8 — Friday, March 31, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
A new family for Miles Lewis
Little did Miles Lewis know
that one text would change his
life – that a lone message was the
first step towards him becoming
a Michigan Wolverine.
That message came last April,
while Lewis was still a member
of the North Dakota baseball
team and his then-coach Jeff
Dodson urgently demanded a
team meeting.
“I got a text from my coach
that said ‘If you have class
right now, you have to miss it,’ ”
Lewis recalls. “And the athletic
director came in and told us
the news that the program
was getting cut (at the end of
the season) and said good luck
basically.”
After 115 years, the Fighting
Hawks baseball program was
dropped as part of budget
restructuring that also saw
the golf program evaporated.
The cuts were estimated to
save the university $720,000 in
operating budgets and salaries
according to KVRR.com, the
school’s local news station.
The announcement came mid-
season and was unexpected,
even for the coaches.
Losing the team marked the
end of a baseball career for most
players on the roster. Lewis
wasn’t most players.
He redshirted his first year at
North Dakota while recovering
from a double labrum injury
suffered while playing high
school football. In his first season
of play, Lewis led the Fighting
Hawks in home runs, hits,
slugging percentage, total bases,
stolen bases and batting average
(at .360). His impressive stat
sheet earned him a Louisville
Slugger Freshman All-American
nod
and
2016
Western
Athletic
Conference
Freshman
of
the
Year
honors.
Most
importantly, it turns out, his
high level of play drew attention
from many programs throughout
the country.
For the team’s most talented
players, such as Lewis, the cut
merely meant they would be
moving on.
“As soon as the word got
out that they were dropping
their program, I think every
competitive recruiter went right
to the stat page,” said Michigan
coach
Erik
Bakich.
“(They)
looked at their top pitcher, a kid
named Zach Muckenhirn and
their top hitter, Miles Lewis.”
Bakich
was
right.
Miles
not only drew attention from
Michigan,
but
other
major
programs
including
Iowa,
Oregon and Creighton. This sort
of notoriety was new for Lewis.
His shoulder injuries forced
Lewis to miss the high school
baseball season his senior year,
which deterred many college
recruiters.
“Getting recruited by big
schools was kind of a new
experience
for
me,”
Lewis
recalls.
“That
really
didn’t
happen for me in high school.”
***
Lewis attended Hudson High
School in Hudson, Wis., where
he was an All-State selection
in baseball as well as Academic
All-State in baseball, football
and basketball. For a while,
he considered playing college
football instead of baseball.
However, inspired by his older
brother Mitch – who is 27 and
played baseball at University of
Wisconsin - La Crosse – Miles
stuck to baseball.
“(Baseball) was something
that my brother always loved
growing up,” Lewis said. “And
he was my biggest role model
and I just wanted to follow in his
footsteps.”
Following
in
Mitch’s
footsteps turned into a mutual
bond in which the two challenge
and motivate each other. While
Miles feels that his older brother
is a role model for him, Mitch
finds this ironic.
“It’s good to hear (that I
motivate him) but I feel like
he motivates me to be better,”
Mitch said. “It’s amazing to see
him work so hard in not only
baseball, but also his academics.
To balance those two and play
at such a high level, it really
motivates me to take on more
challenges and better myself.”
The brothers’ competitiveness
also drives the duo to succeed.
Their brotherly rivalry extends
from
the
baseball
diamond,
where Mitch claims that he is the
“smarter ballplayer while Miles
is the more athletically talented
player,” to the living room, where
playing Mario Kart and Mario
Party Three have become some
of their favorite pastimes.
Laughing, Mitch contests that,
“Miles is a very good baseball
player, but he is a very average
Mario Kart player.” Miles, on
the other hand, is quick to refute
this statement, asserting that he
is one of the best players in the
state of Wisconsin.
However,
the
one
thing
they can agree on is that they
owe thanks to their father for
introducing them to baseball
and inspiring the two to play.
Their father taught them the
game, coaching them in some
capacity from tee-ball all the
way through high school.
Now, Miles eagerly anticipates
his father and the rest of his
family attending a game at Ray
Fisher Stadium and watching
him play in a Wolverine uniform
for the first time.
