Jaylen
Jones
and
Tyler
Fullman are two supremely
talented
student
athletes
from
Georgia
and
Chicago,
respectively. They both have
athletic accolades under their
belts, and they both have their
sights set on professional ball.
Jones and Fullman are two
Black pitchers who will join
Michigan’s baseball team next
year. They will find themselves
under the tutelage of coach Erik
Bakich, who has gained national
attention in recent years for
his insistence on having a
racially diverse roster in a sport
that is known — especially
at the college level — to be
overwhelmingly white.
They’ll be joining a team that
has had recent success. The last
uninterrupted college baseball
season
saw
the
Wolverines
come a mere game away from
a national championship, a feat
the Michigan baseball program
hadn’t achieved in over half a
century.
Jones,
a
left-hander
who
boasts a fastball that reaches
the mid-90s, is no stranger to
the mentality Bakich has been
trying to avoid — that Black
college baseball players come
across as abnormal, requiring
further scrutiny in the scouting
process.
“A white player, they can go
out there one time, dominate,
and then they’ll get the offer,
but (college coaches) want to see
me multiple times because they
want to make sure, ‘If I’m gonna
spend money for a Black player
to come here, he’s gotta perform
more than once,’ ” Jones said.
“I’ve had some SEC schools that
haven’t really been known for
recruiting Black players. And
(Bakich) didn’t care about that.
I performed, he liked it, he gave
me a scholarship and I took it.”
Jones also echoed a point that
Bakich made two years ago in
a Washington Post interview:
Baseball can be an expensive
game for youth baseball players
in America, as showcases and
travel
costs
mount
quickly
for
high-level
players.
This
can prove to be a frustrating
obstacle,
particularly
for
minority players with inner-
city roots that struggle to get
exposure.
“Sometimes
Black
players
can’t afford to go play baseball
… and Bakich stresses that he
wants to give everybody the
same opportunity,” Jones said.
“It don’t matter your race or
whatever, it’s not political for
him, it’s just, ‘We want to get the
best type of players.’ ”
Fullman,
a
righty
with
velocity
just
as
impressive
as Jones’s, has been playing
baseball since he was four. In
recent years, that time has been
spent playing with White Sox
ACE, a program designed to help
inner-city baseball players in
Chicago avoid just this problem,
giving many players a chance to
face high-level competition and
gain exposure that otherwise
would be difficult or impossible
to obtain.
True to form, Bakich has
developed inroads with the ACE
program, as Fullman will join
redshirt
sophomore
catcher
Jordon Rogers as the second
player from the program on the
team next fall. Dillon Head, a
2023 outfielder from ACE, is
committed as well.
As a teammate, color makes
no difference to Fullman. He’s
focused.
“I treat everybody like family,
man,” Fullman said. “I care
about the team, (and) I care
about winning. I want to be a
leader.”
But as an individual, the
hard-throwing
righty
knows
the weight that comes with
representing
a
woefully
underrepresented group in the
sport he’s been passionate about
for nearly his whole life.
“As an African American,
sometimes I think, like, ‘Man,
like I’m not even supposed to be
here. I’m not even supposed to
be playing this sport right now,
’cause it really isn’t meant for
me and this game don’t really
love nobody.’ I’ve had those
thoughts,” Fullman said. “But
you know, I just kept going and
I still worked on my game and it
really got me where I’m at right
now.”
Work
he
did,
and
now,
beginning his senior year of
high school, Fullman has his
sights set on Michigan and
beyond. A future in the MLB is
the ultimate goal, and Fullman’s
work ethic and determination
make him more than capable of
realizing it, but his mentality
outside the game makes him
prepared for success no matter
where
his
baseball
career
eventually takes him.
“I want to major in sports
management,”
Fullman
said.
“I want to own my own sports
complex
and
become
an
entrepreneur one day, and I
want to be a good student (at
Michigan), man.”
As they prepare to take the
mound at Ray Fisher Stadium,
Fullman
and
Jones
are
following in the footsteps of
several successful Black players
who
have
already
created
their legacies — or are creating
them still — in the Michigan
baseball
program.
