Starting Lug-Notes: Spartans open up, Clark joins Nuts staff, and healthy Mayza returns
That photo is from the very first Crosstown Showdown, played on April 3, 2007, as a celebration of baseball for Lansing and East Lansing. 6,223 fans attended, watching Michigan State score two runs in the ninth inning and bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate, only to see Julio
That photo is from the very first Crosstown Showdown, played on April 3, 2007, as a celebration of baseball for Lansing and East Lansing. 6,223 fans attended, watching Michigan State score two runs in the ninth inning and bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate, only to see Julio Pinto strike out Kyle Hurtt to preserve a 4-3 Lugnuts victory.
This past weekend, while Tom Izzo was coaching men's basketball team to an upset win over Michigan in the regular season finale (likely punching MSU's ticket to the NCAA tournament), the Spartans baseball team opened up its season with a four-game series against the Maryland Terrapins at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina, home of the Drive - High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. It was a successful start: a 6-0 shutout win on Friday behind Sam Benschoter's eight scoreless innings and ten strikeouts; a 7-4 and 5-4 doubleheader sweep on Saturday, with Lemonade Leaguer Zaid Walker going a combined 5-for-7 with four RBIs; and a narrow 3-2 defeat on Sunday, despite Lemonade Leaguer Nick Powers whiffing six while allowing only three hits and two runs in five innings.
We'll be keeping an eye on all the former Lemonade Leaguers and rooting them onward. It'll be especially fun to see how many of the college baseball players who took part in the 2020 20-game league will return to Jackson® Field™ as Minor League Baseball players in future seasons. (There are six on the Spartans: Walker, Powers, Jesse Heikkinen, Andrew Morrow, Adam Proctor and Gabe Sotres.)
Killin' it, on and off the field 🏆💪
— Johnson City Doughboys (@JC_Doughboys) September 9, 2019
We are excited to announce our staff has been awarded 3 @AppyLeague Awards, including the Woman of Excellence Award, Executive of the Year Award, and the Promotional Trophy! Read more here! https://t.co/hKVSbbqiBf pic.twitter.com/h2R8nz40vQ
See that smiling bearded fellow in the middle? The 2019 Appalachian League Executive of the Year?
That's not all...
.@JC_Cardinals General Manager Zac Clark was recognized as 2018 #AppyLeague Executive of the Year at this morning’s #WinterMeetings Opening Session. Congrats Zac! pic.twitter.com/GLf2uWE47o
— Appalachian League (@AppyLeague) December 10, 2018
And let's go even further back in time, to an excerpt from an article by Dave Ongie in the Johnson City News & Neighbor from December 6, 2017:
Zac Clark was formally introduced as the new General Manager of the Johnson City Cardinals last Thursday, but for most folks who attended the noon press conference at the Carnegie Hotel, Clark needed no introduction.
Clark served as the assistant GM in Johnson City for three seasons before spending this past summer working for the Asheville Tourists. During his time in Johnson City, the 27-year-old helped former GM Tyler Parsons usher in an era of unprecedented success. The Cardinals set a new attendance record in 2016 before shattering that mark in 2017 when over 65,000 people poured through the turnstiles of TVA Credit Union Ballpark.
Today, Zac Clark has officially joined the Lugnuts' front office staff as Assistant General Manager, Sales, rejoining his former Johnson City Cardinals colleague Tyler Parsons, the Lugnuts' General Manager.
Zac is a native Michigander and a Central Michigan Chippewa, where he earned his undergraduate degree in sport management before attaining his master's degree from East Tennessee State University. He grew up coming to Lugnuts games. Now he's back in town, having dominated the Appalachian League as an executive, and ready to Go Nuts as baseball returns to Lansing following last year's hiatus. Be sure to give Zac a warm welcome.
Hey, do you want to see a photo of Zac Clark without his beard? No you don't. You absolutely don't.
Finally, on a loaded 2015 Lugnuts team (16 Major Leaguers and counting!), lefty reliever Tim Mayza was an unexpected standout. Mayza came from off the radar to strike out 62 batters in 55 2/3 innings, posting a 3.07 ERA. He was even better the next year in High-A Dunedin, and then dominated in 2017 with Triple-A Buffalo to earn a ticket to the Major Leagues.
Mayza pitched in the Blue Jays' bullpen in 2017, 2018 and 2019, averaging well over one strikeout per inning -- and then tore both his UCL and his flexor tendon on September 13, 2019. He missed 18 months while rehabbing and recovering. He told TSN's Scott Mitchell:
“I just kind of had thrown a pitch and felt almost like a burning sensation that went all the way up and down my arm. I was just hoping for the best, I guess, at that point. Although, that was kind of the first thing that came to my head, ‘Man, I think, I think I just did it.’ But then just not knowing what it felt like to blow out or anything like that. I had very minor injuries up to that point.”
Now Mayza is back, healthy and competing for a spot on the Blue Jays' 40-man roster, let alone a place in the Toronto pen. Through two Grapefruit League appearances, he's tossed two scoreless, hitless innings, walking one and striking out two.
A left-hander with a moving fastball and effective slider will always have a place in the Major Leagues. In addition to all of the former Lugnuts we're following entering this season, let's definitely keep Tim Mayza in mind.
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