Bakich on CWS Run, What's Next in 2020: 'Now That We've Tasted It, Everyone's Addicted'
2/7/2020 9:30:00 AM | Baseball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team hasn't entered a season with more momentum and higher expectations since 1962, when it won the program's last national championship.
The 2019 Wolverines (50-22) became the hottest team in baseball in June, upsetting No. 1-ranked UCLA in a NCAA Super Regional in Los Angeles to earn a ticket to the College World Series.
Then unranked Michigan, which earned one of the last at-large bids in the tournament thanks to a dramatic, walk-off win over No. 20 Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament, beat No. 8 Texas Tech twice in Omaha while sandwiching a 2-0 shutout win by Tommy Henry over Florida State between those triumphs over the Red Raiders.
The Wolverines became the darlings of college baseball fans, coming out of nowhere to win with style, class, power, speed, web gems and pitching.
They earned a spot in the CWS best-of-three championship round against No. 2 Vanderbilt, and won the opener, 7-4, as Henry tied the school record with his 12th win of the season and first baseman Jimmy Kerr hit his third homer in Omaha.
One win away.
Michigan could taste it, smell it, imagine it -- but couldn't beat the Commodores again. Vanderbilt took the last two games, 4-1 and then 8-2.
Team 154, ranked No. 8 by Baseball America, will embark on the challenge of finishing the job. And it opens the season next Friday (Feb. 14) against preseason No. 1 Vanderbilt.
So, the opponent in the last game of one season and the first game of the next remains the same. The quest continues against the Commodores in the MLB4 Tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona, where the Wolverines also will play Cal Poly, No. 3 Arizona State and UConn.
However, the Wolverines will play those games without standout center fielder Jesse Franklin (.262, 13 homers, 55 runs batted in with team-highs of 61 runs and 51 walks), a Baseball America preseason second team All-American who broke his collarbone in a skiing accident. He's expected to miss the first two weeks of the season.
Erik Bakich, the 2019 national coach of the year, sat down with MGoBlue.com recently to discuss the road ahead.
The Wolverines celebrate their victory over UCLA to advance to last season's College World Series
Q. You have reached the pinnacle of your sport, even though you came up one win short of the championship, and now the challenge is to return to that championship series. You know how hard that road is, and your players do, too. But you've been there and you want to stay there. Can you talk about that challenge?
A. In order to be a Omaha program, first, you have to have an Omaha team. But in order to have that first Omaha team, you have to conduct yourself like an Omaha program. And we feel that over the last couple years we've held ourselves to a very high standard, and understand that it's about improving daily and having guys who truly care about each other, looking at the team as bigger than themselves.
Last year was just the culmination of all of our training, and getting some luck along the way, and catching fire when we needed to, and it was the ultimate dream of any coach or team, catching the lightning in the bottle. So, I don't know if that can ever be duplicated. That was something unique to last year's team. Do we have the same internal drive to go through that Big Ten Tournament, be that loose through the (NCAA) Regionals, and, after being knocked down so many times throughout the season, losing the Big Ten regular season by a half a game, being on the verge of elimination in the Big Ten Tournament, with all that happened, can we feel like we've found our second wind and life over an entire postseason? I don't know.
But now that we've tasted it, everyone's addicted. You want to put yourself in a position to get back there. It's so hard. Think about UCLA last year. They were so consistent, and we were the only team playing good enough at that time to come out on top. I think that if any other team went to UCLA that weekend, UCLA would've been going to the World Series. Having played there (and won) earlier in the year and having all our fans at those games was amazing. There are so many factors.
But once you go, you want to go every year, and make it a consistent thing. Now, that's a long-winded answer. But to answer your question, we've reflected on our experience, we wouldn't change a thing, we loved it, and we were so appreciative that we were rewarded with that opportunity, that celebratory moment with everybody, to represent the school and Team 153.
But at the end of the day, we came in second place. Not that everything's a disappointment unless you're a national champion, but there is very much a deeper fire now to know how close we came. To be within the grasp of it, to be one game away from it, there's a high level of motivation. The mantra of getting better every day is anchored more on this team because they know how important one day, one game, one inning, one pitch, one inch, one repetition, one rep -- just one more of anything to be a little better is the difference between getting it and not getting it.
