Alpena Community College brings in recruits: McEwen ready for next level

ALPENA -- With the recent addition of a baseball program at Alpena Community College, many high school athletes will be inclined to stay local and compete at the collegiate level.

Caleb McEwen, a current two-sport athlete at Alpena High School, joins the Lumberjacks with an opportunity to keep pitching at an elite level.

McEwen is built perfectly for his starting pitcher role, standing six-foot-four inches with an exceptional wingspan.

"I decided to go with ACC because it's my hometown, and I'm given the opportunity to keep playing baseball. I've always planned on staying here anyways, and when they offered me a chance to pitch for them, I couldn't say no," McEwen said.

While McEwen has only been on Alpena's varsity team since his junior year, in that season, he led the team in total pitching strikeouts.

Establishing that type of accomplishment as a first-year varsity player is impressive, but McEwen is striving to be even better his senior year.

Not only is he looking to improve, but the expectations for this year's varsity baseball team are set high, and as the team's ace, McEwen knows a lot of team success relies on him.

"Our goals for this year are pretty simple: we want to win districts, and we want to beat both Traverse City teams," McEwen said. "Our goals are set high, but we know we have the team to achieve them."

Planning to stay local was an easy decision for McEwen, primarily because of his choice of study. McEwen knew he would enter engineering, and ACC offers a program applicable to his required needs.

This degree would demand two years of schooling at ACC before moving on to another university for two more years so that he could finish his bachelor's degree.

"The goal has always been getting a degree and a career in Engineering, and I can start that here in Alpena. After I spend two years here, I'll move on to a bigger college, but I'm still undecided on that location right now," McEwen said.

Finally, getting on the field as a freshman was necessary for McEwen, especially considering he will be held to two years of eligibility as a Lumberjack.

McEwen aspires to achieve better skills as a pitcher, and he believes this coaching staff and group of teammates will get him to those goals.

Before he moves on to the next level, McEwen would like to thank all his friends, family, and supporters for always believing in him and allowing him to take this next step in his baseball journey.