(Photo: Nati Harnik, AP)
This is exactly how Erik Bakich saw Michigan’s future playing out three years ago.
OK, maybe not exactly. Maybe he didn’t see the Wolverines advancing to the championship finals of the College World Series in just a few seasons. And he couldn’t have predicted that his squad would change the way the Big Ten Conference and northern baseball as a whole are viewed.
What he did forecast was a team headlined by strong defense, timely hitting, and a pair of homegrown talents silencing opposing bats.
Karl Kauffman (Birmingham Brother Rice) and Tommy Henry (Portage Northern) were the gems of Michigan’s 2016 recruiting class, and their postseason performance is the reason the Wolverines will play for the national title next week.