Freshmen Spark Royals' Regional Return
June 8, 2018
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
Larry Tuttle has seen just about everything in his 51 seasons of coaching the Blissfield varsity baseball team. So much, in fact, that there’s not a lot of “firsts” anymore on the diamond.
But, when the Royals went out and won the 27th District title in Tuttle’s career last weekend, something new did happen. A 14-year-old pitched the Royals to the championship.
“He’s 60 years younger than me,” Tuttle said about his freshman pitcher, Ty Wyman. “That’s a lot of years.”
It’s also a lot of championships. The Royals are 25-9 this season and in the Regionals for the first time since 2010. The biggest reason they are still alive has been the development of the young players on the team. Eight of the 14 players on the Royals roster are either freshmen or sophomores, including Wyman.
“We started out a little shaky. We couldn’t find our groove,” said Wyman, who doesn’t turn 15 until late October. “It was mostly our defense. Once we started playing better defense, everything started coming together.”
When the Lenawee County Athletic Association coaches picked the all-league team this week, three of the Blissfield freshmen made first team – Wyman at first base, catcher Zach Horky and outfielder Gavin Ganun. That’s a rare feat, even for a coach as experienced as Tuttle.
“They are not just good baseball players, they are smart and outstanding athletes,” Tuttle said. “The success they are having now is a testament to how hard they have worked. They’ve had good coaching all along. They are intelligent baseball players. They know the game. Their parents have done a great job.”
Wyman said his teammates push each other on the field, court or diamond.
“We’ve been playing together since we were 6 years old,” he said. “We always push each other to do better.”
Ganun burst onto the Lenawee County sports scene in the fall when the ninth-grader was named the Blissfield starting varsity quarterback. All he did was guide the Royals to the third round of the MHSAA Playoffs and lead the county in passing yards. He also was a starter on the varsity basketball team in the winter and an immediate starter for the Royals baseball team. During the regular season, he batted .400 and tied for the county lead in hits, doubles and home runs.
“His dad played for our 1992 team that won a state championship,” Tuttle said of Ganun. “Next year, he’ll probably move into the infield and pitch for us.”
Horky started the season as an outfielder but became the starting catcher as the season went on.
“He worked his way into the catcher’s spot,” Tuttle said. “That really solidified our team.”
Growing up, Wyman mainly played second base. With that position already handled, he had to find a different spot to play on the Royals varsity team.
“I just wanted to play,” he said. “I wanted to work hard so that the coaches couldn’t keep me out of the lineup.”
He found a home at first base. As the season wore on, he also became one of Blissfield’s starting pitchers. In the District Final against Dundee, Wyman allowed just three hits and shut out the Vikings.
“I just wanted to throw strikes,” Wyman said. “I knew my defense was going to pick me up.”
Wyman comes from a strong background in sports. His mother, the former Melissa Stahl, is among the top girls basketball scorers in state history. His sister Kelsey was a Class C Associated Press basketball Player of the Year, and he has a brother on the current Royals baseball team.
Tuttle said the three freshmen all earned their spots in the lineup because of their work ethic in practice.
“It’s always been my philosophy that you earn your playing time in practice,” Tuttle said. “I tell the kids it doesn’t matter what grade you are in or what your name is. If you want to play, you have to earn it in practice.”
Wyman could get another shot to pitch Saturday if the Royals make the Regional Final at Clinton. Ann Arbor Greenhills (18-12) plays Jonesville (21-11-2) at 10 a.m. and the Royals take on Michigan Center (24-7) in the second Regional Semifinal.
Tuttle, who turned 74 on Wednesday, has won seven MHSAA championships during his tenure at Blissfield. He has no plans to leave the game that has meant so much to his life. He entered the season ranked second on the all-time Michigan high school baseball coaching victory list with 1,245. The leader is Grand Ledge’s Pat O’Keefe. A District champion as well, Grand Ledge is 32-3 this season, giving O’Keefe 1,286 wins, 16 more than Tuttle.
“These kids keep me young,” Tuttle said. “This was a pivotal year for us, but we have a great group of parents and I have a great coaching staff. I’m not able to do some of the things I used to be able to do, physically, but I still work with the kids. I can still teach the fundamentals, and I love working with them. I’m not going anywhere.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTO: Blissfield pitcher Ty Wyman winds up during one of his turns on the mound this spring. (Photo courtesy of the Blissfield baseball program.)
St. Mary's Standouts, More Michigan Stars Taking Major Steps in Pro Baseball Climb
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
July 16, 2026
It took former Orchard Lake St. Mary's star Brock Porter three years to reach five professional baseball victories on the mound.
It's taken only four months for Porter to win five more.
Porter is one of four Eaglets from the 2019-22 MHSAA Finals champion clubs now navigating their way through professional baseball. The 2022 Mr. Baseball Award winner, now a 23-year-old right-handed pitcher, went a combined 30-0 with an ERA under a run per game for those three championship teams (with 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19) before being tabbed by the Texas Rangers in the fourth round of the 2022 MLB draft.
Injuries slowed his first three minor league seasons, and Porter didn't win any games over his first two in the Rangers chain. But a healthy Porter has taken significant steps forward this season with the High-A Hub City Spartanburgers (S.C.) with a 5-2 record, 3.56 ERA and 52 strikeouts over 43 innings and 13 games. Porter was actually 0-9 over his first two minor league seasons before going 5-1 a year ago with Hickory of the Class A Carolina League.
He said he doesn't feel rushed in moving up the Rangers minor league ladder.
"I still have time," he said. "The big goal for me is I want to move up throughout the chain. Things are going very well, I'm excited for the season. Health-wise, I feel very good. I still want to grow into the dominant pitcher I was in high school."
Porter's role within the organization has changed. While he started 28 games over first two seasons, Porter has transitioned to the bullpen, where he's pitched in a combined 54 games during last two summers.
His former Eaglets teammates also are winding their ways through the minors.
Among them, Ike Irish was one of two former Michigan high school baseball stars who played in Sunday's prestigious MLB Futures Games as part of the all-star festivities in Philadelphia. Irish, a first-round pick a year ago, has emerged as Baltimore's No. 2 prospect as ranked by MLB.com. He went 0-for-1 with a walk after starting the game as his team’s designated hitter. The other past Michigan prep star playing Sunday was Okemos’ Caleb Bonemer, a top prospect in the Chicago White Sox chain. He went 0-for-2 as the starting third baseman for the American League.
Irish, an outfielder who also can catch, has dominated High-A Frederick (Md.) with 12 homers, 15 doubles, 47 RBIs and 18 stolen bases while batting .264. Irish hit .230 in 20 games with Low-A Delarva (Md.) in 2025 after batting .350 with 39 homers over three years at Auburn University, where he was named an All-American as a junior.
Irish, who batted .427 and .450 with a combined 19 homers and 95 RBIs during his two seasons at St. Mary's, said his professional goals don't include obsessing over posting numbers.
"No, I just want to go out there and play," he said. "I don't care about numbers or hitting X number of homers. I would rather just go out and play."
In addition to Porter and Irish, former St. Mary's star Nolan Schubart has heated up at high-Class A Lake County (Ohio) of the Midwest League. A Cleveland Guardians prospect, Schubart was named last Monday as the league's Player of the Week after hitting three homers with 12 RBIs and 20 total bases. The former third-round draft pick is now batting .248 with 67 RBIs in 69 games with a 37-game on-base streak.
The fourth former St. Mary's player in the minors is infielder Alex Mooney, the 2021 Mr. Baseball Award winner. Mooney is batting .203 with 36 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 22 attempts with Double-A Akron (Ohio). Mooney was taken by the Guardians in the seventh round of the 2023 draft out of Duke. He started his professional career as a shortstop, but has branched out to playing 27 games at second base and 17 at third this season.
Mooney said playing at the Double-A level has been an adjustment.
"It's a tough place," he said. "I'm not really a huge stats person; I just take it day-by-day. When you're playing 140 games a year in the minors you just try to get better every day. That's the mindset. You just try to get better and win the battle in the war."
A fifth member of the 2021-22 Orchard Lake St. Mary's teams will have a shot at professional baseball. Former Eaglets pitcher Nolan Higgins was taken by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth round of Sunday's MLB draft.
Meanwhile, Okemos’ Bonemer has been in the national spotlight twice over the first four months of this minor league season. A member of the coaches association all-state Dream Team as a high school senior in 2024, he gained a painful national notice May 5. The New York Yankees' all-star pitcher Gerrit Cole, while rehabilitating from an injury with Hudson Valley (N.Y.), surrendered a homer and single during Bonemer’s first two at bats, then drilled the Chicago White Sox prospect with a 97-mph fastball to the shoulder. The move incensed White Sox fans, who believed Cole was trying to send Bonemer a message after banging out the two hits.
Bonemer not only survived, but has thrived. He hit .238 with High-Class A Winston-Salem (N.C.) to start this season, but slammed 18 homers and 15 doubles along while totaling 43 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. That earned him a promotion to Double-A Birmingham (Ala.) where he's off to fast start with a .279 average, three homers and 11 RBIs over his first 17 games.
Four other former Michigan prep stars have had active professional seasons. Outfielder Dante Nori, who helped Northville to the 2024 MHSAA Division 1 championship, has built on his rapid start this spring when he batted .400 for Italy in March's World Baseball Classic. A member of the all-state Dream Team as a senior at Northville, Nori is batting .245 at Double-A Reading (Pa.) in the pitching-heavy Eastern League. Nori has 12 stolen bases and 11 doubles.
Former Saginaw Swan Valley infielder Mitch Jebb has played in 20 games at Double-A Altoona (Pa.) and Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system, batting .273 with eight RBIs. A 2018 all-stater at Swan Valley, this is Jebb's fourth season in the minors after batting .327 in 147 career games at Michigan State.
Howell native and the state's 2017 Mr. Baseball, Sam Weatherly, is playing his fifth year of professional baseball. Weatherly is 1-3 in 23 games at Double-A Hartford (Conn.) of the Eastern League, a Colorado Rockies affiliate. He's struck out 34 batters in 28 innings.
Jeff Criswell from Portage Central is still recovering from Tommy John surgery a year ago. A member of the 2019 NCAA runner-up Michigan club, Criswell was called up to the Rockies for two games during the second week of June. He's divided time between three levels this season, with a 2-1 record and 6.86 ERA over 19 games and 29 strikeouts in 21 innings. In 2025, he pitched in 13 games for the Rockies with a 2.75 ERA before the surgery.
PHOTOS (Top) Orchard Lake St. Mary’s grad Brock Porter delivers a pitch for the Hub City Spartanburgers this season. (Middle) Ike Irish runs the bases for the Frederick Keys. (Below) Caleb Bonemer takes the field for the Birmingham Barons. (Porter photo by Becca Torncello/Hub City Spartanburgers. Irish photo by Robert Kimble. Bonemer photo courtesy of the Birmingham Barons.)