladiators pitchers tossed seven consecutive shutouts.
“We were two innings off the state record,” Passinault said.
Pitchers were aided by a lockdown defense.
“That was a key last year,” Passinault said. “We were really good on defense. We made very few errors.”
With Cooper Peterson, a Hillsdale signee, behind the plate, Peck at shortstop and Danny Passinault in centerfield, St. Francis is strong up the middle.
At the plate, Peck hit .388 and drove in 28 runs last season. Peterson, who will probably bat fifth behind Muzljakovich, had a .330 average with three home runs and 28 RBI. Outfielder Artie Dutmers, who can also play the infield, hit .289 while Passinault was at .284.
The 38 wins last season set a school record.
“The road’s a little tougher – we play 11 games against Division 1 schools – but I think we’ll be good,” Passinault said. “Our thought (in scheduling) was that facing better pitching during the year will prepare us for the tournament. We may not have as impressive a record, but that’s not the goal. The goal is to try to get to East Lansing (for the MHSAA Finals).”
One thing is certain: The Gladiators will not sneak up on anybody.
“Last year we went into the season unranked, unproven because we had lost in the Districts the year before,” Muzljakovich said. “Nobody thought we were going to be good. We were the underdogs.
“Now, coming into this season, we have high hopes. We know we’ll have a target on our backs. We’ll have to be on our toes.”
Optimism is high at Frankfort, too. Mike Zimmerman returns three of his top four pitchers in Jack Morrow (11-0 with a 0.97 ERA), Kirk Myers (12-1) and James Eno. Morrow, who struck out 94 in 65 innings, will pitch at Albion College next season.
In the field, the Panthers will have veteran experience with Matt Stefanski (.422) at first, Myers (.404) at short, Adam Witkop at third, Griffin Kelly (.434) in center, Eno (.400) in right, Morrow (.407) in left and, of course, Brett Zimmerman (.506 with five home runs and 39 RBI) behind the plate.
“It’s a well-rounded team,” Mike Zimmerman said. “Our pitchers do a nice job of keeping guys off base and Brett does a nice job stopping guys from running. He threw out 80 percent of runners trying to steal last year.
“And offensively, you can’t pitch around one or two guys. We have any number of guys that can hurt you.”
The first three hitters in the lineup can run. Kelly, Myers and Zimmerman combined for 89 steals last season.
Brett Zimmerman said the players are as tight as any team he’s played on.
“We’re always finding ways to get together and make connections,” he said. “The other night we all went to a restaurant to watch the national championship basketball game. When you can (bond) like that it really helps build trust.”
Although his dad was a coach and his older brother a star player, Brett Zimmerman didn’t pick up baseball until he was 9. He was into motocross until an accident prompted him to turn to baseball.
Meanwhile, Kelly, Stefanski and Myers are all three-sport standouts. Kelly and Stefanski signed to play football at Northern Michigan and Grand Valley, respectively.
A year ago, the Panthers were riding high and ranked No. 1 when they fell to Muskegon Catholic.
“We had our chances,” Mike Zimmerman said. “It was a fun game. We couldn’t get the break when we needed it. They did. That’s baseball.”
“It was a heartbreaker,” Brett Zimmerman added. “We had high expectations.
“And we have expectations this year. We’re fortunate to be ranked No. 1 going into the season, but we know that number on the rankings sheet means nothing if you don’t win the last game of the season. We had one loss last year, and everybody was mad and devastated.”
Like St. Francis, which is scheduled to open at Coldwater on Saturday, Frankfort has beefed up its schedule to include Climax-Scotts, Muskegon Catholic and Traverse City Central in nonleague play. This week’s games with Gaylord and Kalkaska were wiped out by a spring snowstorm.
“It’s northern Michigan,” Mike Zimmerman said. “There’s nothing you can do to change it.”
The delay – St. Francis has been on the diamond once this preseason – doesn’t bother Muzljakovich. He’s just glad to be able to play this season.
He believes he suffered the shoulder injury in football, although he doesn’t remember one particular play that caused it. As a middle linebacker-fullback, Muzljakovich rarely came off the field for the 11-2 Gladiators.
“There were times my shoulder would ache, but I didn’t think it was anything big,” he said.
After Danny Passinault, the quarterback, went down with a broken collarbone during the season, the Gladiators decided to add trickery to the playbook just in case they might need a jolt on offense.
In the playoff game with Maple City Glen Lake, St. Francis went to its bag of tricks with a direct snap to Muzljakovich, who took off as if to run. He pulled up and tossed a touchdown pass.
On the play, however, he again felt pain in his shoulder.
“Oh, it will get better,” he rationalized.
But once football ended, and he started throwing in weekly workouts with his summer travel team, the shoulder continued to bother him.
“I couldn’t get loose,” he said. “It felt tight … and it was aching.”
So he started physical therapy and called Wayne State to let the staff know what was happening. He said the staff told him to continue with physical therapy, but if he didn’t notice any improvement he should go in for an MRI.
Muzljakovich was heartbroken when he learned of the MRI results.
“I was holding back the tears,” he admitted. “I didn’t want my high school career to end like that.”
The decision was made to have surgery almost immediately so Muzljakovich could start the recovery process and improve his odds of pitching at Wayne State as a freshman. He said the subsequent phone call to Wayne State was not easy.
“I was trembling in my boots,” he said. “I didn’t know how they would take it. I felt I let them down. But they are outstanding coaches and even better people. I am so grateful.”
He also called Brett Zimmerman, who has been one of his catchers in travel ball the last two summers.
“It was tough for me to hear that,” Zimmerman recalled. “I know his passion, the work he’s put in. At that time, he didn’t think he would get his senior season in. I felt terrible for him.”
Two years ago, as a sophomore, Muzljakovich tore a knee ligament in football and had to sit out the baseball season. At that time, he thought about giving up football.
“Baseball is my first love,” he said. “I didn’t want to mess it up with another injury.”
But not wanting to let his teammates and coaches down, Muzljakovich decided to give football “another year to see how it goes.”
“My junior year went great,” he said. “I was a little hesitant my senior year because I had just verbally committed to Wayne State. But I figured I’ve had a lot of memories created on the football field, and I wanted to create some more my senior year. It didn’t work out how I wanted (with the injury), but I made bonds with my teammates that are priceless.”
As for Brett Zimmerman, he has another St. Francis connection. He’s dating Gladiators volleyball standout Molly Mirabelli, whose father Doug is a former Major League catcher.
“He offers advice and Brett soaks it up like a sponge,” Mike Zimmerman said.
“He’s a great source to go to with questions,” Brett added.
The most pressing question now is – when will the season start?
When it does, expect St. Francis and Frankfort to be in the state conversation.
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) St. Francis’ Joey Muzljakovich eyes a pitch during last season’s Division 3 Final against Madison Heights Bishop Foley. (Middle) Frankfort’s Brett Zimmerman settles under a pop-up last spring. (Below) Jack Morrow unwinds toward the plate during last season’s all-state campaign. (Frankfort photos courtesy of Frankfort baseball program.)
Saugatuck's Dunn Makes MLB Debut, OLSM's Mooney Continues Impressive Climb
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
August 5, 2024
Blake Dunn has realized his dream while Alex Mooney's chance may be right around the corner.
The careers of the two former Michigan high school baseball stars have taken major steps forward this summer, with Dunn, a Saugatuck graduate native, earning two stints with the Cincinnati Reds, and Mooney, from Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, tearing up the High-Class A Midwest League with Lake County, just northeast of Cleveland.
Both credit modest upbringings for their continuing baseball success. Dunn said his senior class included around 85 students.
"It was definitely hard because a lot of guys have played against a high level of competition from bigger schools," said Dunn, who earned 16 varsity letters across four high school sports at Saugatuck. "But a lot of good athletes come from smaller schools, and we have kind of a chip on our shoulders. That's no knock on smaller schools or their communities; we just work that much harder to make things happen.
"You can't just sit back and go with the flow. You work hard, set your mind on what you need to do and just go for it. I definitely take pride in where I come from and represent Saugatuck to the best of my ability or when I'm out in public."
Mooney, who was part of Orchard Lake St. Mary’s winning three MHSAA Finals titles over six years, said he traces much of his success to being part of an outstanding prep baseball program, regardless of the school's size. St. Mary's was an all-boys school during his time there, with just under 600 students.
"Playing in the Catholic League was huge for me," he said. "It's the best league in the state, and playing there just made me better. I learned early how to win, and that's carried over (to the pros)."
Dunn was one of the great all-around athletes of his generation at Saugatuck. He had more than 1,500 career points in basketball, was a four-time hurdles Finals champion in track and a member of the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Dream Team, and still finds himself all over the MHSAA football record book. His 113 career touchdowns are fourth all-time while his 2,748 rushing yards in 2015 are 12th best. Dunn's 827 points in 41 career games is second all-time to 924 points by East Grand Rapids' Kevin Grady in 51 games from 2001-04. Dunn's 6,954 rushing yards remains eighth all-time.
Dunn, who also had 26 consecutive 100-yard rushing games, said it seemed natural to him to play multiple sports in high school.
"I think it's the right thing for guys to test their ability to do a lot of things," he said. "It comes down to task management. You don't get a lot of free time because it's always go-go. So you need a good work ethic to stay on top of things."
Dunn and Mooney are in the midst of notable summers. Slowed by the injury bug dating all the way back to high school and then Western Michigan, Dunn developed into a bona fide prospect in the Reds system a year ago when he hit .312 with 23 homers and 79 RBIs at Double-A Chattanooga and Low-A Dayton.
Statistically, Dunn is batting .226 with six homers and 28 RBIs in Triple-A this season, but earned a 10-day stint with the Reds from June 4-13 and then again from July 3-10. He collected his first major league hit against the Cubs on June 7.
A shortstop, Mooney has hit wherever he's been. He batted .444 as a sophomore and .460 with nine homers and 57 RBIs as a senior at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, then hit .305 with 113 runs, 30 doubles, 11 homers and 33 stolen bases (in 39 attempts) in 117 career games at Duke. With the Lake County Captains this season, Mooney is tops in the Midwest League in runs (65), third in stolen bases (34), tied for 14th in home runs (10) and tied for 16th in RBIs (46).
Mooney said hitting has always been his calling card.
"I feel like I've been able to hit since I was around 8 years old," he said. "My dad coached me when I was young, and I still talk to him about it when I go home. Hitting gets significantly harder, but your mindset is that you learn to flush a bad day. I learned at Orchard Lake St. Mary that you're still a good hitter if you go 0-for-4. You just get on with it."
Mooney, the state's Mr. Baseball Award winner in 2021 and two-time MHSBCA Dream Team member, was ranked among the top five shortstops nationally out of high school by Perfect Game and Under Armour. He went on to become all-Atlantic Coast Conference at Duke before being drafted in the seventh round by Cleveland in 2021.
Among the lessons he's learned in the professional ranks is that baseball is a business.
"It's a job. A darn good one, but a job," he said. "But I also know that the worst day you could have in baseball is better than the best day in another field. Baseball is a grind, though."
Dunn has battled his share of the grind since becoming a 15th-round draft choice by the Reds in 2021. He hit .333 with 11 homers, 50 stolen bases and 78 RBIs in135 games at Western Michigan. Injuries plagued him as a Bronco, then limited him to just 48 games in his first two years in the Reds system. This year he missed time with facial lacerations after getting hit with a pitch.
No matter the difficulties, Dunn said he always believed he could become a major leaguer. The size of high schools and subsequent level of competition was never a consideration.
"I've never considered myself an underachiever, and in my mind it doesn't matter where I've been,” he said. "I know I have talent, and I've worked hard. I feel like I have a lot of years left in baseball."
Dunn and Mooney are just two of several former Michigan high school ballplayers making a mark in the minor leagues, including two members of arguably the best-ever MHSBCA Dream Team pitching staff in 2016. Tommy Henry (Portage Northern) and Karl Kauffman (Brother Rice) have combined to pitch in 46 MLB games with Arizona and Colorado, respectively, the last two seasons. Henry is 2-3 in nine games with the Diamondbacks this season. The other members of the 2016 Dream Team pitchers were Jack Weisenburger (Rockford) and Mike Mokma (Holland Christian), both of whom pitched professionally, and John Baker (Hartland), who went on to become a two-time all-Mid-American Conference pitcher at Ball State and a 29th-round pick of the Marlins in 2019.
Baker outdueled Henry in the 2016 Division 1 Final.
Another former Michigan high school baseball star has been a godsend to a depleted Atlanta Braves pitching staff. Spencer Schwellenbach (Saginaw Heritage), has gone 4-5 with a 4.04 ERA in 11 starts with the Braves. He was the 2018 Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year who went 18-6 with a 0.73 ERA at Nebraska before being taken by the Braves in the second round of the 2021 draft.
Among the other former prep stars busy in the minors are Sam Weatherly (Howell) and Brock Porter (Orchard Lake St. Mary). Weatherly is 3-1 with a 2.85 ERA in 30 games with the High-A Fresno Grizzlies. He was a 27th-round pick by the Rockies in 2020 after going 4-0 with 106 strikeouts over 72 innings in three years at Clemson.
Porter, the state's Mr. Baseball in 2022, is 0-4 with a 6.98 ERA in 19 1/3 combined innings in Rookie League and High-A. A fourth-round pick by the Rangers in 2022, Porter started 21 games with 95 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings during his first pro season a year ago at the Rookie League level.
Other Michigan natives in the minors include Luke Russo (Howell), who is 5-3 with a 4.81 ERA at High-A Jersey Shore, and Andrew Taylor (Caledonia), who is 1-1 with a 5.27 ERA at High-A Asheville.
PHOTOS (Top) From left, former Orchard Lake St. Mary’s star Alex Mooney and Saugatuck standout Blake Dunn are succeeding in minor league baseball as they pursue Major League careers. (Middle) Dunn stands in for a pitch playing for the Louisville Bats this season. (Below) Mooney prepares to field a grounder for the Lake County Captains. (Photos courtesy of the Lake County Captains and Louisville Bats; top Dunn photo by Cam Anderson and middle by Anna Rouch.)