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Division 2 Team Of The Week: Week 2 - Grand Rapids Christian

GRAND RAPIDS - After winning back-to-back state championships in 2012 and 2013, Brent Gates left Grand Rapids Christian only to come back to take over the baseball program last season. Could another title be in the works for the Prep Baseball Report Division II Team of the Week?

“Going from missing last year (due to covid) to a team with all these young guys, I didn’t know what we’d get,” admitted Gates, who played with the A’s, Mariners and Twins during a major league career that lasted from 1993-99. “They’ve been eager to learn and they’ve been applying it. They’re very coachable which is exciting to see.”

Six freshmen and sophomores are starting for a team whose number two arm had Tommy John Surgery last year and is only hitting for the Eagles this spring.

“The next couple of years should be good,” pointed out Gates about the young lineup being used.

This season is not too bad, either, with Grand Rapids Christian off to an 11-0 start including five wins this past week, 11-1, 5-4 and 5-4 over Northview, 15-0 over Kalamazoo Christian and 15-1 over Unity Christian.

“We try to build around pitching and defense,” Gates said about what has stood out so far. “We try to get guys to pound the zone and play good defense behind them. We want to make the routine plays and try not to give freebees. The first 11 games I’m happy with our pitching and defense.”

Uncommitted sophomore Kyle Remington is the staff ace. The 11th-rated 2023 in the state is 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA, striking out 21 and walking just three in 14 innings on the mound. Fellow sophomore Josh Winkle is also 3-0 with a 0.62 ERA, fanning 18 in 11 frames, while senior Sam Genzink, a Calvin commit, has a 2.10 ERA in 15 innings of work.

Remington, a shortstop for the Eagles when not pitching, also leads the team at the plate with a .395 average, .477 on-base percentage, 18 runs scored and a perfect 7-7 in stolen bases batting in the leadoff position.

Ty Uchman, the DH while rehabbing from Tommy John, is hitting .389 with a .488 on-base percentage. The fifth-rated sophomore left-handed pitcher in Michigan, who is expected to play first base by season’s end, has 17 RBIs and six extra-base hits to date.

Sam Lisiak, the sixth-ranked senior catcher in the state, is hitting .357 with 13 RBIs.

“He is as good of a catcher as I’ve ever had behind the plate,” Gates said of the Biola University commit.

Games with Forest Hills and Hazlett this week bring big tests for Gates and company.

“It’s important not to get too high when we win and too low with a loss,” Gates said. “We just need to get better every day with the key to be peaking at the right time of the year. Right now I love the track we’re on.”

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