The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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40 THE WOLVERINE AUGUST 2019 Kerr's was one of many great side stories during the magical run. The Detroit Tigers' 33rd-round pick was a third-generation Wolverine, join- ing his grandfather and father, Derek (1984), as World Series participants. Bakich called the Kerrs' story a "Hollywood script," especially given how quiet the youngest Kerr had been in his first three years on campus. Bakich challenged him in the offseason to improve his strength, and he became a force at the plate. He homered seven times in the NCAA Tournament and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Corvallis (Ore.) Regional, and led all players in the College World Series with three round-trippers and eight runs bat- ted in. Junior right fielder Jordan Brewer was the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player, and the rest of the Wolverines all pieced together big moments at the right time to capture the hearts of maize and blue nation. "We would walk on the field knowing every day we had a chance to win. You expect to win," Henry said after the season-ending loss. "Right now, I think the feeling we have is 'crushed.' … We walked on the field expecting to win, wanted to be in that dogpile, but we fought as hard as we could, gave it everything we had and I'm proud of everyone sitting in this room." Only one team goes home happy, he noted, and they were almost that squad. U-M played their best base- ball at the right time and will be remembered as the underdog that nearly slayed the giant and its 13 MLB Draft picks, which tied an SEC record. To Henry, this team's toughness will be his lasting impression of a special season. "According to the committee, we barely snuck in the tournament," he said. "Nobody picked us to make it out of that regional. We made it to Los Angeles, and nobody picked us to make it out of there. At the begin- ning of this tournament we had the highest odds to win it all, but we're here on the last day of the college baseball season. "While all of that was noise and didn't affect us at all … it just kind of speaks to how tough this group is. We had a lot of people that counted all of us out. We knew if everyone in here believed and believed in each other, good things could happen." Once the pain went away, he said, they'd be able reflect back and be proud of their accomplishments and a remarkable run — one that didn't end with a title but which will never be forgotten. ❏ Junior right fielder Jordan Brewer was the Big Ten's Player of the Year and also earned third- team All-America honors from Baseball America, D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY Filling Out The Top Five Male Teams Several Michigan men's teams excelled in a banner year for U-M sports. Here are the best of the rest: 2. Basketball — John Beilein's last U-M squad set a regular-season record with 26 wins and played in championship games on the last game of the regular season and the Big Ten Tournament. Though they came up short in both, the Wolverines made their fifth Sweet 16 under Beilein in disposing of Montana and Florida in Des Moines, Iowa, before falling to eventual national runner-up Texas Tech. 3. Gymnastics — Kurt Golder's squad solidified its position as one of the nation's best programs with a share of its first-ever Big Ten regular-season championship, a third-place finish at the 2019 Big Ten Championships and a fourth-place showing at the NCAA Championships. Anthony McCallum claimed the NCAA vault national championship, the third of his career, and Jacob Moore won the Big Ten floor exercise title. The Wolverines compiled a 20-9 overall record, which included a 4-2 conference mark. 4. Wrestling — Michigan ended coach Sean Bormet's debut season strong, finishing out the 2019 NCAA Championships with a perfect medal round, going six for six to finish in fifth place (62.5 points) in the team standings at the NCAA Tournament. It was the Wolverines' second straight top-five national finish. Redshirt junior Stevan Micic, fifth-year senior Alec Pantaleo and redshirt junior Myles Amine each went 2-0 on the final day to claim third-place finishes at 133, 157 and 174 pounds, respectively, and claimed All-America honors for the third time in their careers. 5. Football — Jim Harbaugh's Wolverines ended the season with two losses, including another setback at Ohio State, but won 10 straight games after a season- opening loss to Notre Dame and captured its first Big Ten East title (sharing it with the Buckeyes). U-M finished No. 14 nationally in both polls. — Chris Balas