West Michigan High School Baseball’s “In The Spotlight”  presents:

Story and Photos by Paul Soltysiak

It’s the end of the 70s, and the start of the 80s…

The players wear their stirrups high and are still adjusting to using bats made of metal. Grand Rapids Catholic Central Head Coach Matt Rockwood pencils his steady, reliable 3rd sacker with the sweet swing into the lineup – Don Wojczynski.

Now…

Assistant Coach Rockwood – or “Rock” as he’s known around the ball diamond, whispers advice in the new Grand Rapids Catholic Central Head Coach’s ear… “Donny Ballgame” – the same Don Wojczynski – more commonly known as Coach “Woj”, or “Wojo”.

The student has become the teacher.

Wojczynski has spent the last 7 years coaching the Catholic Central JV squads – while Rock served as the PA announcer and scorekeeper at most of the home games.

“He has a voice that would make Ernie Harwell jealous”, says Wojo.

The two spoke frequently before and after games at The CAT – Catholic’s home field. When Wojo was named as the new head coach prior to this season, he immediately called Rockwood to see if he would be interested in serving as an assistant. “It was the first call I made”, says Woj - as he sensed that The Rock was itching to get back into coaching.

Rockwood “jumped at the chance”.

“Donny was a very good ballplayer. I had him for three years as a starter – mostly at third base. I remember his favorite player was George Brett. He had a great swing – a lefty, so naturally I loved it, being left handed myself – and very good baseball instincts”, Rockwood recalls.

Wojczynski states, “Matt was a great coach – a players’ coach. Everybody loved Rock and still does. Matt has a fantastic way of relating to everyone, and teaching them in a manner that is very positive. He absolutely loves the game of baseball, and I love how he tries to ignite the same flame in our kids. It is so fun to watch how our kids listen to his stories about players from the past, and how he tags them with nicknames of some of those players.”

Recently, after CC senior pitcher Kevin DeWildt had 2 saves in one day versus South Christian, Rock shouted “Way to go, Sutter!”

DeWildt wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not.

When asked how the game has changed, for better or worse, both coaches shared similar thoughts. They both noted how much competition there is now for athletes in the Spring – Track, Rugby, Golf, Lacrosse. This makes it especially tough on smaller schools such as Catholic Central to attract the top athletes to the game of baseball. They also note how most kids no longer play pickup games – or wiffle ball in the street – or five dollars, etc. The only time the majority of them play is at organized practice or games.

“We used to play ball every day during the summer months when I was a kid – most kids loved baseball over all the sports they played back then. I also blame MLB for not making baseball accessible to younger kids – such as televising the playoffs and World Series at night – when young kids have to go to bed”, says Rockwood.

Wojczynski says, “It is especially sad how our inner-city schools have really fallen off as far a baseball is concerned. For many, many years the City League was the strongest conference around. There are opportunities for kids to improve and play all year long with various baseball “schools” and clinics, but the issue with these programs is that they are expensive – and in today’s economy, it is very tough for many of the families to afford them.”

On the upside, Rockwood also noted, “I like the fact that now there are a lot of ways to improve your baseball skills (i.e. Elite, Diamonds, baseball schools, travel leagues). Plus – today’s schedules are great. When I played, we were limited to 16 games during the season…last year I think the team played around 30!”

Matt Rockwood’s playing career started at Grand Rapids Catholic Central in 1964. In his first game as a freshman – George Barcheski (of East Grand Rapids football fame) was his coach back then – he beat West Catholic at Hillcrest 3-1 and struck out 17 batters in 7 innings.

He went on to play 3 years of varsity baseball at CC, with a highlight of throwing a no hitter at Central Christian (in those days, there were two Christian high schools. East Christian is now the current Grand Rapids Christian High).

He played two years under Tom Hoffman at GRJC (Junior College back then – now GRCC) and was drafted by the Tigers in June of 1968 but never signed.

He also played with the Sullivan’s baseball team – and played with many who made it to the big leagues and lots more that played in the minor leagues.

He was hired by Catholic Central to coach baseball at the varsity level in 1977 – and stayed there until 1982, before moving to the Grand Rapids Public Schools system. He retired from Hopkins Public Schools in 2004, and signed on to coach and do odd jobs (such as public address announcing) at Catholic Central in the fall of ’04.

After playing ball (including being named to the All-City Team) and graduating from Catholic Central, Wojczynski played baseball for 3 years at Siena Heights. He achieved All-Conference Honorable Mention honors in 1982.

“My fond memory of coaching Woj was helping coach in the John Bos All Star game. Donny and his cousin Kevin Mulhull were on the team.”

“I have so many great memories of Rock. He has influenced me in many ways, and I am very grateful to him for so much. He really fueled my desire for the game of baseball and pushed me to maximize my potential. He also really helped inspire me to live my life the right way, and to strive to become a better person. He truly cares about me as well as everyone he works with.”

“Rock was also the PE Teacher at Catholic Central when I was a student”, continued Woj. “The old gym/locker room at CC was a real maze of dungeons, with hallways going everywhere, and rooms and lockers all over the place. It was the greatest place to hang out for an athlete – and that was Rock’s home away from home. I remember going down there every day – and you could hear that voice of his, razzing on someone, or laughing while throwing out stats and nicknames from the past.”

“He would also have that old classic country music blasting from the tape player. That eventually would stick with me and many of my classmates (Scott Tompkins, Ted Hollern, Brett Lambert, David Passinault) for the rest of our lives. To this day, my IPOD is full of Hank Jr., Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard… it was our ‘Family Tradition’.”

When asked if Rockwood has changed his coaching style, Wojo says, “I don’t think he has changed his coaching philosophy at all. He believes that if we are fundamentally sound that we will be a very good team. He is a great judge of talent and can see who belongs where. We are fortunate enough to have a lot of really good baseball players who can play multiple positions, and Rock has done a great job of figuring out how we should work them in.”

Catholic Central is off to a nice 7-2 start in this young 2010 season.

“I get so much joy watching our players sit around with their eyes and ears glued to Rock - absorbing everything he says, and begging for more.”

“I’m sure I do not show him enough how much I appreciate everything he does for our program. He works his tail off, and is always there for anything I need. The Catholic Central community is truly blessed to have Matt Rockwood back in full swing.”

Gotta believe Donny Ballgame!

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