Joe Stewart was a top-11 state prospect coming out of Portage Central High School in southwest Michigan, and as far back as he remembers, he dreamed of playing professional baseball.
But his first four years at Michigan State didn't exactly go as planned — he was a universally liked teammate, and worked hard, but the reps and on-field success hadn't come — and, so, entering his senior season, he believed that would be his swan song. Stewart didn't plan on playing baseball at all in 2022, and he had totally come to terms with that. Instead, he'd head off into the real world.