2026 Baseball Season Preview
LIVONIA, MI - The 2026 season gets underway for Schoolcraft College on Sunday as they head down to Vincennes, Indiana for a 4-game set with the Trailblazers. Vincennes will enter the 4-game series with a 0-4 record as their season got underway last weekend in Cleveland, TN dropping all 4 games against the Cougars of Cleveland State Community College. Coming off a disappointing 2025 campaign, Schoolcraft looks to rely on a mix of returning talent and freshman talent with the goal of returning to the postseason in head coach Rob Fay's 11th year at the helm of the program.
Leading the returning offensive attack for the Ocelots will be Noah McCann (Tipp City, OH), Braylon Schroeder (Tipp City, OH), Shane Carnes (Shepardsville, KY) and Tashawn Eatmon (Detroit, MI). McCann and Schroder each earned honors last year with McCann being named to the Eastern Conference 2nd team with a slash line of .328/.473/.466. Schroeder was named Eastern Conference Honorable Mention with a slash line of .338/.408/.446. Carnes is coming off a freshman year campaign in which he appeared in 29 games while slashing .318/.483/.394. Following a year off last year for Eatmon, he looks to get back into his 2024 form, a year where he was named to the Eastern Conference 2nd team while hitting .377 and swiping 27 bags. Red-shirt freshman Jace Walerski (Grosse Ile, MI) also returns to the lineup for the Ocelots following a season-ending knee injury last year which ended Walerski's season after just 6 games where he was hitting .333.
On the mound for the Ocelots, Alex Stepaniak (Riverview, MI) headlines the returners as the sophomore's efforts last year earned him a spot on the Eastern Conference Honorable Mention team with his 3.07 ERA in 29.1 innings in his return from Tommy John surgery. Also returning is the hard throwing righty, Lucas Clune (St. Henry, OH), who appeared in 11 games last year while boasting a 12.23 K/9. Andrew Frederick (Hagerstown, IN) is also back for the Ocelots as the sophomore made 9 starts for the Ocelots last year with a record of 3-4 and an ERA of 5.45.
There's a new wave of talent throughout the Ocelot roster, including 20 freshman that look to make their collegiate debuts. Among those looking to make instant impact in the lineup for the Ocelots will be Kevin Cruz (Louisville, KY) and Juan Suarez (Louisville, KY). On the mound, the trio of Tyler Scott (Plymouth, MI), Avery Hayes (Saline, MI) and Freddie Londo (Brighton, MI) look to make up innings lost from last year while Luke Nelson (Walled Lake, MI) will look to be a 2-way player like Owen Elsey was last year for the Ocelots.
Schoolcraft's packed 56-game schedule includes 25 conference games and 11 games in Florida during their spring break. The RussMatt visit is headlined by a doubleheader against the 2nd ranked Century College in the NJCAA D3 preseason poll. Also in their schedule is a midweek DH against the preseason ranked #22 Lansing Stars on April 14th at home.