Division 2 Team Of The Week: Week 5 - Notre Dame Prep
May 18, 2021
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Division 2 Team Of The Week: Week 5 - Notre Dame Prep
PONTIAC - Six victories, including three over highly-regarded teams, has Notre Dame Prep claiming the honor of Prep Baseball Report Division 2 Team of the Week.
“All the teams we played are solid,” noted head coach Jason Gendreau. “Shrine Catholic is very good and St. Clair and Grosse Pointe South are really solid. Those three stand out. That’s a good week.”
A 3-0 win over Shrine started a 6-0 week that boosted the Fighting Irish to 17-4 overall after a 1-2 start to the campaign. A sweep of Birch Run, 4-0 and 7-1, followed before New Haven (13-0), St. Clair (11-1) and Grosse Pointe South (5-3) capped off the impressive stretch of victories.
“Pitching and defense is what’s happening for us,” pointed out Gendreau about what has stood out with his team of late. “We have great discipline at the plate and outstanding team speed.”
Opponents have scored just five runs over the past eight games against Notre Dame Prep, including a stretch of four consecutive shutouts.
“We have nine seniors so I knew we’d be good,” related Gendreau, whose squad has now won 13 of its last 14. “A lot of underclass players have come along quicker than I thought.”
After a slow start, Michigan State commit Jacob Anderson is catching fire for Notre Dame Prep. The seventh-rated senior shortstop in the state hit two home runs and three triples while driving in nine runs this past week.
Right-handers Tommy Joppich and Luke Babich have formed the one-two punch on the mound for Gendreau, the senior Joppich at 4-1 with 50 strikeouts and a 1.70 ERA and Babich, the 36th-ranked junior outfielder in Michigan, 4-0 with a 2.40 ERA.
Ben Sermo is another that has contributed on the mound as well as all over the field
“He’s one of those guys that’s been a spark plug,” Gendreau noted about the junior who has pitched and played short, second base and in the outfield. “He’s been instrumental for us.”
Andrew Meny, the 27th-ranked 2021 catcher in the state and a Cornerstone commit, has been another standout for Notre Dame Prep with two home runs and 30 RBIs while hitting .400.
“We play with a lot of energy and we have a ton of team speed,” added Gendreau, whose team has 71 stolen bases on the season. “We just need to keep playing unselfish, that’s the kryptonite of every team. They play hard for one another.”
As an independent not in a league, the fourth-year head coach of the Fighting Irish who was at Eisenhower for 12 years prior, has a goal for his squad every week.
“We do a weekly series,” Gendreau explained. “We view each week as a chance to win a series. That’s our goal. We do that and I feed them if they meet the goal. It costs me a lot of money. We’ve won a series every week. It’s camaraderie. You don’t have to win every game, just the series.”
Athens and Anchor Bay are on this week’s schedule sandwiched around the game of the week on Thursday against Cardinal Mooney, the 30th-rated team in Michigan in all divisions in the PBR Super 30 Team Power Rankings.
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