When the Hamilton baseball team needed a win, it looked to Thano Klett.
When Zeeland East needed a win, it looked to Easton Remick.
And they delivered.
Both Hamilton and Zeeland East had stellar and historic seasons, behind their leaders.
Klett and Remick were selected as Holland Sentinel Co-Baseball Players of the Year.
Klett was 8-0 with a 0.77 ERA. Opponents batted just .134 against him. He struck out 112 in 63.2 innings and walked just 30 and was named second-team all-state as a pitcher.
He was simply dominant. He only allowed more than one earned run in one start all season. Opponents had three hits or fewer in eight of his 11 starts.
“We play in a conference that has multiple pitchers committed to D1 schools (Louisville, Michigan), Thano pitched against everyone’s ace and we never lost a game that he started,” Hamilton coach Brian Grabinski said. “He was the most dominant pitcher in the OK Blue.”
Klett holds the career record for lowest ERA in Hamilton history at 1.27 – better than Grant Wolfram, who is one step away from the major leagues.
Klett also hit .287 at the plate with 8 extra base hits and 30 rbis and 21 runs scored.
“My success this year is not really my success but everyone around me,” Klett said. “I think the reason I had a good year was by playing for my teammates instead of myself. Baseball is a very individual sport and it is easy to get caught up in stats and personal performance but ironically the more you focus on yourself the more likely you are to struggle.”
Klett credits the unprecedented Hamilton basketball team with preparing him for the season that saw the Hawkeyes claim a third consecutive district title and spot in the regional finals.
“This past basketball season many of us who were also on the baseball team learned a very valuable lesson of humility,” Klett said. “We had so much talent we had to put egos aside for the outcome we wanted. This year instead of focusing on strikeouts earned runs and hits I focused on what I could do for the team which made the game more fun. Especially when I had the teammates I had.”
Meanwhile, Remick had some strong teammates and a special season as well, leading the Chix to their first district title and earning first-team all-state honors in the field, despite his stellar pitching.
“I think our season as a whole went great Everybody did their job and we all wanted one thing in common to win and to get better every single day. Weather it was getting more reps after practice or just hanging out as a team we were a brotherhood all year we didn’t care about our individual stats we cared about wins,” Remick said.
Remick was 10-2 on the mound, setting the school record for wins, with a 1.78 ERA. He had 88 strikeouts in 55 innings.
“I think the reason I went from good to great in the last year was 100% mindset,” Remick said., “My mindset all offseason focused on getting 1% better everyday whether it was going to lessons or going to the weight room everyday , I knew every time I walked into a place I wanted more. Another thing that helped me in games was in the off-season I focused on controllable’s what is in and out of my control, on the mound your job is to throw strikes and make the hitter beat you. And if they got a good barrel good for them because hitting is hard in the first place then it’s back to square one again throw strikes. Another thing with my mindset was play everyday like it is your last, play the game like you love it because you never know when it could be the last time.”
As good as he was on the mound, he was even better at the plate. Remick batted .533 with 49 runs scored, 65 hits and 37 RBIs.
“Easton had an amazing season both pitching and hitting. Easton grinded all off season to gain weight and strength and it showed,” Zeeland East coach Matt Sattler said. “He led our team in most categories and was an absolute menace for other teams to deal with. I can’t wait to see him continue to progress as a person and a player next year at LCC.”
Holland Sentinel All-Area Baseball Team
FIRST TEAM
Thano Klett, Hamilton (POY) Easton Remick, Zeeland East (POY) Josh Agar, Zeeland WestBrenston Brown, Zeeland EastTy Elmer, Black RiverDamien Fernandez, West OttawaBrant Goodpaster, HamiltonAustin Keur, Zeeland EastDeklen Klamt, Zeeland WestCharlie Lacny, Zeeland EastAustin Osborne, HamiltonBen Peterson, FennvilleTrevor Raade, Zeeland EastBrody Ruby, West OttawaMax Salas, Zeeland EastKyle Smith, Holland ChristianCaden VanHuis, Holland Christian
SECOND TEAM
Emmett Book, HollandEli Boyce, Holland ChristianMateo Clawson, HollandNoah DeWitt, Zeeland EastDaniel Dykstra, Holland ChristianJulian Fowler, Black RiverAidan Jaworowski, Zeeland EastTai Hescott, West OttawaJames Hoffman, HamiltonCarter Hughes, Zeeland WestSimon Moore, Zeeland WestCarson Morley, West OttawaChris Seay, Zeeland EastAbel Walkotten, Holland
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’[email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Thano Klett, Easton Remick are Holland Sentinel Baseball Players of the Year