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Thursday, May 31, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS
Lavert Hill cames back to 100 percent
DETROIT — It’s not often
that a Michigan football coach
questions one of his players
publicly.
But
that
was
the
method Michael Zordich used
when junior Lavert Hill missed
at least eight practices with a hip
and leg injury earlier this spring.
The secondary coach said Hill
needs “learn to
play with some
nicks”
in
mid-
April,
marking
the
second
consecutive
offseason
where
ailments
have
kept
the
cornerback
off
the field.
But Hill didn’t
need the message
for motivation.
“I don’t get none of that. It
just goes through one ear and
out the other,” Hill said Sunday
afternoon. “I don’t really know. I
just focus on my game.”
In any case, Hill says he’s now
fully healthy after participating
in the final few practices of the
spring.
“I’m good. I’m 100 percent
right now,” Hill said. “It just
came over time, keep exercising,
doing stuff, what the trainers
told me to do. It worked out
pretty fine.
“It just felt like I never left.
Just being 100 percent feels
good. When I’m 100 percent, I
can do anything.”
That was evident for Hill last
season, when he made 25 tackles,
seven pass breakups and two
interceptions in 13 starts. But as
one of Michigan’s nine returning
starters on defense, he realizes
there’s plenty of room to grow.
Hill
said
he’s
specifically
working
on
jamming
wide
receivers at the line of scrimmage,
along
with
perfecting
route
reading
—
both
physical
intricacies of his
trade. In the past
year,
however,
he’s
noticed
his
biggest
improvement
is
on
the
mental
side.
“I’m better as
far as the mental
part of the game,”
Hill said. “Just
slowing
things
down, studying film, getting
to know things better, and just
pacing myself and keeping it
slowly in my head.”
Hill, along with Michigan
sophomore Ambry Thomas, even
got a taste of what could lie ahead
if those improvements continue.
The pair visited Jourdan Lewis
– the former Michigan All-
American and current Dallas
Cowboys corner — to train in
Dallas last weekend.
And
even
when
Lewis’
attention shifted to attractions of
the downtown area, football took
priority for Hill and Thomas,
catching Lewis’ attention.
“They always want to work,”
Lewis said. “It’s refreshing to see
guys who just want to be a part
of something great. They want
to work, and everything is about
football.
“It was amazing (watching
them). They were way better
than what I did. Just the strides
they’ve been taking are so far
away from where we were at
their age. It’s going to come to
fruition when the game slows
down and they get the mental
part down.”
Lewis, Hill and Thomas have
known each other for years
from
playing
youth
football
together in Detroit. Sunday was
a throwback to those days, as
Lewis, along with Hill’s brother
and former Michigan standout,
Delano, hosted a free WR vs.
DB skills camp at Detroit PAL
Headquarters.
It was one of many trips for
Lewis back to his home state this
offseason. In March, he returned
for Michigan’s Pro Day and got to
watch the current team practice.
“I noticed the schedule is
different,
Lewis
said.
“(The
players are) getting more free
time. It feels like (coach Jim
Harbaugh) understands these
kids know what to do. They know
what’s at risk. They want to win.
“I believe they’re national
contenders.
They
have
all
the pieces, they have all the
coaches, they have the guys at
every position to get done what
they want to get done. It’s just
about coming together now, just
executing out there on the field
on Saturdays.”
MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Editor
AMELIA CACCHIONE/DAILY
Junior Lavert Hill returns from injury feeling 100% and with a new mentor - former Michigan All-American Jourdan Lewis
BASEBALL
Michigan ends season
with loss to Ohio State
As senior third baseman Brock
Keener sat down for his press
conference for the last time as a
Wolverine, his eyes were red with the
tears that only come after a season-
ending defeat.
The Michigan baseball team (15-8
Big Ten, 33-21 overall) fell to Ohio
State (14-10 Big Ten, 36-21 overall) 5-3,
and Keener was faced with the hard
realization that he had just played his
last game in a maize and blue uniform.
Likely falling short of a bid to the
NCAA Touranment, the team exited
the Big Ten Tournament earlier than
needed.
In many ways, Keener’s toughness
and resilience serves as a perfect
embodiment of the team itself.
Early in the season, Keener broke
the thumb on his glove hand—a
troubling injury for any baseball player,
but Keener is a catcher. Any physical
ailments to a catcher’s appendages,
and their ability to do their job greatly
diminishes.
But Keener stuck it out and fought
for his role on the Michigan lineup.
After all, this was his senior season.
Keener’s injury showed in his play
behind home plate. Many passed balls
snuck past him, and the Wolverines
saw their fair share of wild pitches.
But none of that deterred Michigan
coach Erik Bakich. Keener caught for
as long as he was physically able and
Bakich indulged his senior, seeing as
he consistently gave the Wolverines
their best chance to win.
“Tough, competitive kid,” Bakich
said on Keener. “Good lesson for a lot
of those younger guys on our team
for them to see what that grit and
competitiveness looks like.”
Heading
into
the
Big
Ten
Tournament, Keener’s thumb reached
the point of no return, and he simply
was not able to catch anymore.
Wanting his bat and grit in the lineup,
Bakich shocked Michigan followers
and played Keener at third base.
Keener played as valiantly as
anyone could ask of the senior,
making web gem plays on defense and
cranking clutch hit after clutch hit.
On Friday’s match, with the
Wolverines
trailing
5-1,
Keener
stepped to the plate with runners on
second and third and two outs. With
the clutch gene seemingly coded into
his physiological makeup, the catcher
turned third baseman smacked a two-
RBI single right up the middle. In one
swing of the bat, Keener gave his team
exactly what it needed and kept the
game competitive.
“I guess (I) try not to view it as a
big AB because the guys in front of me
worked hard to get on, and all these
games were nail biters,” Keener said.
“It’s tough, and I try to do whatever I
can to help the team win.”
Now all Keener can do is sit and
reflect on his time at Michigan and his
legacy. There’s no doubt that toughness
is the first word people will associate
with the catcher with a broken thumb.
“For me, this season, has taught
me, really through my whole college
career up until this season is resilience
and to truly love something, you keep
giving it your all,” Keener said. “For
me personally, this was my journey to
Michigan and my time at Michigan.
This season was the same thing, it
doesn’t always start out how you
want it. I’m blessed to be a part of this
team and blessed to be a Michigan
Wolverine, that’s for sure.”
Added
junior
center
fielder
Jonathan Engelmann: “Brock here is a
guy who’s overcome everything that I
can possibly imagine. You play games
for guys like that. Just for example
in this tournament when he played
third base, it was like, ‘Who is this guy
who’s making web gem plays left and
right.’ He’s always overcoming, and he
puts the team first. In college, you’re
playing with guys just like that, and it’s
inspiring to say the least.”
Barring some sort of divine
intervention, the Wolverines will fall
short of making an NCAA Regional.
To put it simply, Michigan did not beat
enough good teams.
However, the Wolverines boast
one of the youngest cores in the Big
Ten and won’t be down for long. This
time next year may be a different
story, and it will have all started with
the foundation laid by the juniors and
seniors who will leave Ann Arbor next
year for the workforce or the MLB
Draft.
So come Monday during the NCAA
Selection Show, the Michigan baseball
team will gather together one last
time. If or when its name doesn’t get
called, Bakich wants the freshmen to
remember the feeling.
“We may not see our name on the
screen on Monday,” Bakich said, “but
I want them to feel that as well and
especially for those younger guys
because that will be the last time they
ever feel that.”
JACOB KOPNICK
Summer Managing Sports Editor
“When I’m
100 percent,
I can do
anything. ”