Bruised, Scarred, Resilient: Chippewas Ready For The Fight
5/22/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
AVON, Ohio -- Smoke and mirrors? Spit and baling wire?
Somehow, some way, the Central Michigan baseball team is still standing, one of six teams that will partake this week in the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Sprenger Stadium. At stake, beside the coveted title, is a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
That the fourth-seeded Chippewas, who open on Wednesday night against fifth-seeded Toledo, have even qualified for the tourney is somewhat of surprise given what the rash of injuries they have endured, seemingly throughout their entire 55-game schedule.
And it isn't just one or two aches and pains, and it hasn't been to just one or two key personnel. It's been nagging injuries to more severe, deeper-impact injuries that have shelved players for entire weekend series and longer; and there have even been injuries that have ended seasons.
"Just keep playing," said Steve Jaksa, who has the Chippewas in the tournament for the 15th consecutive season. "The completeness of it is the heart that they have. It's there. Sometimes it's a little on simmer and you've got to roll with it. We're able to fill in the blanks and get it done."
Among the front-liners who have missed significant time this season, are out for the year, or are battling through are No. 1 starter Pat Leatherman and No. 3 starter Tyler Hankins; middle-of-the-lineup hitters Griffin Lockwood-Powell and Evan Kratt, infielder Reed Adams, along with a number of relievers.
Jaksa, who is in his 16th season at CMU and recently became the sixth coach in MAC history to win 500 games, said he could not recall a season in which his team lost as many man-games to injury.
"Adversity hits all of us and it hits in different ways and you've just got to keep battling," Jaksa said. ... I really believe good things will continue to happen to people who battle. You can't give up on life, you can't give up on the game. You have to keep fighting."
The Chippewas (26-28-1), who took two of three during the regular season from the Rockets, have proven to be nothing if not resilient throughout the battlefield promotions.
Among the players who have emerged and played key roles as the Chippewas have settled in down the stretch and gone 24-13 since a 2-15-1 start to the season:
• Junior outfielder Daniel Robinson has, for the last month, perhaps been the best hitter in the Mid-American Conference. He enters the MAC Tournament on a tear, hitting .437 (28 for 64) with four home runs, 17 RBI and 18 runs in his last 17 games. He has hit safely in 16 of those 17 games and nine times during that span he has posted a multiple-hit game.
Robinson hit .333 in MAC games, which is tied for 10th in the conference.
• Sophomore infielder Zach Heeke leads the MAC and ranks eighth nationally with a .507 on-base percentage. He enters the MAC tournament having reached base in 21 consecutive games. He has hit safetly in 19 of his last 23 games -- including eight straight -- and leads the Chippweas with a .341 average, ranking sixth in the conference.
• Freshman Zavier Warren settled in at shortstop nicely and quietly continued to gain momentum throughout the season and is tied for fourth -- with his keystone combination partner Jason Sullivan -- on the team with a .285 batting average.
• Jacob Crum has made a splash in his first season in a Chippewa uniform, both at the plate and in center field. The junior, who transferred from Lansing Community College, is hitting .278 and leads CMU in both doubles (12) and triples (3) and has frequently put on display a rocket arm and outstanding closing speed in center.
• The season-ending injury to Hankins and the comes-and-goes status of Leatherman's health has forced Jaksa and associate head coach/pitching coach Jeff Opalewski to juggle the rotation, calling on the likes of freshman Logan Buczkowski, junior Dazon Cole and sophomore Zach Kohn to spot start. The consequence of losing an arm at the top of the rotation creates a vacuum in the bullpen, and has forced Jaksa and Opalewski to play a shell game, at times, with the `pen.
Still, the progress and recent success of the Chippewas cannot go unnoticed and they have proven they will not be an easy out in the tournament.
"I just know that we've turned a lot of things around and our attitudes are in a really good place," Jaksa said. "We're winning games because of how we're playing and how we feel about one another. It's next guy in, next guy up, it's been that kind of mentality. It hasn't been easy.
"You learn to scrape and claw and deal with the cards you have and at the end of the day, that's the best one man can ask another man to do. Going in to Avon this team has showed a lot and we'll figure out the next piece come Wednesday."
