Michigan Muddogs: Previous News

Thursday, August 31
Great Website For High School Players and Parents
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The High School Baseball Web went "online" in February of 1998. The reason it was created was because its founding father, Bob Howdeshell began wearing out several search engines before he found that there was very little information about the high school baseball experience.

As the father of a potential college and/or professional baseball player he could find very little about the college recruiting process or the way the Major League Baseball free-agent player draft worked.

Having no knowledge about website design or how to begin "getting an internet site up and running" he set out to start a high school baseball only place in cyberspace.

Now over eight years later, his oldest son graduated from college having completed a career as a football linebacker at an NCAA Division III college and his youngest son was a starting shortstop on an NCAA Division I college baseball program and now has graduated from college and is beginning his first season of pro ball.

Congrats Bob and thank you for the great information on your website. Click on his logo to the left and enjoy the wonderful information he has gathered.

Monday, May 5
Colin Coulter Signs with Saginaw Valley
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I am thrilled to announce that Colin Coulter has signed with Saginaw Valley.  This is Colin's first year with the Muddogs and I think he has made two outstanding choices - this past winter joining our team and this coming fall at SVSU.

Not only does Colin join fellow Muddogs Kevin Corbeil and Mike VanAlst as Cardinals - he also joins his brother as members of the Coulter family playing for Coach Walt Head.

To quote Coach Head - "He can really swing it and has got a live arm.  We are excited to get a kid like Colin both on and off the field."

I am very proud to have Colin and his family joining our Muddog family and I am sure he will have great success at Saginaw Valley.

I am looking forward to seeing the guys play together this summer - it should be a blast.

Coach Tim



Wednesday, March 12
Mike VanAlst commits to SVSU
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This is turning out to be a fantastic spring for our Muddog players.  First year Muddog Mike VanAlst is on his way to join fellow Muddog Kevin Corbeil at Saginaw Valley State University.

Mike is an excellent hitting first basemen that is going to make a huge impact on the Cardinals 2009 squad.  I spoke to Coach Head about Mike a few weeks ago and I could hear the excitement in his voice.  Coach Head spoke very highly of Mike and I am sure he is thrilled by Mike's decision to commit to SVSU.

Please help me congratulate Mike on his accomplishment - Mike we are all very proud of you and are looking forward to you and your family being part of our Muddog family this summer :)

Coach Tim



Tuesday, March 4
Robert James Commits to Macomb
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Please help me in congratulating Robert James as he has committed to attend school and play baseball for Macomb Community College next year.  Robert impressed Coach Vernier and his staff with his speed and power.  Coach Vernier asked Robert to join MCC last weekend and Robert accepted.  He now joins fellow Muddog Eric Penz as a Monarch.

 Coach Vernier has done a super job at Macomb creating a positive atmosphere and one that expects the players to perform at a high level both on the field and in the classroom.  Vernier has over 20 years of coaching experience at various levels. Besides coaching at the collegiate level, Vernier has coached teams in the Macomb Amateur Baseball Federation for eleven seasons. He has also coached at Mt. Clemens and Cardinal Mooney High Schools. While at Cardinal Mooney, he led his team to the Catholic League Championship three times and won a regional championship. He has been named Catholic League Coach of the Year, MHSAA District Coach of the Year and MHSAA Regional Coach of the Year numerous times.

This is a great start to the spring season and we are exciting to hear about all of our Muddogs as they will make huge impacts on their high school teams.  Congratulations Robert we are all very proud of you.



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Wednesday, November 14
Berti Signs with Bowling Green
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It has been an outstanding last few weeks.  I have the great pleasure of announcing that Jon Berti will be playing college baseball for Bowling Green State University.
  
Jon will be playing for coach Danny Schmitz.  Coach Schmitz  begins his 18th season guiding the fortunes of the Bowling Green State University baseball program. The 10th skipper in the 80-year history of the sport at BGSU, and just the fifth since 1928, Schmitz has already left his mark not only with the Brown and Orange, but in the Mid-American Conference and beyond.

Schmitz recorded his 400th career victory on April. 29, 2005, vs. IPFW (6-1 victory) and his 300th collegiate coaching victory on Feb. 17, 2002, at Tennessee (15-11 win). He entered the 2007 season at 435-389-4 (.528 pct.) overall. Bowling Green's MAC record with Schmitz as coach is 224-215-1 (.509 pct.) while the Falcons have won four MAC East Division Championships, two MAC Tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Regional twice during his tenure. Over half of those career victories, 237 have come in the last eight seasons at Bowling Green, including four 30-plus win seasons, along with nine .500-plus campaigns over the last 12 years.  Jon joins a great program and I am sure will have a fantastic career at BGSU.

