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PBR Michigan Division 4 Team Of The Week - Kalamazoo Christian

KALAMAZOO - A big stretch of key league wins has Kalamazoo Christian sitting two games in front. It also has the Comets the Michigan Prep Baseball Report Division IV Team of the Week.

“We knew we returned our top four pitchers and thought if we could hit we’d be pretty good,” Kalamazoo Christian coach Jim Deters explained. “We didn’t hit last year like we have this year.”

A year ago, Kalamazoo Christian finished 12-16 but this year’s squad has nearly equaled the 2018 win total, now standing at 9-3-1. That includes a 4-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference record, highlighted by a 9-8 victory over league rival Schoolcraft, with the Comets scoring the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh.

“We’ve showed a lot of mental toughness,” noted Deters, whose team earlier beat Unity Christian 9-7 after facing a 7-3 deficit. “Even when we’re behind we’ve been able to come back. Our senior leadership has been really good. We have six seniors and they’ve played a large part in our early success.

“Last year we kind of under performed. We had a lot of talent but we didn’t have very good leadership. We committed to that this year.”

Hitting has also improved according to Deters.

“We’re hitting better than I anticipated,” Deters admitted. “When we get guys on base we’ve done a good job of scoring runs. We’ve done an outstanding job with situational hitting.”

Senior Michael Moralez, a pitcher and first baseman committed to Trinity Christian College, is leading the way at nearly .500 with 20 RBIs.

Team captain Elliot Lemmer is the catalyst for the team. The three-hole hitter who plays shortstop and pitches, is averaging .400 with 10 stolen bases.

“He’s our glue guy,” Deters said of Lemmer. “He’s the captain of the infield and wants the ball hit to him. He wants to come up to the plate when there’s a big situation. The leadership he’s provided … we would be a way different team without him.”

Senior JJ Gasaway is the ace pitcher. After struggling in his opening game of the season, he has won three straight decisions while lowering his ERA to 1.00. A .350 hitter who plays third base or is the DH when not pitching, Gasaway led off the seventh inning with a double and scored the game-winning run against Schoolcraft.

“The key for us is staying focused,” explained Deters, a third-year head coach at the school. “Our slogan is not being caught up in who we played last week or in what’s ahead. We need to focus on the next seven innings. If we keep focused on what’s in front of us and don’t worry about what’s up in the next month or that we struck out our last at-bat, we can be successful.”

A matchup with a strong Paw Paw team that was unbeaten going into last weekend is on tap Tuesday  with Galesburg-Augusta in a conference twin-bill slated for Thursday.