There were many different things that came to my mind throughout my drive back to the UP but one constant theme I came up with was the connection and brotherhood that Grafton Baseball has had in the last 10+ years.
Other people and organizations like Mel's Charities (Check out this previous blog about the impact they can have) have done a lot for this cause as well and that will not be forgotten. Mel's Charities and Ansay have done so much to help with the building of Mattie's Field of Dreams which will have it's opening on Saturday, June 13th!
- Other people I thought to thank for the wonderful fraternity that has become Grafton Baseball go back to my days playing and then helping out with Grafton Little League:
- Corey Esselman, Mark Koehler, Mike Donahue, Tony Lukas, Tim Chopp, Jim and Deb Mayer, Dan Wade, Dee Ward, Jerry Faust, and all other volunteers who have helped grow Grafton Little League and Grafton Baseball to what it is today.
Now what has truly made Grafton Baseball a fraternity in recent years and allowed me to be at a fundraiser 10 years after Mattie's car accident and talk to players I played with, players I coached against and players who have just graduated. It all comes back to we are a part of the Grafton Baseball family and we would do anything to help each other out. That is what brings us all together every year at Pitch for Matt, and that is what will bring us together on June 13th this year and long into the future as well.
For those who are unfamiliar with Grafton Baseball, I will just say it was a program that had struggled and was building during the 2000's. In my freshman and sophomore years in 2008 and 2009 we had finished with a 5-20 (2-16 conference) and a 4-23 (1-17) records. While I will say winning and success does not necessarily build a fraternity, in this case the turnaround of the Grafton Baseball program has been co-existent with the fraternity that has been built. The program has created a family culture for all baseball players in and from the community of Grafton that we can always go back to.
How the turnaround happened so fast and the impact it has had on so many people's lives is astounding. It all started in 2010 when we lost our left fielder and senior teammate Matt Malkowski a month before the season started. It was devastating but led to a miraculous season and something we will never forget as we went 21-10 and went to the first State Tournament for Grafton Baseball in over 20 years. (Here is a quick link to a story on that wonderful season)
Since that 2010 season there has just been one season where Grafton Baseball has finished with less than 10 wins. If you told people in 2009 that the next 10 years of Grafton Baseball would consist of only 1 season WITHOUT 10 wins, they would have called you absolutely crazy. So now while this turnaround has led to a connection for all the players, it all goes back to the Malkowski family and their continued and unwavering support for the program in the years since 2010. To see them still at games on the left field line, even as an opposing coach it was heartwarming.
So as I was driving and thinking about all the connections I have created through playing, watching, and coaching against Grafton Baseball, I realized the game of baseball has not left a lot of us and thought I would just share names I remembered and how they continued in baseball after High School:
- 2008 Graduate: Miles Mayer- Current Head Coach at North Port High School in Florida (Special shout out to Miles for hosting our Finlandia team in Florida for a practice)
- 2010 Graduates: Skyler Bohn- Played and currently coaches at UW-Oshkosh, Dylan Mayer- former assistant coach at Grafton, Conor Fisk- Current AAA pitcher for the Blue Jays
- 2011 Graduates: BJ Weisflog- Played at Concordia Chicago, CJ Koehler- Current assistant coach at Finlandia University
- 2012 Graduates: Robbie Doring- Played at University of Dayton, Kevin Scholz- Currently attending Umpiring school as he works up the ranks as an umpire
- 2013 Graduate: Al Nenning- Played at Dennison University
- 2014 Graduates: Nate Lukas- Played at Truman State and current assistant coach at Wisconsin Lutheran College, Choo Weisflog- Played at Carthage and coached at Grafton, Beau Benzschawel- Current Detroit Lion (I know it is football but that is an NFL athlete)
- 2015 Graduates- Brad Parsons- Played at St. Joseph's College and current assistant coach at Whitefish Bay High School, Bryan Sternig- Played at Madison Edgewood, Adam Cibulka- Played at University of St. Francis, Nathan Koehler- former assistant coach at Port Washington
- 2016 Graduates- Adam Lukas- Currently in minor league system with Kansas City Royals
- 2017 Graduate- Ryan Hogan- Current manager for the UW-Whitewater Baseball team
- 2018 Graduate- Haden Fisk and Zach Brandenburg- Current players for MATC and Lucas Gosewehr- played at Western Technical College
- 2020 Graduate- Tommy Lamb- Committed to play at the University of Oklahoma
When you look at this list, you see the impact baseball has had on so many lives and I believe that is what ties all Grafton Baseball players together and allows us to be there for one another at any given moment. We owe a lot of this brotherhood and success to one individual who has been a part of Grafton Baseball through this all and that is Head Coach, Brian Durst.
As an opposing coach for 7 of the next 10 years, I got to see the continued and sustained growth of Grafton Baseball behind one of my mentors and true friends, Coach Brian Durst. I could not be more happy for him and what Grafton Baseball has turned into under him and all the success he has had. Even when losing a Regional Championship to him last year, he made sure to give our players credit and won with class and dignity. He is the true person behind the Grafton Baseball Fraternity and someone who has molded us all in so many ways. On that note, Thank you Coach!
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