As of now we have seven (7) players that will be playing college baseball next year and I am very confident that the spring and summer will present more opportunities for our Muddogs.   I am very proud to be associated with such a great group of young men and outstanding families.

Congratulations to all - lets keep up the hard work and get ready for 2008,

Coach Tim



Tuesday, November 6
More Muddogs Off To College
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We have two more college baseball players in our ranks.  I am very proud to announce that Kevin Corbeil (De La Salle) has verbally commited to Saginaw Valley State University and Josh Deeg (Lake Orion) has verbally commited to Xavier University.

Saginaw Valley is coached by Walt Head.  Coach Head is the dean of the Cardinal athletic coaching staff and is the longest tenured coach in the GLIAC.  I spoke to Coach Head yesterday and with Kevin’s excellence on the field and in the class room Coach Head was extremely pleased with Kevin’s decision to join the Cardinal infield.

Coach Head continues adding to his already profound status, entering his 26th season in the Cardinal dugout as one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division II history. He entered the 2007 campaign ranked 14th among active NCAA Division II coaches in victories and is 41st in winning percentage. He is currently 30th in Division II history with 687 victories.  Among Head’s accomplishments are two NAIA District 23 titles, the 1995, 2000 and 2001 GLIAC titles, the 1996 and 2003 GLIAC Tournament title and the 1995 and 2001 GLIAC "Coach of the Year" honors. The 1997 squad finished the season with a school-record ten-game win streak, matched in 2000. He also owns 27 victories over NCAA Division I teams.

Josh will be continuing his education and playing college baseball for Coach Scott Googins. In 2006 - his first season as skipper, Googins led the Musketeers to a 19-37 mark overall and a 9-18 record in Atlantic 10 play.  Josh will be taking the mound for XU next year and has an opportunity to also be one of their postion players.  Based on Josh's work ethic and passion for the game - the Atlantic 10 conference just got stronger!!!

Under Coach Googins leadership, XU recorded the highest fielding percentage over the past five seasons at .964. The 2006 squad also had the highest mark in hits (482), walks (227), total bases (660) and triples (nine) as a team in the past five seasons.  Googins stepped into his role after spending the 2005 season as an assistant coach for the Musketeers. The 2005 campaign saw Xavier send its first player into the MLB Draft since 2001 and place one player on the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team after notching a 19-35 record and a 9-15 mark in the A-10.    Xavier is an excellent school and is getting an excellent player.  Coach Googins announced Josh's signing on their website.  Check out the article at http://goxavier.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/111607aaa.html

Josh and Kevin  - We are all very proud of you and know that you will be very successful at Xavier and Saginaw Valley – Congratulations!!!



Wednesday, October 3
BOSTON (AP) - Josh Beckett is Mr. Zero when October rolls around.

The MVP of the 2003 World Series pitched his second consecutive postseason shutout and, backed by a home run from David Ortiz, led the Boston Red Sox over the Los Angeles Angels 4-0 Wednesday night (10/03/07) in their AL playoff opener.
 
Beckett retired 19 consecutive batters after a leadoff single, allowed just four hits and ran his postseason scoreless streak to 18 innings. The last time he pitched on such a stage, he blanked the New York Yankees to clinch the '03 Series for Florida.

MUDDOGS THIS QUOTE IS BIG - "I was ahead of a lot of guys," Beckett said. "They've got a lot of guys, those guys that foul a lot of pitches off and I just didn't want to get wrapped up in trying to strike a lot of guys out, because those are the at-bats that end up killing your pitch count and you're out after 5 1-3 because you've got 120 pitches."

The only 20-game winner in the majors this year, Beckett struck out eight and walked none. He has three shutouts in six postseason starts and two in 166 regular-season starts.
"That guy was very impressive. He's been like that all year," Ortiz said.

 



Monday, September 24
Muddogs Win Triple Crown Fall Classic

Congratulations Muddogs on your championship this weekend.  You have qualified for the Triple Crown Wood Bat World Series in Grand Junction Colorado Next Summer.  The Dogs played solid baseball this weekend and capped it off by shutting out a very good Lakes Area Dodgers team 5-0 in the Finals.  This caps off an outstanding 2007 season.  Keep up the hard work in the classroom and make sure you have registered for the clearing house.  We will have a team gathering in the near future to discuss our fall and winter workouts.



Sunday, August 19
Two Muddogs accept offers to attend Oakland University
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It is with great pride that I make this announcement.  Two more of your teammates have committed to play college baseball.  Both Matt LaMothe (Troy Athens) and Russ Luxton (Oxford) have been presented offers and have made verbal commitments to attend Oakland University.  I spoke to first year Oakland head coach John Musachio tonight and he was thrilled that Matt and Russ were going to be part of the Grizzlies success over the next four years. 

