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2022 Michigan High School Team Previews

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2022 Spring Team Preview: Grosse Pointe North

GROSSE POINTE WOODS - Kevin Shubnell is the new man in charge of the Grosse Pointe North baseball program after a late resignation from last year’s head coach.

“I’m interim at this point,” noted Shubnell. “We’ll see how it goes and if I’m a good fit I’ll stay. I’m hoping it works out.”

The junior varsity baseball coach in 2020 and now in his third year as a teacher at Grosse Pointe North, Shubnell has an idea of what he is hoping to bring to a program that has had an enormous amount of success over the years, winning state championships in 1980 and 2006.

“I want to build a team,” explained Shubnell about taking over a squad that finished 23-16 a year ago. “We have a lot of talent but you’ve got to buy in as a team with collectively one goal. In talking to the kids, they want to feel more united. We’re talented and will win with that, but the benefits of high school athletics are to bring a sense of belonging and buying in.”

The Hill brothers, Drew and Brennan, are returnees to a squad that advanced to the Division 1 state quarterfinals last season before losing 2-0 to eventual state champion Grand Blanc.

“I like the competitiveness of this team, there’s an edge to them,” noted Shubnell. “There’s confidence. These kids play a lot of baseball and have been instructed the right way to play baseball so there’s not a lot of reteaching needed. They’re good students of the game and I hope we can all be on that same page.”

Drew Hill, the fifth-rated junior outfielder in Michigan, and Brennan Hill, the number two sophomore left-handed pitcher in the state ranked 31st in the nation among 2024 southpaws, will have plenty of help this year, especially on the mound.

Jake Tedesco, a Dayton commit rated sixth in Michigan’s senior class of  right-handed pitchers, is another key component this season.

“We have a lot of multi-sport kids which speaks to the quality of student-athletes we have here,” related Shubnell, pointing out that Tedesco was a big part of the school’s soccer run that ended with an overtime loss to Brother Rice in the Division 2 regional final.

Seniors Will Pflaum and Bryan Carney bring depth to the pitching staff with junior Jordan Arseneau another potential hurler. Pflaum is the 45th-ranked 2022 RHP in the state while Carney is an Olivet College recruit.

“We have five or six arms that I’d be confident in rolling out there against anybody and be ready to battle,” Shubnell said.

A pair of seniors will anchor the infield in Wittenberg commit James MacAuley, the 12th-ranked 2022 shortstop in Michigan, and Madonna University signee Luke Babcock, the 13th-rated senior catcher in the state. Babcock, whose dad was a pitcher on the 1980 Grosse Pointe North state championship team, was injured and missed most of last season.

Infielder Parker O’Neill is expected to take on a utility role with junior Cam Schafer in the outfield.

“We have a lot of athletes,” Shubnell noted. “We lost some key seniors from a year ago but we bring back a lot of talent. But that won’t matter if we’re not working together as a team.”

As the “premier” program in the MAC White Division, North will have a bullseye on its back and “get everybody’s A game,” according to Shubnell about the Norsemen, which finished 6-7 in league play a year ago, the first losing season since 2012.

“Staying healthy will be a key,” Shubnell explained. “Pitching is a strength and a big part of that is protecting the arms. We have a lot of guys to use so we can keep them all fresh and, hopefully, we’ll have guys that have faced good competition all year.

“The key is if we can keep with our potential on the mound and stick together. If we can control our own variables, the sky’s the limit.”

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