Keegan Spomer delivers a pitch during a Disney New Year’s Baseball Classic game over the holiday break. Spomer started the first game of the Baseball Classic and threw four shutout innings. Spomer pitched 12 innings and recorded 11 strikeouts.

Alpena High School junior Keegan Spomer spent his holiday break on the baseball fields in Orlando, Florida, competing in the Disney New Year’s Baseball Classic.

After earning a Golden Ticket to Disney after strong pitching performance at the All-Star Game Day Tournament in Grand Rapids last July, Spomer took advantage of the opportunity to play in the Disney New Year’s Baseball Classic and teamed up with and competed against some of the top high school baseball players from around the country.

Spomer shined during the Baseball Classic and had an experience of a lifetime.

“The experience was one I will never forget. I had a great coach who had coached high school ball for many years and currently coaches a USA baseball team out of Illinois. He spent time with each player after each game going over things we needed to work on,” Spomer said. “We played against some strong teams and I knew it was going to be a challenge, but we went out there, played hard and had fun. It was a really awesome feeling taking the field there and it is definitely something I will never forget.”

After arriving in Orlando, Spomer was introduced to his coaches and teammates he would be playing with for the first time.

Keegan Spomer competed in the Golden Arm Competition during the Disney New Year’s Baseball Classic skills competition. Spomer took second place in the Golden Arm competition and received a Mickey Mouse trophy for his efforts.

Before any of the games began, individual competitions were held and each player could choose just one of the several competition that the Baseball Classic offered.

Spomer chose to compete in the Golden Arm Competition, an event that Spomer has had success in during prior showcases.

The success continued as Spomer took second place and received a Mickey Mouse trophy for his efforts.

Games began on Friday, December 28, and Spomer took the mound for his teams first game.

Spomer got the opportunity to play and pitch in Champion Stadium, which is the spring training facility for the Atlanta Braves.

Spomer tossed the first four innings and didn’t allow a run and recorded 11 strikeouts in the 12 innings that he threw during the Baseball Classic.

Spomer’s team lost the opening game 10-3 and the current Wildcat spent most of his time playing shortstop and second base.

Spomer’s team went 1-4 over the weekend, but played in some close games. The team entered the semifinals ranked fourth out of seven teams, but dropped the semifinal game on New Year’s Day to the defending champions.

“We faced some tough competition and played against some really good travel ball teams. My team came together and played well for our first time playing together,” Spomer said. “We gave it our all, but our bats just weren’t hot. We earned the fourth place medal and had a great experience.”

The experience for Spomer was special and has him geared up and ready for the upcoming high school baseball season.

The junior now enters what is likely to be his first year on the Alpena varsity baseball team with a lot of confidence and experience playing against top level talent.

Despite the Baseball Classic being over with, Spomer will continue to work hard to perfect his game by attending collegiate showcases across the state to continue getting exposure, while fine tuning his game.

Last August, Spomer was clocked at throwing 85 mph at a University of Michigan showcase and will likely be one of the Wildcats top pitchers heading into the upcoming season.

“I’m looking forward to the start of the Wildcat baseball season. We’re going to have a pretty good team. I’ll continue to do open gyms at the high school and I have some college showcases coming up as well,” Spomer said. “I’m working on increasing my velocity. My goal is to reach 90 mph by the end of my senior year.”

With two years of high school baseball left, Spomer has plenty of time to continue his hard work and become the best player he can be during his final years at Alpena High.

Spomer has already been asked to play on a travel ball team from the Zeeland area and he plans on playing in some tournaments with them this summer.

There are also plans to have a 16U summer travel ball team in Alpena that Spomer will likely be apart of as well.

“I’m hoping my hard work will pay off at the college level in a couple of years. I definitely appreciate all of the support. I was wished good luck and told congratulations by many people and it made me proud to be able to represent Alpena,” Spomer said. “I would also like to thank my coaches and family. A special thanks goes out to my travel ball coaches Rich Tucker and T.J. Hoes, the Blockheads President and biggest supporter, Neil Seabase and my high school baseball coaches Dave Meyers, Marc Simmons and Rick Scull. Lastly, a big thank you to my parents and younger brother, Landen. Without them, I would not have these opportunities.”