Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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60 JUNE/JULY 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ND SPORTS BY ANDREW MENTOCK I n a short span of time, the Notre Dame baseball program has trans- formed itself from an ACC bottom feeder into a top-10 team in 2021. With just under a month left in the season, the Irish are on pace to host an NCAA Tournament regional for the first time since 2004. There are a number of contributors who have made the program's resur- gence possible, but the MVP of the pitching staff thus far is left-hander John Michael Bertrand. In nine starts and 58 2 ⁄3 innings of work through May 3, he carried a 3.38 ERA and boasted a WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) of 1.16. Yet, his journey to Notre Dame and college baseball stardom took a winding and unusual path. Bertrand began undergrad as a freshman at Furman and went out for that university's baseball team, only to be cut. For most, such a demoralizing outcome would mark the end of their competitive playing careers, but the 6-3 lefty from Alpharetta, Ga., had more resolve than the typi- cal freshman. He tried out once again as a soph- omore. Not only did he make the team, but he also made 16 appear- ances that season, including seven starts. Bertrand finished with a 5-3 record and a 4.88 ERA. As a junior, he moved into a full- time starting role and threw 82 2 ⁄3 in- nings with a 4.90 ERA. That season, he boasted a complete game in a 10-3 win over UNC Greensboro, allowing eight hits and two earned runs. It was Furman's lone win of the three-game weekend series. More importantly, he impressed the op- posing head coach, Link Jarrett. "Our guys never really could get good pitches to hit," Jarrett said, "and he used both sides of the plate." That summer, Jarrett accepted the head coaching job at Notre Dame, and Bertrand was already exploring the possibility of transferring as a gradu- ate student once he completed his de- gree at Furman in the spring of 2020. Around the same time, Furman pitching coach Caleb Davis bumped into the Notre Dame coaching staff on a recruiting trip. The next morning, Davis gave Ber- trand a call and told his ace pupil that if he were interested, he should put his name into the NCAA Transfer Portal in order to communicate with the Irish coaches above board. Was Bertrand enticed by the op- portunity? "Believe it or not, my love for Notre Dame started before that year," Bertrand said. "When I was looking for an undergrad institution to go to [in high school], and I was on a col- lege search, I was thinking, 'What's my dream school?'" He wanted a Catholic institution that prides itself on academic excellence and athletic achievement. As a high school senior, he wanted to be Irish, only an acceptance letter never came. Thus, when given the opportunity to transfer to Notre Dame, Bertrand was all in. He finished out his un- dergraduate career at Furman and committed to the Fighting Irish as a graduate student in early April 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic cut his senior season short. An added benefit of transferring to Notre Dame was that it reunited him with his younger brother J.D. Ber- trand, a rising junior linebacker on the football team. The two live across the street from one another and push each other every day to improve. "It's really amazing, because I actu- ally look up to him as a role model," John Michael said of his brother. "His dedication and his work ethic is unpar- alleled. It's something that I can look up to, and we can hold each other ac- countable for doing extra mobility ses- sions, or we get a sauna together. We go grocery shopping together, making sure we get enough rest and sleep. "It levels up my game. It's really just fun to have him up here, and it's quite honestly a blessing." On the mound, Bertrand doesn't pos- sess a mid-90s fastball or a knee-buck- ling breaking ball, but he finds success with an excellent command of multiple pitches, through the use of the entire plate and by studying his opponents and their tendencies meticulously. His best attribute is the same one that eventually landed him at Notre Dame: his resolve. To use a cliché, he's successful because of the six inches between his ears. At times, Bertrand will groove a fastball or a batter will simply put a better swing on a good pitch. He's given up multiple earned runs in an inning, but even when he's in the midst of a jam, his approach remains the same and there's no panic. "Coach Jarrett talks about this a lot — being able to be your own re- liever," Bertrand said. "Maybe you get into trouble in the second or third inning. You've got to get out of it and minimize damage." ✦ Baseball's John Michael Bertrand Is Thriving In A Prominent Role Through his first nine starts, Bertrand was 5-1 with a 3.38 ERA, which ranked fourth among qualified ACC pitchers. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS