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Division 1 Team Of The Week: Week 1 - Rockford

ROCKFORD - Seven wins by six or more runs to open the season has a senior-laden Rockford team looking good. It also has the Rams winning honors as the Prep Baseball Report Division 1 Team of the Week.

“We have 16 seniors and it seems to be next-guy-up,” Rockford coach Matt Vriesenga said about the 7-0 start. “We’ve used different lineups and when a guy gets in he just seems to step up.”

Admittedly, a roster with 16 seniors is not an easy thing to deal with in this day and age.

“You sit down and say this is your role and is it what you want to do,” explained Vriesenga. “These guys won the state tournament at 10 and 11 and had a couple guys not playing for a few years that tried out. I’m thinking, they’re not going to make it. But with covid, we have 21 on the team. I decided we might as well keep these kids around.”

The formula has worked since the season began with a 10-0 win over Lowell that featured a combined no-hit effort. A 21-9 victory over the same team followed and Rockford has gone on to beat Caledonia 12-2, 18-8 and 16-2, before Big Rapids bit the dust 10-2 and 8-2 against the Rams.

“Going into the year we knew we had some strong arms, guys throwing mid-80s and two that touch 90,” Vriesenga related. “We knew as long as we threw strikes we’d be pretty good on the mound. But we didn’t know how our offense would be. We’ve hit it well.”

Senior James Geshel has led the way with a .692 batting average including four extra-base hits. Catcher Owen DeVries has a .667 average with six RBIs while Luke McLean, an uncommitted senior ranked 16th among 2021 shortstops in the state, is at .417 with a double, triple and home run along with eight RBIs.

More production has come from Lucas Rick, a Rock Valley Junior College commit and the ninth-rated senior first baseman in Michigan, who is batting .526 with nine RBIs, four doubles and one home run.

Sophomore Jake Brown, the seventh-ranked 2023 outfielder in Michigan, has also contributed with a .333 average and one homer.

“The key has been we’ve been scoring lots of runs,” Vriesenga said. “But the chances of averaging 13-and-a-half runs a game the rest of the way are slim to none. Will we be able to hit good pitching? The key will be if we can keep putting up runs and will our pitching show up. We need to walk fewer people.”

Geshel, Brown and McLean have led the way on the mound thus far. Geshel, the ninth-rated senior right-handed pitcher in the state and a Kellogg Community College commit, has pitched in one game with 10 strikeouts in five innings, allowing no runs and two hits with two walks. Brown has also thrown five innings with seven Ks and one free pass while not permitting a hit while McLean has a 2-0 record.

“As long as we keep throwing strikes we have the arms and velocity to be tough for other teams to hit,” concluded Vriesenga. “Right now we’re 7-0 and have done a fantastic job so far.”

Three games with Jenison are on tap this week along with a Saturday doubleheader against Northview.

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