Jones
shares Fullman’s major league
aspirations,
and
he’s
found
sources of advice and wisdom
in junior pitcher Isaiah Page
— himself an outspoken voice
against racial injustice during
the past year — and Jordan
Nwogu, a decorated Michigan
outfielder who just signed with
the Chicago Cubs as a third-
round draft pick. The two
players showed Jones around
during his visit to Michigan in
the fall of 2019, and Nwogu’s
successful ascent to the next
level has been a powerful source
of inspiration.
“I look up to Nwogu because
he’s a heck of a ballplayer, and
now he’s gotten drafted,” Jones
said. “You try to follow in those
footsteps because it’s another
Black
player
that
has
the
opportunity to play professional
ball, and that’s my dream as
well. I contact him about little
stuff and ask him things… (and)
I know I can ask him ’cause he’s
been through everything at
Michigan, and he’s had a ton of
success.”
Above
all
else,
the
two
budding stars in Michigan’s
future rotation eagerly await
their collegiate futures, because
to them, Michigan isn’t simply
a place to play baseball. It’s a
town, a university and a team
that’s eagerly awaiting them,
too.
“I went up for an official visit,
and right then and there I knew.
I knew it was the place for me.
Everything I could’ve wanted
in a school — they had it,” Jones
said. “I felt comfortable there.”
Fullman expressed a similar
sentiment,
adding
that
the
proximity of Michigan to his
hometown makes it all the
more special that he was given
an opportunity to play in Ann
Arbor.
“It’s
the
greatest
school
around, really, to me,” Fullman
said.
“That’s
how
I
feel.
Michigan’s a great, awesome
school. It’s a school that makes
me feel like I’m home.”
In
Jones
and
Fullman,
Bakich’s
squad
is
getting
two
players
who
possess
the qualities any successful
program looks for. They are
skilled, determined and selfless,
and while they both have had
unique experiences as Black
players in a sport that often fails
when it comes to diversity, their
focus lies squarely on the task
ahead.
Fans
will
cheer,
batters
will be sent trudging back to
the dugout, and Jones and
Fullman will be on the mound,
representing the university that
they hope will propel them to
much greater heights in the
coming years.
“It’s
really
a
blessing,”
Fullman said. “It’s always been
a dream for me to get accepted
to this school.”
18 — Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Cameron Amine ready to follow in
family’s footsteps at Michigan
Cameron
Amine
is
Michigan wrestling royalty.
His
father,
uncle,
two
cousins and brother all went
through the program, and
their family produces top-
tier collegiate athletes —
All Americans and NCAA
finalists among them. As the
newest Amine to join the
team, Cameron expects a
dominant year coming off his
redshirt season.
Entering
his
freshman
year a season ago, it was
understood Amine was going
to redshirt. While he wanted
to jump right into the line of
fire, he recognized he needed
to get stronger and smarter
before competing.
“I thought I was ready for
the college level,”Amine said.
“But once I first came in it
was like ‘I got to adapt to the
style.’ ”
During his first year as
a Wolverine waiting for an
opportunity,
Amine
never
stopped
training.
Every
practice he brought a great
intensity with the hope of
more action next year. In
the
four
tournaments
he
was allowed while retaining
his redshirt, he went an
impressive 15-5.
“(Cameron)
is
a
silent
worker, really consistent and
brings an incredible effort and
intensity to all his workouts
and training,” Michigan coach
Sean Bormet said. “It (was)
apparent during his freshman
year.”
Now as a redshirt freshman,
Amine is ready to take on a
more vocal and active role
within the team. He’s been
extremely competitive since
he was a young kid with his
brother and cousins, and now
he’s ready to show it against
tougher opponents. He wants
to display to his teammates —
and the rest of the conference
— all of the work he put in
during the offseason.
“I’m the young buck on
this team, but I’m here and
I’m going to challenge (my
teammates),” Amine said.
In addition to his work
his freshman year, Amine
spent all of the quarantine
and summer working out.
Between wrestling on the
mats in his basement and
working out in his relative’s
garage gym, he feels his game
has improved dramatically
since last season.
