I was reading The Oakland Press this week and saw that four future Grizzlies were named to the All-County High School Baseball Team. All four pitchers from the first team — Kyle Teague (Oxford), Russell Luxton (Oxford), Matt LaMothe (Troy Athens) and Connor Mielock (Lake Orion) — will join Oakland next year.
Teague, 11-2 with a 0.88 ERA, was a first-team All-State selection. In eighty-eight innings pitched, Teague fanned a school record 141 batters. He also registered a .464 batting average with 34 RBI and an on-base percentage of .548, proving he could swing the bat, as well.
Luxton, Teague’s teammate, garnered second-team All-State honors while posting a 10-1 mark with a 0.48 ERA. Luxton did well with a bat in his hand, too. He hit .389 with 23 RBI.
LaMothe went 8-1 with a 1.68 ERA in 2008. In sixty-four innings pitched, LaMothe struck out 116, which is the school record. Like his new Grizzly teammates, LaMothe showed ability to hit as well. All he did was hit .430 with 24 RBI.
Mielock’s season campaign ended with an 8-2 mark and a 1.35 ERA. With the bat, Mielock hit .479 with seven homers and 34 RBI. Numbers good enough to land him a second-team All-State nomination.
I have to think these new faces will have an immediate impact on the program. All the old axioms about good pitching leading to winning are true. If this group of newcomers can come in and give the Grizzlies quality outings, the wins should follow. The fact that all four can swing the bats is a bonus. A huge bonus, but a bonus nonetheless.
While we continue to rave about Coach Kampe’s great recruiting class, which we should, it’s appropriate to give Coach John Musachio credit for landing a fairly impressive group of freshmen, as well. Hopefully, this freshman class can combine with several all-conference caliber players already in the fold to give Grizzlies’ baseball a foundation to build upon.
Tags: college baseball, Connor Mielock, Greg Kampe, John Musachio, Kyle Teague, Matt LaMothe, Russell Luxton
