By Greg Gielczyk
Local Sports Journal.com
MANISTEE — Every team typically deals with transition when it loses a group of veterans and has to rebuild with some new blood.
In the case of the Manistee Saints Baseball Club, coming off another banner season when they won their second consecutive NABF Regional title and finished 28-13, they lost two key players off that squad.
Danny Passinault completed the season with an impressive .331 batting average with nine doubles and six home runs to be named the team’s Player of the Year.
Sam Schmitt led the pitching staff with a 6-3 record (the most wins on the team) with a 1.41 earned run average, had the most strikeouts with 74 and just 17 walks and was named Pitcher of the Year.
Both will be playing elsewhere this summer, Schmitt in Wisconsin for a team in the Northwood League and Passinault with the Muskegon Clippers.
“We’re super excited for them,” said Saints manager Roddy MacNeil. “They were great players to begin with, but we allowed them a space to build their confidence and skill. The whole thing here should be about getting the guys on the team better so they can go on and play at the next level. We take pride in that.”
Photo/Greg Gielczyk
Despite those departures, MacNeil is confident the Saints can put together another competitive team with a mixture of veterans and a smattering of junior college players on the roster.
After all, the Saints have some solid veterans returning, including Tommy Reid, who had the highest batting average among the regulars last year at .355 with five doubles.
Second baseman Dom Palamara, who hit .322 with 13 runs batted in, is also coming back along with first baseman Alex Strickland, who drove a team-high 28 runs on a .365 average.
Newcomers include Manistee Catholic Central graduate Lee Pizana, who can also provide some pitching depth, and a number of players from the junior college ranks.
“I would say we have 60 percent of our guys returning, with 40 percent newcomers,” MacNeil said. “We’re returning guys that played really, really well for us last year, .300 hitters and good defensive guys.
“You hope that the younger guys are continuing to develop to take the place of those guys who are moving on. We’ll work on the pitching staff, find out who are starters and who will be coming out of the bullpen.
“A lot of the junior college guys had really great springs, and now it’s time for them to step up and lead this team. We are going to rely on them to provide the mentorship for the younger guys, and make us a solid, cohesive group.”
MacNeil, once himself a Pitcher of the Year selection before taking over as manager, expects to make a few starts as he did last year when he went 4-2 with two saves and a 2.37 ERA.
Photo/Greg Gielczyk
Pitching coach Kyle Gorski brings a veteran presence to the rotation as well, after a 4-2 season last year with a 4.12 ERA while also coming back is Marty McDonald who was 3-2 in 2022.
To them the Saints are adding recent Mason County Eastern graduate Wyatt Crawford, now playing ball at Alpena Community College, and Brad Van Ness from Traverse City.
It has not been a smooth transition, however. The Saints, who have been forced to play an independent schedule, won just two of their first seven games.
But it’s early in the season and there’s time to smooth over the rough edges as the newcomers become more familiar with their teammates.
“I think playing an independent schedule will be a really good test to see how the young guys handle the responsibility of the roles they’re going to be in,” MacNeil said. “If you look at the schedule, every weekend we’re in the situation where we have some really competitive teams that we’re going to be playing against.
“Our goal, and our motivating factor, is just to make sure that we’re playing our best baseball when we get to the regional. We’re excited.”
The Saints will again host the NABF regional at Kliber Field and will be looking for a three-peat.
Meanwhile, they hope to turn things around at home this weekend when they host the South Bend Royals for a three-game set, including a nine-inning single game on Sunday.
Photo/Greg Gielczyk
