By Bruce Rolfe
A Battle Creek St. Philip senior playing on the Climax-Scotts baseball team through a co-op arrangement, is embracing the opportunity to continue playing baseball at the collegiate level.
Carter Dzwik, the son of Doug and Andrea Dzwik, committed to play baseball at Aquinas College at a letter signing ceremony May 13 at C-S Jr./Sr. High School.
Aquinas College is an NAIA four-year College.
“I’ve been growing up playing baseball my whole life, so getting a shot to play for another 4 years is always great. If I were to take the route of a JUCO (junior college), it’s not guaranteed to play for those extra years. But I think a four year university is great because it just guarantees I get to play more baseball and baseball is what I love. And it also is a good school academically. They have good programs over there, so it will be fun to balance both academics and athletics at the same time,” said Carter, who is pretty certain he plans on majoring in Business Administration with a focus on finance at Aquinas.
The St. Phil senior is enjoying a strong season on the pitchers mound this year, which is where he believes he will be utilized at Aquinas College.
He’s looking forward to the opportunity to play against a higher level of competition.
“Division 4, you don’t tend to see those tougher guys, but I think it’s a challenge I’m excited for. I’ve played a lot of travel ball. So I’ve played against that kind of level of guys that are going to the next level. So I have an idea of what it’s like. It’s just going to take a little bit of extra work in the weight room, get my velocity up a little bit, as well as maybe developing a 3rd pitch, getting my change up a little bit better. It’s going be a fun challenge. I’m pretty excited for it. Face some tougher guys and see what I can do against them,” said Dzwik.
A left handed pitcher, Dzwik has enjoyed a nice run recently, allowing just one hit, no runs and he has struck out 28 batters in his last 11 innings pitched entering play May 20.
He said the Aquinas coaching staff, all left handed, recognized a handful of qualities they liked about the St. Phil senior.
“A big fan of my size and being left-handed. They think they can work and increase my velocity, but they really like my control. They like that I’m a strike thrower and like that I’m a big presence on the mound. 6 foot 2 is pretty helpful,” said Dzwik, who said he has enjoyed better control and success with his curveball.
Signing with Aquinas College offers another memory to a season that has been filled with many special memories for Carter.
He’s playing his senior year with his two brothers, Jackson and Lincoln, who are also seniors on the team.
He admits it’s been special when the triplets have gotten to play on the field at the same time.
“My freshman year, it was just me that played. And then my sophomore year, Lincoln joined the team, and then this past year, Jackson joined. So it’s been cool to play with them because we played baseball all growing up. But then they found different stuff that they enjoyed, and then for the senior year, everybody came back together and we got one more sport that all the boys get to play together. So that’s been really fun, especially since they’re getting playing time. So we will have times where we’re all three on the field at the same time and we’ll all get hits in the same inning and that’s just pretty unique. It doesn’t happen too often,” said Carter, who also enjoyed playing basketball at St. Phil with his 2 brothers.
Dzwik said the co-op with Climax-Scotts has provided him the opportunity to play baseball with his brothers, something he’s extremely thankful for because St. Phil didn’t have enough players to field a team.
His cousins, Addi, a junior at St. Phil, and Quinn, a freshman at St. Phil, are also enjoying the opportunity to play softball together with Climax-Scotts on a similar co-op arrangement. The Dzwik triplets also have an older sister Brooke Dzwik, who recently graduated from Michigan Technological University, where she played volleyball.
“It’s been great. Coach Langs (former C-S varsity baseball coach Kevin Langs) was super great at taking us in. Year one, he taught us about hard work. It was different at St. Phil, there’s a smaller group of guys, so you’re kind of always going to make that team, but at Climax-Scotts, it’s a big squad, so you really got to work to earn your position. And Coach Langs taught that early. He was a great role model for me. And then Coach Haynes (current coach Brandon Haynes) took over this past year and he’s been great too. He’s so knowledgeable in baseball. Both of those coaches have been really, really helpful to my career and teaching me stuff. I’m just going to keep
learning and keep growing with them and obviously my team, the team’s great. It’s cool to compete against them in basketball and then come to baseball and you’re all friends,” said Carter.
A Battle Creek St. Philip senior playing on the Climax-Scotts baseball team through a co-op arrangement, is embracing the opportunity to continue playing baseball at the collegiate level.
