Central Michigan University Athletics
Meet The Chippewas Saturday
2/7/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Central Michigan baseball program's annual Meet the Chippewas is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 11, at Hunter's Ale House, 4855 East Blue Grass Road in Mount Pleasant.
Steve Jaksa, now in his 15th season in charge of the program, will introduce his players and coaching staff, and the team will unveil its new uniforms. An autograph session and social time is scheduled to begin at 11:45 a.m. The program gets under way at 12:30 p.m.
Cost is $10 per person and includes lunch and entry into a drawing for a door prize. A cash bar will also be available. The first 40 fans receive a free packet of CMU baseball cards. Those attending are asked to RSVP at (989) 774-2797 or taylo3sk@cmich.edu.
The Chippewas finished 24-37 last season, including 12-12 in the Mid-American Conference. They open the 2017 season with a three-game series at East Tennessee State on Friday, Feb. 17. The home opener is scheduled for March 14 against Marygrove.
The guest speaker is Tim McDonald, one of the very best to ever wear a Chippewa uniform and a member of the Central Michigan University Marcy Weston Athletics Hall of Fame.
"It's an honor to be asked by coach Jaksa to speak at this event," said McDonald, who was a standout at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart Academy and is now the head coach of his own highly success prep baseball program at Bay City Western.
"CMU baseball still means a great deal to me and I follow them religiously in the spring," said McDonald, a Second Team All-American pitcher in 1988. "I was fortunate to be at CMU during an incredible run of success that we enjoyed, and many of my teammates have become some of my closest friends even after 30 years.
"There has always been a great tradition of excellence in the Chippewa baseball program, and the teams that I was a part of built on that legacy. I know that these high standards continue to this day, and I will be forever proud to call myself a Chippewa baseball alumnus."
McDonald went 16-1 in his senior season in 1988, earning the team Most Valuable Player Award and the Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year Award. CMU captured its fifth consecutive league title that season.
His 16 wins still stand as a single-season program record, and his 36 career victories are also a CMU best. He ranks second in career innings pitched with 311 1/3 and is sixth on the CMU career strikeout list with 228.
He was a two-time First Team All-MAC selection, a Second Team Academic All-American in '88, and a three-time Academic All-MAC awardee.
McDonald, an English teacher at Bay City Western, took over as the Warriors' head coach in 1993 and has established one of the state's most successful programs. He led Western to back-to-back Division I state titles in 2013-14, and was named the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2013.
In 2014, he was nominated for the National Coach of the Year presented by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association. He was one of just eight from across the nation to be nominated. He is a member of five halls of fame, including the CMU Baseball Hall of Fame.
