Image by Erik Holladay (Special to the Kalamazoo Gazette)
Already looking toward next year's recruiting class, Michigan has gotten it's first publically known commit from the class of 2011 in Gull Lake's Zach Fish.
Fish was a Gazette first-team all-area infielder as a sophomore, when he hit .423 with six homers, 31 RBIs and an .880 slugging percentage for the Maroon Giants. He posted a 5-0 pitching record.
As a Blue Devil, he's picked up where he left off. Fish is hitting at a .470 clip with a .909 slugging percentage, 35 runs, 33 RBIs, six doubles and four triples. He's 16-for-17 in stolen bases, and has a 1-0 pitching record and 0.66 ERA.
He's a short stop for Gull Lake, but he's also played outfield for his summer league teams. I wouldn't be surprised if that's where he was slated. The interesting other tidbit:
The junior recently accepted a significant scholarship offer from the University of Michigan, with whom he plans to sign in November.
"It's a lot of money," Fish said without revealing the specifics. "They have an All-American right now, his name is Ryan LaMarre, and he has the highest in-state offer. They said they'd match that in-state offer. For an in-state offer, it just shows a lot of respect coach (U-M's Rich Maloney) has and it's very, very, very, very nice."
North Carolina, Clemson, Louisville, Oregon, Mississippi and Tennessee were other heavy hitters with a close eye on Fish, a 6-foot, 185-pound utility player with good foot speed and a cannon-like arm.
Judging by his numbers, Fish has a pretty solid chance of being drafted, especially if he continues at that pace in his senior year. It's great to see Michigan lock down a local talent over the likes of any of those other power teams also recruiting Fish.
This makes me very, very, very, very happy.
The Human Torch was denied a bank loan.