We don't have to say much to this group, which has Benjamin Keizer, Jeff Criswell, Jack Blomgren, Joe Donovan and others as leaders.
Q. Your team is ranked in the Top 10 of polls and Criswell (7-1, 2.72 earned-run average), Jordan Nwogu (.321, 12 homers, 46 RBI and 16 steals with team-highs of .557 slugging, .435 on-base and four triples), Willie Weiss (2.97 ERA, 50 strikeouts in 39.1 innings and nine saves) and Franklin have made preseason All-America teams. I know that none of that brings you a single win, but what does it mean to your program?
A. Coach (Nick) Schnabel sends that out to the recruits. So, that's good. But if you ask our players if they care about what other people say about them, they'd probably say, 'No.' The reason they say 'no' is because they can't control it. It is recognition, but it's just the opinion of someone else. It isn't a predictive model for success. So, it's nice to be recognized. If our players get a little bit of added confidence from that, then I'm fine with that. But if they weren't to have confidence if they weren't ranked, I wouldn't be a fan of it.
Q. You open at the MLB4 Tournament, facing Vanderbilt, Arizona State and some other good teams in Cal Poly and UConn, which is coming off consecutive NCAA tourneys. What will that start mean to your team?
A. I don't know who does our scheduling, but they should be reprimanded.
Q. Too much too soon?
A. I did the scheduling. 'That guy's an idiot.' Yeah, it's a huge challenge. Our players are excited about it. It's a great way to be tested early.
Dragani
Q. Ben Dragani was a starter in 2018, and went 6-2 with a 2.76 ERA. You have him back from injury, and how does he factor into the pitching staff?
A. It's an added bonus having Ben back. Dragani is still not all the way back, and he'll probably start the year in more of a relief role and build his way up to a starting role. Losing him last year was a dagger, and losing Steven Hajjar before the beginning of the season we thought was really a blow. Once Ben was injured last summer, we knew Jeff Criswell was a great candidate to be a starter, though. But we were looking at Hajjar as that No. 4 starter (with Henry and Karl Kauffmann, who also won 12 games, leading the rotation).
Q. What makes Hajjar, a redshirt freshman, such a tough pitcher?
A. Well, he's 6-foot-5 with long arms. He's got tremendous ability not only to throw hard from the left side, but he stays behind the ball really well for an induced vertical break. His ball has the most induced vertical break of any pitcher we would've seen last year.
Q. So, Hajjar has the most rise on his fastball?
A. (Nodding) The most rise. The ball doesn't actually rise, but fights gravity the best. And he's got good breaking and secondary stuff to complement that. He can pitch on top of the strike zone and both sides of the plate. He can pitch down in the zone if he wants to. He's got a pitch that looks like it's going to drop low and stays right on plane at the knees. And pitches right at the belly bottom are hard to get to when he's in the low- or mid-90s (mph).
So, he just has a lot of weapons and ways to beat you, and he's super competitive. He's a tough kid from (North Andover) Massachusetts who just hates to lose and loves to win. He's a really good athlete and hurt his knee doing a 360-degree windmill dunk the week before the season while playing pickup basketball. He had a torn ACL, but he's back and threw well against Vanderbilt in the fall (exhibition game in Nashville) and he's going to be a guy that eats a lot of innings for us.
Q. Jeff Criswell mentioned to me that freshman pitcher Cameron Weston (Canonsburg, Pennsylvania) has made a very good early impression.
A. Cam's like Karl Kauffmann. He has a lot of horizontal movement with a lot of run and sink on his fastball. He's got a good slider and so those two pitches complement one another.
Cam Weston's fastball has run, and as much or more run than Karl Kauffmann's does, in terms of the numbers and the technology that we use, and he's got a good slider and a really good out-pitch in a pitch we haven't had in my seven years here, and that's a forkball. And it's a super-low spin. You can't tell if it's split or changeup action, and that sucker's hard to hit.
Q. Might Weston figure into the starting rotation?
A. That might be a little too ambitious for a freshman. We've got Isaiah Paige (4-1, 2.75 ERA and four innings without an earned run in CWS Game 2 against Vanderbilt) and guys who have started big games for us. Blake Beers (1-1, 6.04 ERA) is better, throwing in the mid-90s the other day. Angelo Smith (1-0, 4.60 ERA) looks great. We've got some guys who pitched big, high-leverage innings last year and freshmen like Weston and Jacob Denner (Closter, N.J.) who've shown well.
