“It’s been all about the guys showing up and playing their game,” Hamilton Joes manager Tyler Thamann said. “That’s how I’ve coached the last three years. They know how to play the game. They’ve been coached enough. They’re 18- to 20-year-olds. They just have to come out and show out and play their game.
“We always have this expectation going into the year. There’s always an expectation to make it to the championship,” Thamann added. “With games going so long, and games going back-to-back-to-back, it gives you an opportunity to go on a streak — both ways. We had a down streak, and we pulled it around just in time.”
The Joe (21-17) finished second in the GLSCL South Division. They pieced together a seven-game winning streak during the regular season to boost the momentum.
“The season has been a lot of ups and downs,” said Joes outfielder Grant Miller, who was on last year’s championship team. “We started off a little rough, then got a little hot, and then it got a little rough again. Our last three games, I think we’ve clicked together. We’re all gelling together. We’re just a bunch of close guys — a lot of hardworking guys. I think our heads are up, and we’re excited about the postseason. Just like last year, we’re excited.”
Thamann said offensively he’s never had a true clean-up hitter at the four spot in his three years at the helm. He didn’t say it was a bad thing, though.
In fact, it’s helped.
“I moved our smallest guy into the four-hole each year at that spot, and that’s usually when we score the most runs,” Thamann said. “I really think it comes down to that individual player staying within their approach, knowing that it doesn’t matter that they’re in the four hole at all. It’s obvious for them to just put the ball in play. That’s the biggest thing for me is our hitters for the most part stay within their approach.”
Liam McFadden-Ackman (1B/IF) and Christopher Hoffman (1B/OF) have been the team’s clean-up hitters the majority of the season. Carter Rust (IF/OF) and Cameron Bryant (IF) have slipped into the four hole as well.
Rust (29) and Bryant (24) lead the Joes in RBI’s, while McFadden-Ackman has crossed the plate a team-best 28 times.
Infielder Max Johnson, who joined the Joes halfway through the season, leads the program with a .371 batting average in 12 games.
“We’ve had some timely hits, and we’ve got guys being able to get on by taking pitches and getting on base with walks or hit by pitches,” Miller said of the offense. “That’s been carrying us. Getting on base and moving guys over — small ball.”
Thamann said pitching isn’t where he’d like it to be heading into the postseason, but the Joes’ defense rallies around it.
“It’s been a struggle all year on the mound in a sense of consistent strikes,” Thamann said. “You’ve got the radar guns and seeing scouts in the stands, and they like to overthrow a little bit instead of putting in the mechanics and singling in and focusing on their target.”
Jacob Flaherty is 3-0 with 13 strikeouts in eight appearances on the mound, while Gavin Faulkner is 2-1 with 27 strikeouts and leads the Joes with a 2.75 ERA.
The Scouts (21-17) were 5-4 against the Joes in regular season play. The Muskegon Clippers (33-5) take on the Lima Locos (25-13) in a three-game series from the GLSCL North Division.
“... The focus is the same as last year,” Miller said. “We’re thinking, ‘Oh, we’re here. We might as well win it.’ We don’t want to go home early. We might as well bring home the trophy.”
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