Before being named head coach this summer coach Musachio was an assistant coach with the Golden Grizzlies, Musachio worked primarily with OU’s hitters.  This past season Oakland led the league in hitting and doubles, and was second in five other categories, including slugging percentage and on-base percentage.  Musachio also served as the program's recruiting coordinator as well as coordinating OU’s baseball camps.  Musachio joined the Oakland staff after serving a one-year stint as an assistant coach at Michigan State in 2004-05.  He has also coached with the DuPage Dragons of the Central Illinois Collegiate League and at York High School in Elmhurst, Ill.  A 1996 graduate of Bradley University, Musachio was a four-year letterwinner for the Braves, earning Academic All-Conference honors three times and All-MVC accolades as an outfielder in 1995 and 1996. After his career at Bradley, Musachio spent one season pitching in the Chicago White Sox organization.

I am extremely proud of Matt and Russ's decision to play at Oakland - I think it is a great fit for both of them.  I am looking forward to the fall as our Muddogs continue to pursue their opportunities and I make announcements on their commitments.

 



Sunday, July 8
Muddogs are the Mayor's Silver Champions
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Big hits, huge defensive plays and awesome pitching performances lead to a tournament championship this weekend in Battle Creek. The Muddogs went 5-1 in the Mayor's Silver pool play defeating some excellent teams like the U18 Michigan Dawgs, U18 Grosse Point Redbirds and the U17 Kalamazoo Maroons. The championship game matched up the Maroons and the Muddogs. It was a close game early with Grant Lawrence throwing a gem protecting a 2-0 lead. Mike Thompson was great in relief and Matt Lamothe put out the fire in the 6th. With a 6-1 lead the Muddogs exploded for the mercy runs in the 6th with a key two run triple by Jon Berti and a walk off single by Kevin Corbeil. Kevin Crum and James McLean had awesome complete games victories during the tourny along with key relief appearances by Lamothe, Charles Dunham, Thompson and McLean. Robert James and LaMothe bats were on fire hitting with both of them hitting bombs along with getting key rbi's throughout the tournament. Eric Turk and Eric Penz continued to swing hot bats and protect leads with an excellent job of blocking balls and throwing out runners from behind the plate. TJ Emmitt came up with a few big defensive plays and key hits at the right moment to keep rallys alive and knock in runs.

The Muddogs played over a key injury when Russ Luxton tweaked his ankle in the first game. Russ should be back soon but the team is going to miss him on the mound and at the plate. The Mayor's tournament showed to be a great venue for the colleges to watch the guys play with many of the Michigan schools represented along with other state schools. The Muddogs will be at Central Michigan this weekend.

Wednesday, July 4
Berti picks up win in thrilling Northwestern U. tournament finale
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Starting shortstop Jon Berti was called in to action when the Muddogs found themselves down 7-3 in their final game of the Northwestern University tournament. Berti was the sparkplug the team needed to shift their engines into overdrive. He slammed the door with two solid innings of relief to pick up the win in the Dogs 10-8 come from behind victory. Matt LaMothe pitched a perfect last inning to pick up the save and Robert James hit a bomb out of Triton Community College to give the Muddogs an insurance run in their final at bat. LaMothe also picked up the win in the tournament opener behind a key two out two run single by Kevin Crumb to put the Muddogs up 5-4. The Dogs were down 4-3 win two outs before Russ Luxton, Eric Turk and Eric Penz all had huge at bats setting the table for Crumb. Kevin Corbeil and Grant Lawrence made two big defensive plays to save runs that gave the Muddogs the chance to mount their come back. The Muddogs travel to Battle Creek this weekend to compete in the Mayors Tournament.

Sunday, June 17
Muddogs win Great Lakes Challenge at Eastern Michigan University
The Muddogs opened up their 2007 tournament schedule with an outstanding weekend of baseball at Eastern Michigan. On their way to a perfect 6-0 record the team only gave up a total of six runs in the six games they played. The Muddogs won the championship game over the Michigan Hawks 7-1. The team played outstanding defense and came up with timely hits. The pitching staff was excellent and all the players made key contributions throughout the weekend. The Muddogs will be in the Motor City Classic next week at Adrian and Seinna Heights College.

Muddogs off to college
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Muddogs I am very proud to announce that our two seniors of the class of 2007 are playing college baseball this year.

Grant Lawrence (Divine Child) has accepted a spot on The Heidelberg College baseball team. Heidelberg plays in the Ohio Athletic Conference and is coached by Matt Palm. Coach Palm is in his eighth season at the helm of the Heidelberg College baseball team. Under Coach Palm’s guidance, Heidelberg has posted a 20-win season every year since 2000, including three 30-win campaigns. Heidelberg has made seven appearances in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament with six coming with Palm’s direction, including four-consecutive. Palm has brought a tradition of championship caliber teams to Heidelberg since day one. Under his watch and recruiting efforts, 24 single-season records and 12 career records are held by student-athletes that have joined the program since he took over the reigns in 2000. Coach Palm is very excited to have Grant joining the club next year and is expecting great things from him on the mound as one of Heidelberg’s pitchers.

