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PBR Michigan Division 4 Team Of The Week - Hudson

HUDSON - Seven wins in one week with 90 runs scored seems unfathomable.

But that took place for Hudson, the Michigan Prep Baseball Report Division 4 Team of the Week.

“We’re hitting the ball well and we have good depth in our lineup, but you need to have luck, too,” Hudson coach Jeremy Beal said. “You’ve got to catch teams at the right time.”

The week’s highlight was a 20-3 victory over Homer, which was 13-0 and ranked fifth in the state poll in Division 3.

“That’s a good ballclub,” Beal said. “We caught them at the right time.”

Opponents have not found the right time to play Hudson this year, with the Tigers currently 19-1 on the season. The lone loss was an eight-inning 5-4 defeat to Michigan Center, a team Hudson has split with this year.

“We love each other,” Beal explained. “That’s weird to say in today’s society but these guys love hanging around each other. It’s a diverse group, but they’ve embraced what we strive for in our culture. It’s fun to see them every day.”

It is also enjoyable to be sitting atop the Lenawee County Athletic Association standings at 8-0 with six games remaining starting with Ida today.

“The league is a challenge but it has prepared us for the postseason,” Beal said of a conference featuring many Division 2 and 3 schools, a league Hudson has not won in baseball since 1968. “We have a chance this year and it’s been a focal point for us.”

Doing well in the tournament is something that happens a lot at Hudson, which since 2009 has won wrestling state titles eight times, won football in 2010 and cheerleading team in 2018.

“Baseball has been competitive, we made a nice run in 2017 to the finals,” pointed out Beals, the head baseball coach since 2004 (except 2015 with the birth of a child) and the athletic director since 2006. “Last year I thought we were in a better position than 2017 and led Summerfield but we lost in the bottom of the 10th. We had a group that was very competitive and baseball focused.”

This year’s squad is following suit led by four players hitting .400 or better. Blake Borck, a senior three-hole hitter, tops the Tigers with a .500 average with junior left fielder Ty Perin at .444. Senior clean-up hitter Izaac Davis, a first baseman, averages .417 while junior second baseman Camden Shaw is at .400.

As a team, Hudson is averaging .373, scoring 9.7 runs per game.

“We have solid kids through the lineup,” Beal said.

A trio has led the way on the mound in senior Jesse Heistan, junior Ethan Borck and sophomore Dylan Smith. Heistan is 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA, Borck 5-0 with a 1.05 ERA and Smith 4-0 with a 0.95 ERA.

“They have some upside on command,” Beal noted. “We try to fill up the zone and pitch to contact. As a staff, we’ve done a nice job of handling situations.”

Still, Beal admits to being a little surprised.

“We’re in a tough league so to be 19-1 in general is probably the biggest surprise,” Beal said. “We’ve just competed well enough to have the level of success we’ve had.”

The challenge to stay atop the league while also looking to make a tournament run remains.

“We’ve got to pitch and play defense,” Beal said. “With us, we have a willingness and desire to compete and done a good job with that. It’s put a bullseye on our back and we’ve done a good job embracing that. A lot of times, expectations are too much but our guys have done a good job with it. A lot of that has to do with the experiences they have had in other sports.”