Thursday, May 9
#6 Macomb (27-14) at #3 Jackson (28-19)
Game One: 1:00 p.m. | Game Two: 4:30 p.m. | 2111 Emmons Rd., Jackson
Live stream available on Jackson's GameChanger
Friday, May 10 (if necessary)
#6 Macomb (27-14) at #3 Jackson (28-19)
Game Three (if necessary): 1:00 p.m. | 2111 Emmons Rd., Jackson
Live stream available on Jackson's GameChanger
BY THE NUMBERS: 1995
You've likely heard the news by now ... but it's so good that we have to talk about AGAIN! For the first time since
1995, Macomb Baseball has won a MCCAA Conference Championship! With an impressive league record of 20-5, the Monarchs finished with a share of the title and will hang the program's first banner in nearly 30 years!
BY THE NUMBERS: 12
Speaking of history, sophomore first baseman and future CMU Chippewa,
Brady Krzciok, made history of his own over the weekend by tying Macomb's single-season home run record. With three over the weekend and 12 on the season, the talented sophomore vaulted into a first place tie in single-season home runs with Anthony Hines (2006).
WELCOME TO THE POSTSEASON!
With a share of the conference title in tow and the No. 6 seed in the upcoming Region 12 Tournament, Macomb Baseball is postseason bound for the first time since 2018! The Monarchs begin the region tournament at No. 3 seed Jackson College on Thursday with game one featuring a 1 p.m. first pitch and game two to follow at approximately 4:30 p.m. Game three, if necessary, is slated for Friday at 1 p.m. All games will be played at Jackson College. Jackson will be the home team for game one and the if necessary game three, Macomb is the home team on the scoreboard in Jackson for game two.
LEADING THE WAY
Three Monarchs are hitting above .400 this season (min. 40 at-bats), led by
Brady Krzciok's impressive slash line of .509/.629/.935 and his gaudy 1.564 OPS to go along with a record-tying 12 home runs, 10 doubles and 47 RBIs.
Ty Stepek is next with a .456 average and .711 SLG%, while
Ryan McKay checks in hitting .402 on the season.
Derek Ruiz (.387),
Riley Ames (.379) and
Dylan Pawenski (.371) follow closely.
MOUND VISIT
The pitching staff continued its season-long ascension last week as they helped the team go 7-0 by holding the opposition to 12 combined runs across seven games played. MCCAA ERA leader,
Hector Jaimes (more on him later), went 2-0 on the week to move to 4-2 on the year while fellow starters
Oliver Barkal (4-0) and
Ryan Sieler (3-0) remained undefeated.
THE PLAYOFF PICTURE
Four best of three series' are taking place across Region 12 this week with the winners advancing to Jackson, the host of the final weekend of the region tournament. The four teams will meet in Jackson May 16-18 for a double-elimination tournament with the winner advancing to the NJCAA DII World Series in Enid, OK, May 25-June 1.
Region 12 Tournament Homepage
WEEKLY HONORS
Macomb swept the final MCCAA Eastern Conference weekly honors of the 2024 season on Tuesday as
Hector Jaimes earned Pitcher of the Week and
Brady Krzciok was tabbed Player of the Week. Jaimes went 2-0 after a pair of five inning shutouts with 10 strikeouts, while Krzciok went off to the tune of a .556/.710/1.268 slash line with four home runs, 10 RBIs, 11 walks and 11 runs scored.
BEST OF THREE WITH THE JETS
The sixth-seeded Monarchs will square off with the third-seeded Jackson College Jets this week for a shot at advancing to the final weekend of the Region 12 Tournament. While the teams shared the MCCAA East title, the Jets won the regular season series, 3-2, to earn the right to host this weekend. A well-coached team, the Jets are a balanced ball club that features one the top pitching staffs in the region with a 4.26 team ERA (2nd in Region 12).
NATIONAL LEADER
He's been mentioned a few times throughout this edition of game notes, but
Brady Krzciok is atop or near the top nationally in several key offensive statistics. At the end of the regular season, Krzciok leads NJCAA DII in batting average (.509) and on-base percentage (.629) and is second in slugging percentage (.935). Unbelievable!
BEST WINNING PERCENTAGE
At 20-5 (.800) in league play, the Monarchs finished with the best winning percentage in conference play since ... you guessed it ... the historic Len Perkins' coached team in 1995 that had a 10-2 league record and .833 winning percentage. The 20 wins were the most in conference play since 2011 when the Joe Santilli-led Monarchs went 23-7.
