Bruin baseball is already off to a roaring start, without a pitcher on the mound or a batter in the box yet. The National Junior College Athletic Association recently revealed its preseason rankings for Division II Baseball, with Kellogg Community College ranked No. 9. For those on the outside looking in, this might come as a surprise, but it doesn’t shock those around this team and this coaching staff. For returning players and incoming players alike, the chance to play at KCC is a chance to join a standard of winning, a sentiment echoed by players and coaches alike. That norm has been carefully established by head coach Eric Laskovy, who has led the Bruins for nearly two decades. Laskovy, in his 19th season, gave credit to his current staff, predecessors, and players for the recent success.
“They did and have really provided the program with stability, which has been important for us,” Laskovy said of his time at KCC. “But we are truly a player-led team. This staff does a great job putting the puzzle together to get our guys ready every week.”
While he wanted to give the credit to anyone but himself, Laskovy deserves a lion’s share of the credit for building this KCC baseball program into the established one it is today. In his close to twenty years of leadership, the program has remained the epitome of consistency: 13 Michigan Community College Athletic Association Conference Titles, eight NJCAA regional championships, multiple trips to the NJCAA Division II Junior College World Series, and 14 former players selected or signed pro deals after leaving Kellogg Community College.
The numbers tell one story; the standard being set tells the next. That preseason ranking, while truly only existing on paper, carries weight. It serves as both validation and a challenge, not only to continue the winning fashion of years past, but to go further beyond those boundaries you have set for yourself. And, although a school like Kellogg Community College is small, the expectations of a good athletic program like this are nearly opposite. There are expectations from fans, families of players, school staff, coaches, but perhaps the biggest of all, players. Recruits could see constant success and entries into the postseason as an opportunity. A stop with Laskovy and the Bru Cru would allow a player to sharpen his tools and work on his academic career before moving on to the next level, whether that is another two years of college or a pro tryout. But, to manage all expectations, how does it work? How is practice still meaningful? How can coaches lead the team to success? Coach Laskovy said it has everything to do with the players.
“The players care about each other,” said Laskovy. “We were so injured in the playoffs, we had a guy who had 16 at-bats all year hit the grand slam that sent us to the World Series last year. They are incredibly selfless and willing to put in the work.”
A player within the locker room echoed an eerily similar sentiment to me when I sat down with him. Zach Kucharczyk, a catcher on the team, explained how close the locker room is for this team.
“We’re so close as a group of guys,” Zach told me. “We keep track of one another. In case a guy is falling behind in the classroom, or struggling in workouts, we’re there to pick each other up.”
When I asked Zach about the coaches, I believed that Coach Laskovy had given himself and his fellow coaches too little credit. “They one hundred percent give themselves too little credit. I have learned more in my two years here than I have in all my other years in this game,” he voiced to me. “They just do such a good job of, like, making it click for everyone.”
Zach ended this time with me gushing over the talent. ‘We were deep last year, and we’re even better this year. The incoming class is much better than all of us. I feel like our expectations for this year are Enid-or-Bust. Our team is full of dogs. I cannot wait for our first time suiting up again.” While I love a good dog in an athlete, these players and coaches clearly know how to proudly Be Bruin.
