From 0-8 to the MAC Tournament semifinals: a year in review for CMU baseball
In his 14 years as head coach of the Central Michigan baseball team, Steve Jaksa has never won the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The last time the Chippewas won the tournament was in the mid-90s when Jaksa was still the head coach for Nouvel Catholic High School in Saginaw.
CMU claimed the MAC regular season championship and acquired the No. 1 seed in the tournament in 2015. However, the Chippewas were swept out of Avon, Ohio and traveled back to Mount Pleasant without the ultimate prize: a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Saturday marked the end of CMU’s season after a loss against the rival Western Michigan Broncos. The Chippewas won game one 10-3 which forced a second game, but WMU won game two 4-0, eliminating CMU from the tournament.
During the tournament, senior outfielder Ryan Heeke and freshman outfielder/pitcher Dazon Cole were hospitalized and unable to participate in CMU’s final two games. Heeke was struck in the face by a fastball, breaking several bones in his face and breaking his nose. Heeke was able to come back and witness CMU’s two games on Saturday. Cole was sent to the hospital after dehydration and “a combination of things going on” according to Jaksa.
Heeke is expected to have surgery sometime in the next week and Cole is expected to fully recover as well.
Jaksa's team endured difficulties early in the 2016 season. The team started on the road against a ranked Arkansas team and was swept by the Razorbacks in the three-game series, being outscored 19-8.
Five games later, they were still winless at 0-8.
After several other road trips, the Chippewas were without two veteran players, pitcher Adam Aldred and outfielder Logan Regnier. Both players were suspended indefinitely from the team and never returned. Aldred officially left the team, but Regnier’s situation is still undetermined.
Without those two seniors, Jaksa resorted to playing younger guys who didn’t have much experience. Freshman right fielder Daniel Robinson filled in for Regnier and finished with the second most RBI’s on the team with 28.
Several freshman pitchers stepped up in place of Aldred, including Cole, Michael Brettell and Patrick Leatherman. Even senior third baseman Morgan Oliver pitched in 10 games and nailed down two saves for the Chippewas.
“How we played, the heart we showed and the determination we had to achieve and strive to get better was a true test of their character,” Jaksa said. “I believe they withstood that test. They overcame a lot of things during the season and that helped us in the tournament. We showed a lot of toughness.”
The Chippewas had their first home game after playing on the road for over a month. Although the Chippewas lost to Bowling Green 4-0 to start off their home season, and three of their first four home games overall, the Chippewas were “resilient” and didn’t stop there, Jaksa said.
With a record of 7-25 and already having played MAC leading Kent State, Michigan and Michigan State, CMU’s next test was a neutral site game: the Clash at Comerica Park against the Michigan State Spartans.
CMU lost 7-3 in a 14 inning affair against the Spartans, losing both contests against the Spartans in 2016.
The Chippewas didn’t get their first series win until April 23 when they defeated the Toledo Rockets for the second straight game at Theunissen Stadium. After the Toledo series victory, CMU won three of its final four three-game series’ of the season, including two-of-three against the Broncos in the final series of the regular season.
They finished the regular season at 21-35 and advanced to the MAC Tournament as the No. 6 seed.
Players like sophomore shortstop Zach McKinstry (.325), sophomore outfielder Daniel Jipping (.300, six home runs, 42 RBI’s) and junior first baseman Alex Borglin (.299, five triples) kept CMU hanging around in many of the games played in 2016. Those three players contributed to 40 percent of CMU’s runs, 41 percent of CMU’s hits and 38 percent of CMU’s RBI’s this season. McKinstry and Borglin started in all 61 games this season, while Jipping started in 59 games and played in 60.
“I felt that these guys, as far as a team, coming together and how they bought in, we developed some toughness,” Jaksa said. “We knew we challenged them with the schedule, and then a lot of things happened to our personnel during the course of the year. It was tough, but all of a sudden we started to get some wins and we just kept playing hard.”