***
When
the
North
Dakota
program was cut, Lewis wasn’t
concerned that it would mark
the end of his baseball career.
That didn’t make saying goodbye
to the friends he had made any
easier. It was difficult to leave
behind the life that he had
become accustomed to and the
teammates he considered family.
“It was a very emotional
time,” Lewis explained. “Having
to leave your best friends that
you’ve known for years and
some great coaches. It was really
tough, but it all works out.”
Fortunately for Lewis, it seems
as one door closed, another
one opened. Shortly after the
program cut was announced,
coach Bakich took a trip to
North Dakota to see Lewis play.
The two went out to dinner and
Lewis visited the team in Ann
Arbor a few weeks later.
“The one thing that stuck
out to me was the coaches here
and how much energy they
have,” Lewis recalls. “And how
much they can help from a
developmental standpoint and
the fact that they love winning
here.”
And for Bakich and Michigan,
Lewis was the ideal person to
replace the now-graduated left
fielder Matt Ramsay.
“It just lined up,” Bakich said.
“Not only the baseball program
and our development and how
we do things, but the school
academically. He was a 4.0
student at North Dakota, never
got one B in any class. It seemed
like all the pieces fell into place
and he was a perfect fit.”
Another thing that stood
out to Bakich – or anyone in
Lewis’ presence – is his athletic
build and sheer size. Listed at
6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, Bakich
describes Miles physique as a
“football body” and as someone
who “could play tailback for
coach Harbaugh.”
“He’s
just
absolutely
shredded, ripped, very strong,”
Bakich awed. “It’s like he’s out of
a muscle and fitness magazine.”
Fortunately,
his
abilities
as a ballplayer were equally
impressive.
Lewis
is
what
Bakich describes as a multi-tool
player – a switch hitter who can
get on base, drive in runs, steal
bases and make web-gem plays
in the field.
Now a redshirt sophomore
left fielder, Lewis has lived up
to the expectations and has
showed off his various tools.
Primarily
batting
fourth
or fifth in the lineup –
spots typically designated
for a team’s best hitters
– Lewis is currently
boasting a .302 batting
average with 14 runs
batted in, 15 runs scored
and eight stolen bases.
Additionally, Lewis has
committed no errors
on the season.
While
the
left
fielder feels that he
has progressed in all
facets of his game
in his short time as
a Wolverine, his
defense is what he
has seen improve
most – something
on full display
Tuesday,
when
he
robbed
Toledo of an
extra base hit
on
a
diving
catch.
This
sort
of
effort
and
intensity has become the norm
from Lewis in games and during
training.
“He stands out in all of our
training sessions and all of our
practices,” Bakich said. “He’s
always
diving,
he’s
always
hustling
(and)
he’s
always
going full speed. He has no off
switch. You’re never going to
need to prompt him, he’s a self-
starter. He’s on go all the time...
He could have a bad game and
bounce right back and have a
great game.”
Lewis
isn’t
all
business,
though. His roommate – junior
catcher Brock Keener – was
quick to point out that he is “fun
to be around and real goofy.”
That much was clear this
past
Wednesday,
as
Lewis
was juggling baseballs with
teammates in the dugout after
turning in a 2-for-4 effort in the
Wolverines’ routing of Central
Michigan.
That comradery was almost
instantaneous,
as
Lewis
credited the group for making
him one of their own from the
second he stepped on campus.
“The moment I got here it
was like a new family,” Lewis
explains. “All the guys are really
great.”
That’s not to say his North
Dakota family is gone, though.
Lewis still texts his former
teammates. He still visits them
when he’s back in Wisconsin.
The North Dakota program
is
gone,
and
it’s
certainly
unfortunate.
But with his new career
unfolding in Ann Arbor, Lewis
explains, “I don’t really like to
live in the past too much. You
just have to play the game and
not think too much about it.”
CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
Redshirt sophomore left fielder Miles Lewis transferred from North Dakota after its program was cut, and is now enjoying early success with the Wolverines.
Taking a punch
O
n the surface, it
would appear that the
memory of Michigan’s
painful collapse down the
stretch last season has faded
away. The Wolverines (19-6
overall, 1-2 Big Ten) sit
comfortably in the national
rankings, have scored the
second-most runs in the Big
Ten and have the best earned-
run average of any team in the
conference.
