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Division 2 Team Of The Week: Week 4 - Edwardsburg

EDWARDSBURG - Five straight wins to close out last week moved hot-hitting Edwardsburg to 12-3 on the season. It also earned AJ Gaideski’s squad the honor of Prep Baseball Report Division 2 Team of the Week.

“We started off the week not playing well but we played very well at the end of the week,” noted Gaideski, whose team lost to Gull Lake 14-4 to begin the week before rebounding with a 7-1 win in game two. The Eddies then swept Plainwell 13-2 and 11-5 before defeating Holt 14-4 and Grand Rapids Christian 10-6 on Saturday.

“We traveled all week and got a little tired at the end, but as long as our pitchers are throwing strikes we’re fine,” explained the Edwardsburg head coach, now in his 23rd year at the helm.

A trio of junior right-handers have led the way on the mound, with AJ Obren 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA, Sam Robinson 3-1 with a 1.94 ERA and Zach Closson 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA.

“If our pitchers throw strikes and we keep putting the ball in play and don’t strike out, we’ll be okay,” pointed out Gaideski, who won his 400th game as a head coach back in 2019.

A .351 team batting average has the Edwardsburg mentor excited about the season.

“How we’ve hit up and down the lineup has surprised me a little,” admitted Gaideski. “We’re hitting gap to gap. I wasn’t sure we could do that from one to nine, but we’re doing it.”

Connor Ostrander, a junior who started at shortstop as a freshman, is hitting a team-best .610 with 14 extra-base hits in 15 games. A trio of other juniors are contributing at the plate with right fielder Patrick Szlanfucht at .389, catcher Landon Michael .372 and center fielder Logan McCulley .318 with nine extra-base hits including three home runs.

Sophomore second baseman Andrew Colvin is another coming up big at the dish batting .414 with a homer.

Edwardsburg is in first place in the league with Vicksburg and Sturgis the top contenders. The Eddies open a week featuring three doubleheaders tonight with Vicksburg.

“Our goal is to win the league and districts and see what happens from there,” related Gaideski about a program that has won 12 league titles to date.

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