Prep Baseball Report

Division 2 Team Of The Week: Week 3 - Bay City John Glenn


Bruce Hefflinger
PBR Michigan Senior Writer

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Division 2 Team Of The Week: Week 3 - Bay City John Glenn

BAY CITY - A 6-0 week moved Bay City John Glenn to 15-0 on the year and earned the Bobcats Prep Baseball Report Division 2 Team of the Week honors.

“Our pitching and defense have been pretty good,” related veteran head coach Jeff Hartt. “That’s set the tone for everything else. We’re consistently throwing strikes and we’re staying ahead in the count. Offensively, we’re hitting right through the lineup and we’re running the bases well.”

Initially, there were some questions heading into the season after missing out on a 2020 campaign with five seniors that had signed scholarships to play baseball in college and a potential three others.

“We weren’t sure about this year, but we knew we had a good mix coming back,” admitted Hartt, whose squad features a strong sophomore class to go along with a good group of seniors.”

This past week Bay City John Glenn was dominant, beating Essexville 10-0 and 12-3, Gaylord 7-1 and 17-2 and Standish-Sterling 11-6 and 12-2.

“We worked hard this offseason,” pointed out the 36th-year head coach, who earlier this season won his 800th game. “The biggest surprise is probably how well we’ve jelled as a team. Not that we hadn’t seen it before, but this team has jelled pretty quick.”

The senior duo of Jack Runk and Troy Porter have been outstanding on the mound for John Glenn, a Division 2 state runner-up in 20012 and 2017. Runk has a 4-0 record with a 1.37 ERA and Porter, a Saginaw Valley recruit ranked 100th in the 2021 class, is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA. Fellow senior Zander Robetoy has also contributed as a pitcher, currently 2-0 with a 2.56 ERA.

Helping make John Glenn even more formidable are sophomores Tanner Sonntag and Nathan Ball. Sonntag, an Oakland commit ranked fifth in Michigan’s 2023 class of right-handed pitchers, is 3-0 with a team-best 0.70 ERA while Ball, a 6-4 225-pounder rated 13th among sophomore RHPs in the state, is 2-0 on the hill. But the 10th graders are proving just as valuable at the plate, Ball hitting .617 with 17 RBIs and Sonntag .485 with 22 RBIs. Ball plays third base and Sonntag shortstop in addition to pitching.

Porter, a first baseman when not on the mound, brings another strong stick at .526 with 24 RBIs. Two-hole batter Matt Bair, an outfielder, is at .450 with 24 runs scored and 15 RBIs while Brody Krzysaik, the number 12 catcher in Michigan’s 2023 class who catches, pitches and plays short, is hitting .377 with 16 runs and 14 RBIs. Senior Zach Fisher is another major contributor at .333.

“The key for us is to focus on one game at a time,” noted Hartt, whose team has conference doubleheaders scheduled this week with Freeland and Saginaw Swan Valley. “We have a good work ethic and a good attitude, it’s just important to maintain our focus.”

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