Essentially, the 2017
Michigan baseball team looks
a lot like the 2016 team did for
most of its season.
Throughout his career,
Michigan coach Erik Bakich
has held a reputation for his
dynamic and energetic nature.
His vigor has been a key
driving force in the program’s
resurgence – from taking the
Wolverines from 22-34 the
year before his arrival, to a
39-25 record and Big Ten title
in his third season, and to a
34-12 start in 2016.
For Bakich, last year’s
finish – a 2-9 slump at the end
of the season which left the
Wolverines outside the NCAA
Tournament – presented an
opportunity to return to the
foundation for what made
Michigan’s
turnaround
over the last
few seasons
possible in the
first place.
While the 2016
Wolverines
rode the
momentum of a
surprise run to
the postseason
the year
before, this
year’s team has perhaps a more
powerful force fueling them.
“The way we did not finish
the season strong last year
was the impetus to get back
to those roots of mental
toughness training to prepare
us for any adversity that
strikes,” Bakich said.
It’s no surprise that Bakich
loves describing his team
in fighting terms, with an
emphasis on taking and
throwing punches. One of
the Wolverines’ traditions
after each game is to hand
out an award – an object
representative of the team’s
mentality and spirit – to the
player who
made the biggest
impact that game.
Last season, the
award was a hard
hat. This year, it’s
a pair of boxing
gloves.
“We’ve been
down, we’ve
taken punches,
we’ve given up
big innings and
had to fight
back,” Bakich said. “That was
something that was a large
target that we wanted to hit
head on to be a tougher team.”
Resiliency – whether
shown in late-inning surges
and comebacks, scoring
immediately after giving up
runs, or simply fighting to keep
at-bats alive – is the central
message. Already, Michigan
has won four games in the
ninth inning or later, after
winning just two such games
a season ago. The Wolverines
have outscored their opponent
in 67 innings, while being
outscored in just 38. They’ve
scored in 36 percent of their
innings, but that
number goes up
to 41 percent
when they’ve
surrendered a
run the inning
before.
At the plate,
Michigan
has displayed
patience and
grit by drawing
walks in 14
percent of
its at-bats, as opposed to 11
percent last season, and has
shown a newfound aggression
on the basepaths, having stolen
57 bases already – or three less
than it did all of last season.
Many of the key contributors
of last year’s team – junior
left-hander Oliver Jaskie,
third baseman Drew Lugbauer,
first baseman Jake Bivens
and senior catcher Harrison
Wenson – are back for another
season, so this steely resolve
isn’t one that just appeared
out of nowhere. Instead, this
mental toughness training was
the focus of the Wolverines’
offseason; a conscious effort
to gear them
for the ups and
downs of a long
season.
“Whether
it’s military or
other sports
teams or other
competitive
sports that do
similar training
to strengthen
that competitive
mindset, it’s
absolutely a skill that can
be developed,” Bakich said.
“Toughness, confidence,
leadership – everybody comes
into this world with a certain
level, but those are all skills
that can be developed, and
those are three things that we
invest a lot of time on in this
program.”
Added Bivens: “Some of
it’s inherent, but I think this
team has trained harder than
anyone in the country. (Bakich
has) built that toughness into
us, and we are a group of
fighters.”
With pitchers like Jaskie,
who possesses a 3.44 ERA and
42 strikeouts in 34 innings,
and a batting order that’s
dangerous top to bottom,
there’s never been any doubt
about Michigan’s ability to
throw a punch. But that was
true last season.
Currently, the Wolverines
are knocking on the doorstep
of national prominence. But
with quality opponents such
as Michigan State, Indiana
and Oklahoma awaiting
this month, the question of
whether they can take a punch
needs a definitive answer in
order for Michigan to break
through.
And so far this season, the
answer to that question has
been a resounding ‘yes’.
Shames can be reached at
jacosham@umich.edu or on
Twitter @Jacob_Shames
JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer
On Baseball
“This team has
trained harder
than anyone in
the country.”
“Those are
three things
that we invest a
lot of time on.”
HUNTER SHARF
Daily Sports Writer