Milwaukee-area baseball academies help foster Wisconsin's baseball boom

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Stiks Academy relocated to Waukesha in a facility that opened in 2016. The building was developed by Tom Kelenic, the father of Jarred Kelenic, who was just taken No. 6 overall by the New York Mets in the Major League Baseball draft.

The string of recent success for Wisconsin baseball can be found in the Major League Baseball Draft, but also the Big Ten Tournament.

An entire rotation of starting pitchers could be amassed among players who spent some time at Hitters Academy in Racine. Among those playing: Nick Lackney of Minnesota (Whitefish Bay), Jonathan Stiemer of Indiana (Cedarburg), Ben Dragani of Michigan (Catholic Memorial) and Cyrillo Watson (South Milwaukee) and Ty Weber (Menomonee Falls) of Illinois.

That doesn’t even count outfielder Dom Clementi of Michigan (Arrowhead), who was groomed at Hitters for four years and Stiks Academy in Waukesha for one.

Then there’s the draft, where selections such as Jacob Campbell of Janesville Craig, Stiemer, Owen Miller of Ozaukee High School and Illinois State, Max Alba of Franklin, Doran Turchin of Oak Creek and the University of Illinois and Alex Binelas of Oak Creek all passed through the doors of those academies.

The biggest name, of course, is Waukesha West’s Jarred Kelenic, who became the highest-drafted Wisconsin prep player in history when the New York Mets took him No. 6 overall at last week’s MLB draft. After his years at Hitters, he signed with the Mets for $4.5 million.

RJ Fergus, the owner and instructor at Hitters, points out that the University of Wisconsin would have a whale of a team if it still sponsored baseball.

“Without a doubt, the last 4 or 5 years, it’s turned the corner,” Fergus said. “In the past, you’d have local guys come in and see the guys once in a while. The last few years, it’s been crazy, and it’s because of the success of the kids. You’ve got a special class of kids, some superior athletes that really work hard. I think their parents' support is phenomenal. That’s the best thing about it.”

Thus, he doesn’t necessarily feel the ascension of Hitters and Stiks or similar academies has created this boom of Wisconsinites in high-level baseball. But it hasn’t hurt, either.

Bringing Wisconsin to the south has helped

The gist of these academies is pretty simple. They have training facilities to help baseball players hone their craft, particularly in the winter, and then sponsor a series of summer teams that travel around the country competing in high-level tournaments.

Hitters offers just one team per age group, while Stiks has a number of teams at different levels.

“What we do is we provide these guys an opportunity to do it all year round and train at a high level and then take these kids out of Wisconsin and put them on a plane to Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana,” said Sean Smith, the owner and trainer at Stiks. “We’re taking them to where there are 100 schools at each of these events … and hundreds of colleges seeing these kids. I know Wisconsin is a football state, but these coaches love Midwest guys because they’re hard-working guys, and their bodies and arms aren’t as taxed (from year-round use).”

This Saturday, Oregon State will open play in the NCAA baseball College World Series in Omaha, Neb., and the Beavers roster includes two Stiks alumni in Oconomowoc’s Zach Clayton and West Bend West's Nate Burns. At Coastal Carolina, you’ll find West Bend East’s Zach Biermann, who was just named Sun Belt Conference Tournament MVP.

Whether it’s Augie Mihlbauer at TCU (Mukwonago), Nathan Disch (Appleton West) and Logan Wonn (Oconomowoc) at Jacksonville, Justin Lavey (Kenosha Tremper) at Louisville or Ryan Hoerter (Kenosha Indian Trail) at Auburn, the fingerprints of Wisconsin baseball can be found all over the country.

Smith, who was himself drafted in the fifth round out of Oconomowoc High School by the Atlanta Braves in 1992, doesn’t think this is a new phenomenon. It’s just changed scope.

“If you look at the history of Division III baseball in this state – Whitewater, La Crosse, Oshkosh – they’ve dominated for years, and a number of guys have gotten drafted,” Smith said. “We had a lot of kids that weren’t getting seen (out of high school), and now they’re getting seen. DIII sports in Wisconsin are dominating because these kids are really good athletes, but they’ve never had exposure because of where they’re located or they always played multiple sports, which is great. But they’re raw, and when they get to college, that’s when they start to flourish.

“Wisconsin baseball is still a diamond in the rough.”

High draft picks will only beget more success

But not for long, especially after Kelenic’s high-visibility selection. Before him, Gavin Lux (Kenosha Indian Trail) was taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round of the 2016 draft, and Ben Rortvedt (Verona) was taken by the Twins in the second round of the same draft. Fergus said there’s a trickle-down effect.

“What I really think it is you set a mindset with the kids,” Fergus said. “Kids are committing as freshmen and sophomores, and the only goal they basically have left is the draft. On Jarred’s end, I think what kicked him in was seeing Lux and Rortvedt getting drafted so high, and at times, he had outperformed them. It set the seeds for him (to aspire to a high draft slot).

“Campbell out of Janesville, he played right alongside Jarred, and their work ethic is similar. Obviously, their ability to hit and throw helps. Binelas is part of those guys, too. They push each other. When you have that much talent in the room at one time, it feeds off each other.”

The college process begins in middle school

College offers started coming earlier about five or six years ago, Fergus said. Kelenic and Binelas had both committed to Louisville before their high school careers even began, allowing them to set their sights on the draft early, without concern for being seen by college scouts.

“It’s every kid’s dream,” Fergus said. “I don’t care who you are, whether you’re the last pick in the draft or first pick, you can always tell your grandchildren you were drafted. “

Smith and Fergus both attended the draft party at Kelenic’s house, where he learned the Mets would be taking him.

“He’s a kid that I’ve worked with four to five days a week for the last two or three years, and it’s only good for Wisconsin kids,” Smith said. “They see that, and the other kids want to emulate those guys. It’s beautiful for baseball in Wisconsin.”

With the dissolution of the summer season in WIAA baseball and every team playing spring ball in 2019, it stands to reason that the academies will see even more participation during the summer travel season.

“My greatest memories were playing high school baseball,” Smith said. “Now, they can play spring baseball with their high school teams and travel in the summer, and they get the best of both worlds.”