Stokowski finds home with baseball team despite setbacks
A pulled hamstring and a retired head coach landed Nick Stokowski with the Central Michigan baseball team.
Now in his first season with the Chippewas, Stokowski has a batting average of .258 on 16 hits and 8 RBIs. He is second on the team with two home runs. The Monticello, Illinois, native has received playing time at first base and as a designated hitter.
After playing one game in the summer of his junior year at Monticello High School, Stokowski injured his hamstring while taking off at first base. Schools stopped recruiting him because of the injury, and it kept him out for the rest of the summer.
"Toward the end of my junior year, I didn't really have anybody (recruiting me) and I was like 'what do I do now?'" Stokowski said. "A lot of my friends were going to Parkland (College), so I just kind of ended up there."
Parkland College is a Division II National Junior College Athletic Association school — athletes there only get two years of eligibility, then move to an NCAA or NAIA university to continue playing their sport.
So Stokowski committed to McKendree University, a Division II school in Lebanon, Illinois, to continue his career.
However, McKendree head coach Jim Boehne retired. Stokowski was able to be released from his commitment before he could officially transfer.
Last season at Parkland, Stokowski posted a batting average of .385 on 69 hits. He hit nine home runs, tallied 52 RBIs and walked 23 times.
Stokowski’s success helped him receive attention from multiple NCAA Division I schools.
Parkland head coach Dave Garcia gave CMU assistant coach Doug Sanders a call to initiate the transfer toward the end of the season. Garcia used to coach Sanders, so they knew each other well.
After this, Stokowski received a call from CMU's head coach Steve Jaksa inviting him to visit campus.
"I liked the coaches when I talked to them,” Stokowski said. “I liked what their plan was. They also had my degree in teaching here."
Stokowski said he had a good idea that he wanted to come to CMU after his campus visit. He said he was thankful to have talked to his family about his experience. They helped him decide that Central Michigan was the school for him.
"It is farther away from home but it actually (was) perfect compared to the other schools that I was looking at," Stokowski said. "It was a good distance from home to where I could get in the car and drive six hours."
Jaksa praised Stokowski for being someone who is dedicated to getting better.
"(Stokowski) was the kind of guy we were looking for," Jaksa said. "He's got a good attitude, he works hard and he is still learning his approach. Through 22 games, defensively (Stokowski) has done a nice job.
“He keeps working hard and adding everything to it and that is what allowed him to go on the field and play first base."
Stokowski said he might consider coaching in the future after he gets a teaching degree, but he's living in the moment for now.