“(I think) I’m a little under
the radar so I want to come
out swinging,” Amine said.
He always was at the top of
the wrestling ladder in high
school — winning three state
championships
for
Detroit
Catholic Central High School
— and believes he’ll get back
there.
Additionally,
Amine
constantly
puts
immense
expectations
on
himself.
He wants to dominate. And
he wants to win an NCAA
Championship.
“One of the great things
about him is he loves to
compete,” Bormet said. “He
loves competing against the
toughest guys in the country
and with great composure.”
Bormet
shares
Amine’s
sentiments, thinking he and
the team can achieve great
accomplishments this season.
Amine, like everyone else,
is at the mercy of COVID-19,
so his season is in limbo. If
and when it starts, he plans
on
achieving
one
thing:
dominance.
JACOB KERNIS
For The Daily
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Joining his father, uncle, cousins and brother, Cameron Amine will start for the Michigan wrestling team this year.
For Michigan baseball’s top recruits,
difference makes no difference
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Michigan baseball coach Erik Bakich strives to recruit student-athletes from diverse backgrounds and from areas that are often overlooked in college baseball.
ETHAN PATRICK
For The Daily
How international field hockey
players dealt with the pandemic
When
the
COVID-19
pandemic hit in March, all
Michigan students were advised
to leave campus.
For international students —
including sophomore midfielder
Nina Apoola of the Michigan
field hockey team — being sent
home entailed more than a few
hours in the car.
“I had to pack everything in
my dorm room and book a flight
back to England within two
days,” Apoola said.
With the virus spreading,
the world reacting and borders
closing,
Apoola
and
junior
goalkeeper Anna Spieker had
to act fast to return to their
home countries of England and
Germany, respectively. Spieker
enjoyed the opportunity to bond
with family in Germany — but
after a while at home, the stir-
craziness sets in for everyone.
“It was probably the longest
I’ve ever gone without field
hockey,” Apoola said.
Although they were luckily
able to get home — with borders
fully closing mere days after
arrival — and happy to slow
down and spend time with loved
ones, little by little things started
to open up. After the University
announced its fall reopening
plans, and with a possible season
looming,
both
Spieker
and
Apoola knew it was time to get
back.
But returning to the United
States
wasn’t
without
its
complications.
For Spieker, a dual-citizen,
it was more about attention
to detail. After double- and
triple-checking
the
German
Embassy’s web page, she was
able to return to Ann Arbor in
a relatively smooth — but still
stressful — fashion. Apoola, on
the other hand, does not have a
U.S. passport, and with England
still deep in lockdown, she had a
few more hoops to jump through.
With the requirement of a two-
week quarantine, Apoola and her
German teammate — sophomore
midfielder and forward Sarah
Pyrtek — hatched a plan to get
back to the U.S. Because travelers
from England were barred from
entering the U.S., they travelled
to Aruba and fulfilled their two-
week quarantine there.
About
halfway
into
the
Aruban quarantine, the rules
changed, and it turned out
Pyrtek and Apoola did not have
to go to Aruba at all. However,
they were glad to have played it
safe as they had a deep desire to
return to the team, and nothing
was going to stop them.
After arriving in early July,
the situation continued to evolve.
With no Big Ten foes to take on
this fall, the team is taking part
in highly competitive practices
as they look to improve in
preparation for the upcoming
season, whenever it may be.
“It’s a difficult task,” Spieker
said. “We’re taking it day by day.”
Added Apoola: “We have to
make every one of these days
count.”
After
traversing
halfway
around the globe and back
during this pandemic, and seeing
so much along the way, Spieker
and Apoola are finding even
more enjoyment in being with
their teammates on campus,
and they’re taking nothing for
granted. They’ve had to clear
added hurdles to arrive from
abroad, yet they continue to
bring a clear-eyed approach to
it all.
“There’s so many people in far
worse situations,” Apoola said.
“We’re grateful to even be able
to play.”
PAUL NASR
For The Daily
COURTESY OF MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY
Nina Apoola and Anna Spieker had to rapidly return home after in-person classes were cancelled in March.