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Perry Klemanski, 3B, Bloomfield Hills, Class of 2015

PBR: Why did you choose Western Michigan?

Klemanski:I chose western because they showed a little bit of interest in me towards the end of my junior year. I knew a couple of people that went to Western also for baseball including Gabe Berman. My freshman year of high school (Andover) he was a senior.

PBR: What other schools were you considering?

Klemanski: I had a long list of schools that I was going to attend for football including Siena Heights, Albion, Taylor University, Mount Union and I even went on a visit to Eastern. Even though these schools showed a lot of interest, I never really had too much interest in continuing my football career after breaking my throwing arm during my senior year football season.

PBR: Where did the coaching staff first see you?

Klemanski: The first time the coaching staff saw me was on a visit that I went to about a week after I broke my arm (ironically). The first time they saw me play was towards the end of my school season in the spring and once this summer during the high school all-star game at Comerica. 

PBR: What team do you play for in the summer and what is your most memorable moment.

Klemanski: This summer I am playing for the Michigan Red Sox under Coach Riechl Mayne. The most memorable moment of the summer so far is probably getting a call from Coach Gernon saying that I was a priority walk-on and that I would be able to room in the athletic dorms and whatnot. I was already planning on attending western as a student and trying to walk-on regardless but now a years’ worth of stress has been relieved because of that. 

PBR: What were your expectations about the recruiting process?

Klemanski: I never really had high expectations during my recruiting process because I always said to myself that things will unfold as they should. If I had to talk about my experience during the process I would have to say it brought more stress upon myself than excitement.  For the most part my recruiting experience was revolved a lot around football. I had a friend’s dad who thought my career should continue as a football player rather than baseball, and this was all in my senior year prior to baseball season. I felt as though I was making a mistake. At the same time I felt as if I was letting down some of my family and recruiters by turning down the money that I was offered in football just to maybe continue my baseball career at a bigger school. 

PBR: What were your stats last season?

Klemanski:  .417 batting average 4 home runs 34 rbi's