Willie Weiss had a triceps tendon bone injury on his pitching arm and is out a couple weeks, and so it will be closer-by-committee to start. Cam Weston could be a closer. We've got some weapons.
Q. I understand Jesse Franklin sustained an injury this offseason.
A. Jesse's a really accomplished skier and doesn't just go skiing. He does these crazy jumps and did a jump and went over his skis and landed wrong. He'll be out a few weeks to start the season, and will probably be able to hit before he plays defense, and should be full-go to play probably around Big Ten play (which opens March 20 with Purdue in Ann Arbor).
So, no more basketball for Hajjar and no more jumps for Jesse. We need these guys.
Bullock is in the mix to play center field with Jesse Franklin out to start the season
Q. Who will be in center at the start?
A. Nwogu is a candidate for left or center. Christan Bullock (.263) is a candidate for center or right. We've got Dom Clementi back this year and he looks back to form from his sophomore year after all those nagging injuries last year. (Clementi was All-Big Ten first team and hit .368 in 2018 but dropped to .195 last season in 87 at-bats.)
We've got Clark Elliott (Barrington, Illinois), who's a freshman, a really fast, left-handed hitter. We've got some options.
Q. You've got Jack Blomgren (.314, .417 on-base with 12 hit by pitches, 40 runs and 47 RBI) back at shortstop along with three new infield starters.
A. Nobody's tougher than Jackspan> Blomgren. He's such a spark plug for us, and a beacon of pure, old-school toughness. You get hurt, rub dirt on it, and get back in the game. When he broke his finger at UCLA, he said, 'Tape it up and let's go!' Kim (Hill, team trainer) couldn't get the broken finger back into socket and that was his response. It's great having him at shortstop. He's such a gamer.
Q. Who will join him to replace Blake Nelson at third, Ako Thomas at second and Jimmy Kerr at first?
A. There's a lot of competition on the corners right now. Matthew Schmidt has separated himself to get one of those spots, and he's a fifth-year senior. His teammates like him a lot because he's invested in them as well. He's probably more at first base or DH.
Third base is between Ted Burton, a freshman from (Huntington Beach) California, a really skilled defensive third baseman who is another shortstop. (Junior) Logan Pollack is a kid who started in our program, went to a California junior college (Santa Barbara City College), got a lot better and is a very good option at third.
So, we've got some depth on the bench as well, guys who can impact our team.
Q. Tell me about Jimmy Obertop, the freshman from St. Louis.
A. Yeah, we've got Jimmy Obertop. Jimmy has to hit in our lineup because our lineup is better with him in it. He's a freshman with as much power as anyone on our team. Obertop, Nwogu and Franklin have our best power.
Q. So, Obertop is really someone for fans to look forward to watching?
A. Yeah, and he could play first, he could DH, he could catch. He's versatile, and we could throw him in the outfield.
Q. Joe Donovan (.234, nine homers, 37 RBI) is back behind the plate and he gives you so much.
A. You've written about him before. He's motivated totally differently, playing for his (late) brother, Charlie, playing with him and helping him. Having Joe live out his experience here not only for himself but for Charlie as well.
To see him have success and see the clutch performances, and take on the leadership role and thrive in it. I'm really happy for him and his family, and we wouldn't want anybody else occupying the middle of the field along with Jack Blomgren, Jesse when he's back patrolling center field, and we have as good of a middle of the field as anyone.
Q. Ako Thomas and third baseman Blake Nelson are back with you as graduate assistants. Who replaces Ako?
Losing Ako at second is huge because of what he brought, but having Riley Bertram (.385 with .515 on-base percentage in 26 at-bats with four runs, four doubles and seven RBI) waiting in the wings is great. We knew we needed an outlier performance in the (NCAA) Regional to get through, and Riley was the outlier for us, he went 4-for-4 in a spot start and is a total gamer and spark plug. He got a two-run double at Vanderbilt (in a Nov. 10 exhibition game) to win us the game (3-2). He started the national championship game when Nwogu was hurt and drew a couple walks. He's just a ballplayer. He gets on base, makes clutch hits and plays second real well. He's valuable.
Riley's a shortstop, too, and so we have two shortstops in the middle of the field.
