Wyandotte Baseball Falls Short of Expectations, Looks to Next Season

The Wyandotte Bears baseball team opened the 2011 season with five wins in its first six games. The 2010 Downriver League champs, loaded with five returning seniors, looked poised to repeat and possibly even contend for a state title.

Instead, the Bears (19-13, 10-6) finished in third place in the league and were eliminated in the second game of the district playoffs.

Wyandotte’s season slide began as it dropped three consecutive games in one week to league foes Trenton, Gibraltar Carlson and Southgate Anderson. The team did battle back from deficits in each contest to make it close, but ultimately fell short in the late innings. 

Later rematches with Trenton and Southgate resulted in defeats as well, including a 14-9 loss to Southgate on Saturday that ended the Bears’ season.

Wyandotte head coach Brian Cotner said ineffective pitching is primarily to blame for the team not achieving more this season.

“We’d lose games because we didn’t pitch (well),” Cotner said. “It was rarely because we didn’t hit.”

The Bears did, however, have some impressive victories this season.

On May 4, Wyandotte knocked off Allen Park 12-2, invoking the mercy rule in five innings. On Saturday, the team also invoked the five-inning mercy rule, beating Woodhaven 14-3 in the first game of district playoffs.

Wyandotte’s best hitter this season was senior Travis Rodery, who finished with an average of .559, hitting four home runs with 23 RBIs and 53 total runs scored.

Junior Hunter Matt had a big year at the plate, as well. He hit .505 with one home run and 40 RBIs. Senior Chase Schmittou finished with an average of.392 and hit two home runs with 26 RBIs.

Other top hitters included seniors Ben Mekolon and Steve Caldwell.

Junior Devon Jones emerged as the ace of the pitching staff. The lefty threw a complete game shutout over Huron early in the season, then continued to be extremely effective in nearly all of his 2011 starts. 

As the other starters struggled, Schmittou, who played shortstop, was called upon for several long relief appearances. Many times he got the Bears out of a jam and still gave the team at least a chance at winning.

Before the season began, there also was a possibility that Schmittou would be the team’s catcher. The duty instead was given to junior Joe Zulewski, who was behind the plate for almost every inning this season.

Zulewski said the team anticipated a better season and had chances to achieve it, but fell short.

“We expected a lot more,” Zulewski said. “We could’ve had it.” 

Zulewski, along with Jones and Matt, will get another shot when they return next year as seniors. Juniors Tyler Groat, Codey Foley and Adam Peterson also will return next season, along with sophomore Devan Stewart. 

With the 2011 season now over, three Wyandotte senior players are preparing for athletics at the collegiate level.

Rodery will be playing baseball at Wayne State University next year. Caldwell will be on the diamond at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. at Ohio’s Bluffton University this fall. 

Caldwell said the bond formed and the friendships made while playing Wyandotte baseball are something he will never forget as he moves on in life.

“We played as a team and we got close as a team,” Caldwell said. “That’s something I’ll always remember.”