Baseball

The 2015-16 Mason County Sports Hall of Fame Male Student-Athlete of the Year is Mason County Central's Spencer Knizacky. He competed all four of his high school years on the wrestling and baseball teams and for three seasons on the varsity football team. He is a two-time West Michigan Conference, district and regional champion in wrestling and he placed three years at the state meet, including ...Read More...

Greg Melchert was an outstanding baseball and football player as well as wrestler at Mason County Central, and he found his greatest success in baseball. He played at Western Michigan and went on to pitch in the Detroit Tigers farm system for Lakeland and Utica. He was an All-State special mention in baseball. He was a three-time state qualifier in wrestling, finishing fourth as an individual and ...Read More...

Perhaps no person is as synonymous as the voice of Ludington football and basketball as Rod Beckman. For 40 years, Beckman was the play-by-play voice of both programs on the airwaves of WKLA and for a year of basketball at WMOM. And when he wasn't delivering sports on the air, he continued to play in a sport where he excelled — baseball and softball. He was a member of the Custer VFW teams long ...Read More...

Don Stokely keeps a watchful eye of the baseball diamond at the corner of Gaylord and Lowell streets. That diamond bears his name after he oversaw the Ludington baseball program for 33 years. Stokely compiled a record of 452 wins and 288 losses and saw his teams win 11 league titles, six district titles and one regional crown. He was a regional coach of the year in 2001 and was the Class A & B Mus ...Read More...

Payton Tyndall accumulated six letters during his high school career in cross country, basketball, baseball and football. In basketball, he earned honors from the West Michigan Conference, all-district from the coaches and all-area from the Ludington Daily News. In baseball, Tyndall was all-conference honorable mention and all-district. Tyndall has spent time with 4-H, in the Mason County Reform C ...Read More...

Ken Papes was a stand out all-around prep athlete at Free Soil, being a state-class sprinter, long-jumper and shot-putter in track and field. In hoops, he averaged more than 25 points per game as a senior and had 1,459 points for his career for Free Soil, tops for the school's history. In baseball he was a part of the Free Soil baseball team that won 54 consecutive games, primarily working as the ...Read More...

Tyler Thurston excelled in his athletic endeavors and the classroom for all four years at Mason County Eastern. In all, he earned 12 athletic letters with four each from soccer and baseball and two each from cross country and basketball. In 2012, he captained all four teams he was involved with and earned first-team all-Western Michigan D League honors for each. In basketball, he tied the single g ...Read More...

Born in Ludington in 1897, Claire served in the Navy in World War I, after which he was a strong-armed shortstop with the Ludington Mariners of the Class B Central League in 1920. He was scouted and purchased for $2,000 by the Detroit Tigers, and played three games in September of that year, hitting in front of Ty Cobb and collecting one hit in seven at bats. Claire played three years of professio ...Read More...

Ed Papes was a three-sport star for Free Soil High School, graduating in 1967. In track and field, he held the school record in the 100-yard dash (10.4 seconds) and also helped set school records in the 880- and mile relays. As a basketball player, Papes was a key member on Pirate teams that advanced to the Class D state semifinals in 1966 and 1967. He led the latter squad in scoring at 18.2 point ...Read More...

Brandon Melchert lettered three times in both baseball and football and twice in basketball. In football, he was the team’s co-captain and most valuable defensive player. As a junior, he was first team All-West Michigan Conference, all-district and all-area in baseball, earning the team’s Most Valuable Player Award. He also earned All-WMC Scholar Athlete honors in each of his varsity se ...Read More...