Carter Dzwik, the son of Doug and Andrea Dzwik, committed to play baseball at Aquinas College at a letter signing ceremony May 13 at C-S Jr./Sr. High School.
Aquinas College is an NAIA four-year College.
“I’ve been growing up playing baseball my whole life, so getting a shot to play for another 4 years is always great. If I were to take the route of a JUCO (junior college), it’s not guaranteed to play for those extra years. But I think a four year university is great because it just guarantees I get to play more baseball and baseball is what I love. And it also is a good school academically. They have good programs over there, so it will be fun to balance both academics and athletics at the same time,” said Carter, who is pretty certain he plans on majoring in Business Administration with a focus on finance at Aquinas.
The St. Phil senior is enjoying a strong season on the pitchers mound this year, which is where he believes he will be utilized at Aquinas College.
He’s looking forward to the opportunity to play against a higher level of competition.
“Division 4, you don’t tend to see those tougher guys, but I think it’s a challenge I’m excited for. I’ve played a lot of travel ball. So I’ve played against that kind of level of guys that are going to the next level. So I have an idea of what it’s like. It’s just going to take a little bit of extra work in the weight room, get my velocity up a little bit, as well as maybe developing a 3rd pitch, getting my change up a little bit better. It’s going be a fun challenge. I’m pretty excited for it. Face some tougher guys and see what I can do against them,” said Dzwik.
A left handed pitcher, Dzwik has enjoyed a nice run recently, allowing just one hit, no runs and he has struck out 28 batters in his last 11 innings pitched entering play May 20.
He said the Aquinas coaching staff, all left handed, recognized a handful of qualities they liked about the St. Phil senior.
“A big fan of my size and being left-handed. They think they can work and increase my velocity, but they really like my control. They like that I’m a strike thrower and like that I’m a big presence on the mound. 6 foot 2 is pretty helpful,” said Dzwik, who said he has enjoyed better control and success with his curveball.
Signing with Aquinas College offers another memory to a season that has been filled with many special memories for Carter.
He’s playing his senior year with his two brothers, Jackson and Lincoln, who are also seniors on the team.
He admits it’s been special when the triplets have gotten to play on the field at the same time.
“My freshman year, it was just me that played. And then my sophomore year, Lincoln joined the team, and then this past year, Jackson joined. So it’s been cool to play with them because we played baseball all growing up. But then they found different stuff that they enjoyed, and then for the senior year, everybody came back together and we got one more sport that all the boys get to play together. So that’s been really fun, especially since they’re getting playing time. So we will have times where we’re all three on the field at the same time and we’ll all get hits in the same inning and that’s just pretty unique. It doesn’t happen too often,” said Carter, who also enjoyed playing basketball at St. Phil with his 2 brothers.
Dzwik said the co-op with Climax-Scotts has provided him the opportunity to play baseball with his brothers, something he’s extremely thankful for because St. Phil didn’t have enough players to field a team.
His cousins, Addi, a junior at St. Phil, and Quinn, a freshman at St. Phil, are also enjoying the opportunity to play softball together with Climax-Scotts on a similar co-op arrangement. The Dzwik triplets also have an older sister Brooke Dzwik, who recently graduated from Michigan Technological University, where she played volleyball.
“It’s been great. Coach Langs (former C-S varsity baseball coach Kevin Langs) was super great at taking us in. Year one, he taught us about hard work. It was different at St. Phil, there’s a smaller group of guys, so you’re kind of always going to make that team, but at Climax-Scotts, it’s a big squad, so you really got to work to earn your position. And Coach Langs taught that early. He was a great role model for me. And then Coach Haynes (current coach Brandon Haynes) took over this past year and he’s been great too. He’s so knowledgeable in baseball. Both of those coaches have been really, really helpful to my career and teaching me stuff. I’m just going to keep
learning and keep growing with them and obviously my team, the team’s great. It’s cool to compete against them in basketball and then come to baseball and you’re all friends,” said Carter.
Carter Dzwik, who signed to play baseball at Aquinas College at a letter signing ceremony May 13 at C-S Jr./Sr. High School, is pictured with his parents, Doug and Andrea Dzwik and back row from left his two brothers and sister, Jackson, Brooke, and Lincoln.
(Photo courtesy of the Dzwik family)
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