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Division 2 Team Of The Week: Week 1 - Essexville Garber

ESSEXVILLE - Through six games Essexville Garber has allowed just five runs. It is no wonder the Dukes are off to a 6-0 start and the Prep Baseball Report Division 2 Team of the Week.

“The team came into the season in shape and ready to perform,” noted Garber head coach Jon Jeczmionka. “Roughly half of the players participated in a winter sport, and those who didn’t were busy at least three days a week preparing for the upcoming season.  

“Although we had a much shorter time to prepare, our pitching staff has been pounding the strike zone and not complaining of sore/tired arms which is a credit to them and how they prepared over the winter.”

To date, Essexville Garber has a pair of 1-0 wins over North Branch and Birch Run, with the other four wins 7-2 over Bay City Central, 9-1 and 13-1 over Gaylord and 13-1 in game two of a doubleheader with Birch Run.

“The biggest surprise has to be the quality of our entire roster,” Jeczmionka said about the 2021 squad. “We don’t miss a beat when I make substitutions. In fact, we often pick it up a notch.”

Tommy Szczepanski, the third-rated junior in Michigan, combined with Logan Hugo after Szczepanski hit the 105-pitch limit to throw a no-hitter against Birch Run in the 1-0 win to highlight the season thus far.

“Tommy’s no-hitter was the most dominant pitching performance I’ve witnessed in over 20 years,” explained Jeczmionka about the hard-throwing Michigan commit, the 76th-ranked 2022 right-handed pitcher in the nation. “Eighteen of the 20 outs he recorded were strikeouts. Hugo came in to record the final out which was also a K.”

Hugo, a senior rated sixth in the state among outfielders in the 2021 class, is headed to play next season at Eastern Michigan

“We are led by D-I players Tommy and Logan,” related Jeczmionka, whose Dukes picked up their only run in the 1-0 victory against Birch Run on a Luke Savage run-scoring single to plate Owen Wagner. “Not only are they tremendous players, but they are leaders who elevate everyone’s performance. They are typically the first guys to show up and the last ones to leave, and they set the tone for the type of culture we strive to have at Garber.”

It is a culture that brings with it a strong outlook in the program.

“Our expectations are to win the TVC East and make a deep run in the state tournament,” admitted Jeczmionka, whose squad has games with Bridgeport on Tuesday and Mount Pleasant on Friday this week. “We certainly have the talent and depth to do it.”

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