Our other 2007 senior Eric Penz (Troy Athens) has accepted a spot on the Macomb Community College baseball team. Macomb is coached by Ken Vernier.   Vernier brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Macomb. Vernier has over 20 years of coaching experience at various levels. Besides coaching at the collegiate level, Vernier has coached teams in the Macomb Amateur Baseball Federation for eleven seasons. He has also coached at Mt. Clemens and Cardinal Mooney High Schools. While at Cardinal Mooney, he led his team to the Catholic League Championship three times and won a regional championship. He has been named Catholic League Coach of the Year, MHSAA District Coach of the Year and MHSAA Regional Coach of the Year numerous times.  Coach Vernier was very pleased that Eric accepted the invitation to play at Macomb and is looking for him to bring the Muddog excellence and work ethic with him behind the plate as one of their catchers.

Good Luck to both our class of 2007 graduates. Through hard work on the baseball field and in the classroom they are going to get a chance to further their education and play the game they love at the next level. Congratulations!!!

Now it’s on to our class of 2008. Follow in the footsteps of the two seniors and continue to work hard in the classroom and display your passion for the game on the field. I am sure you all have wonderful opportunities ahead of you. It should be a fantastic experience as we all go through it together.

Thursday, August 3
NEWS ARTICLE ABOUT THE MUDDOGS
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Click on the "view full size" link below the photo to the left for a nice article about the Muddogs.

Sunday, July 30
Muddogs Win Motor City Pride Tournament
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TOURNAMENT CHAMPS
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Your Muddogs brought home the gold this weekend in their last tournament of the season. The Muddogs are the 2006 Champions of the U16 Motor City Pride tournament. The Muddogs beat a super Players Edge Thundercats team 14-6 in the finals. The Muddogs scored 75 runs in 7 games this weekend going undefeated in their pool and knocking off the Detroit Eagles in the semi finals 7-6. All the hard work and competing against some of the best teams in the country this summer paid off as the Muddogs played every game with a passion and love for the game. It was really special to see the players stick together and support each other the entire weekend. They played together and really applied what they had learned this year. This was a very successful season Muddogs - you grew as players and as young men. Congratulations!!! 2007 looks like it is going to be a lot of fun.

NEW PITCHING ARTICLE ADDED!!!
Muddogs - We have added a PITCHING link to our website. On the lefthand menu bar notice the PITCHING - NO SORE ARMS. A very good article on pitching. A couple of video's are also included to show the proper mechanics of pitching. You must be a member of our Muddogs website to get to this link. If your need to sign up - just click on the new pitching link and the website will provide the information you need to sign up. Talk to Coach Tim if you need assistance.

Check Out Our New Hitting Link
Click on the HITTING - JETER STYLE link on the lefthand menu bar for a great article about hitting.

Great Quote From Jesse Owens
"In the end, it’s extra effort that separates a winner from second place. But winning takes a lot more that that, too. It starts with complete command of the fundamentals. Then it takes desire, determination, discipline, and self-sacrifice. And finally, it takes a great deal of love, fairness and respect for your fellow man. Put all these together, and even if you don’t win, how can you lose?"

Another ESPN - BASEBALL TONIGHT hitting tip
Thursday nights ESPN baseball game between the Mets and the Phillies brought up a great hitting tip. Pat Burrell of the Phillies is in a hitting slump. When they broke down his swing they noted the he had a long swing, a long stride and his front side was opening way too soon. The announcers noted that when you have a long stride your hands separate from your body and your front shoulder blows open making it almost impossible to get the bat into the hitting zone. The suggestion for Burrell was to shorten up his swing, take a small stride and not worry so much about trying to be quick on the inside pitch. Stay closed and take the outside pitch to the opposite field and if the off speed pitch comes – hit it right back up the middle. Good advice Muddogs!!!

Take a look at a great hitting article
Click on the "HITTING - PITCH COUNT" link on the left hand menu bar. A great article on hitting with different counts on the batter and what you should be thinking. We found this article on another website from one of the better teams in the state of Michigan. Also, just added to the end of this article a couple good tips on your stride when your hitting.

QUOTE FROM ESPN BASEBALL TONIGHT
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ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst Jeff Brantley put it very simple on Friday night's telecast - "Play the game Hard, Fast & Furious."

Great website link for pre-season arm conditioning
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Click on the image of the weight lifter to link to a great website about pre-season arm training. The website includes videos of the "right way" to train. Please notice that the weights used in the videos are very light. You are looking for reps here not heavy weight. Work with your parents and/or coaches if you have any questions. GO RANGERS!!!