ROCKY RIVER -- Teams come and go at Lutheran West, remembered by parents and players alike.  It takes, however, a special class to be remembered by the entire community.  Girls Basketball in 1976.  Men’s Basketball in 1998 and 2006-07.  Baseball in 1996.  Volleyball in 2004.  The short list.   

The class of 2010 has brought that special quality to the baseball diamond.  Collectively they rewrote LW baseball history, now holding 12 individual records.  They took a team that hadn’t had a won-lost record of over.500 in the last 10 years to 19+ wins in each of the last three years.  Previous to the entrance of the class of 2010, LW had won only conference title.  In the past three years, LW has won two.  

When the players look back on the 2010 season after years have passed and the frustrations of the individual games have waned, the magnitude of what they have done will hopefully become apparent. 

In reality, the numbers that they put up are unbelievable.  There are only 18 offensive statistics that are recognized by the school officially.  Collectively they have rewritten the rule book, now holding at least a share of all 14 of them.

The impact is more than just individual awards however, winning 19, 23, and 20 games in the last three seasons.  With no double digit win seasons since 1998, the three years posted by this special class will not be quickly forgotten.  LW hadn’t won a sectional since 1997; the class of 2010 won it in 2008, 2009, and 2010. 

Senior Cal Thomay broke six records himself.  He had eight more hits than Ben Miller (class of 2008), setting the single season hits record with 48.  He decimated Steve Swidrak’s (class of 2006) career hit mark of 97 by 30 hits—finishing with a career total of 127.  He erased Miller’s name again in single season doubles—Miller had 10, Thomay 15—and Swidrak a second time in career doubles—Swidrak 26, Thomay 33.  Thomay also rewrote his own mark in single season RBI’s—he had 33 last year, and 48 this year—and broke senior teammate Ryan Jones’ record for career RBI’s—Jones had 66 going into the year, one more than Thomay had to start the year.  Now Jones has 81 and Thomay has 113, easily the top LW total in history.

Senior Mike Holick did his share or record breaking as well.  Holick, who already held single season triples (10), career triples (13), single season runs (49), and single season slugging percentage (.961), broke Swidrak’s career batting average record by 10 points—Holick hit 0.453 in his career—and Swidrack’s career slugging percentage by 160 points—Holick’s career slugging percentage is 0.781.

Holick extended his career triples record to 17, and broke Assistant Coach Trey Lamb’s (class of 1998) career run record (77) by 25 scoring 102 times in his three year career.  Parenthetically, Ryan Jones was on second base in the last inning of the last game of the season when Holick grounded out to end the inning.  Had Holick singled Jones home, Jones also would have scored 102 times in his career.  As it stands, however, Jones finished his career with 101 runs scored, one off of Holick’s total.

Senior Zach Hausmann tied Ben Miller’s record of six home runs that he set in 1997, with six of his own.