By Justus Clark
Coming into this 2022 season, the Grand Rapids Community College baseball team has some high expectations. Last season, the Raiders had an overall record of 24-11 and in the conference they went 17-7, finishing second in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association West.
They have been training and putting in countless hours of work since September. Before their 2021-22 season got shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were in first place. They plan on picking up where they left off last season with the success they had.
The Raiders are taking a trip down South, where they’ll be making stops in Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama.
“I’m looking to see how we compete,” said GRCC’s head coach Mike Eddington. “We’ll be playing 13 games against the top D1 JUCO’s in the country. It’s 13 games in seven days so it’s going to be a real test. We feel like you get better by playing better competition so that’s why we scheduled these games.
“Our goal is a simple goal,” Eddington said. “Our goal is to get better every day. JUCO is about development and moving guys onto the next level. Our goal is to get everybody a little better each day and help our guys reach their potential.”
Eddington is excited to see how all of his players do this season. Some notable players are: Redshirt-freshman Ryan Dykstra, as he was first team all-conference and he is a division one commit to Oakland, redshirt-freshman pitcher Drew Murphy was also first team all-conference, redshirt-freshman shortstop Caleb Engelsman league starter who was honorable mention all-conference.
Redshirt-freshman Fernando Rivera-Calderon, an outfielder who also returns as honorable mention all-conference said, “I’m excited to see how the freshman do against the top D1 JUCO’s in the country.”
For more information about the Raiders’ upcoming schedule click here.Their first home game is scheduled for 1 p.m Saturday, March 26 against Mid Michigan College.
