‘JACK’ OF ALL TRADES: Churchill senior’s versatility, attitude fuel team’s success
Jack Schwesing delivers a pitch during Churchill’s May 24 game at Livonia Franklin.
Every high school baseball team needs a player like Jack Schwesing.
Unfortunately, they’re not real easy to find.
Schwesing is Livonia Churchill’s jack of all trades — a team-first contributor who can excel at any position on the diamond and any spot in the batting order (although he’s rarely slotted lower than clean-up).
Thanks in part to the senior’s versatility and skill level, the Chargers finished the 2023 regular season with 24 victories — especially impressive considering they lost two Division 1 players to graduation from the 2022 roster.
Crafty on the mound
While he may not possess the velocity to serve as an ace, Schwesing posted a 6-1 record with a 2.77 earned run average. He struck out 41 batters in 45.1 innings.
At the plate, he hit .306 with 21 RBI and six doubles.
Schwesing’s most-impressive statistic is one he carved out away from the diamond: a 4.0 grade-point average, which earned honor roll student the Wayne State University Warrior Scholarship.
“You don’t find many kids like this,” raved Churchill head coach Lawrence Scheffer. “He’s a great person, a solid all-around baseball player and a competitor. He does what he’s told and he leads by example.
“Jack is the ultimate utility player. He can play outfield — and when our shortstop pitches, he can play short. Pitching-wise, he has a three-quarter arm slot and his ball really moves.”
Giving it his all
Schewesing’s 100% effort on the field was on display in the Chargers’ May 24 game at Livonia Franklin when he ran full-speed into the left-field fence while pursuing a home run ball that barely cleared the wall.
“Some players would have seen the fence coming and given up on it, but Jack thought he had a play on it, so he kept going,” Scheffer said. “That’s what he about.”
Schwesing bounced back big time this season after missing his entire junior baseball campaign when he suffered a broken tibia playing for Churchill’s basketball team.
“I can’t imagine how tough that must have been for Jack to miss an entire season of baseball because he had a great sophomore season for us,” Scheffer said, referring to Schwesing’s five mound victories and 1.47 earned run average during his 10th grade year.
“But he did all the rehab without complaining and came back stronger than ever this year.”
‘It’s a beautiful sport’
Schwesing said he has loved playing baseball since his parents signed him up for T-Ball at the age of 4.
“It’s a beautiful sport,” he said. “Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in sports; it takes a lot of skill and you have to work on it a lot just to have a chance to be good at it.
“The one reason I’ve put the work in is because I enjoy playing so much.”
The son of a firefighter, Schwesing will attend Wayne State beginning in the fall to pursue a degree in sports management.
Schwesing said he’d love to continue to play baseball at some level — whether it’s at the recreation, intramural or some other league — once he starts college.
“I’m really going to miss this,” he said, gesturing toward Franklin’s baseball field following his final regular-season game May 24 (the Chargers play Plymouth Tuesday, May 30, in a Division 1 pre-district game). “The best thing about it for me has been the friends I’ve made playing baseball. The wins are always nice, too.”
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