In the locker room with Nicolet HS baseball head coach Jason Grodsky
GLENDALE, Wis. — Jason Grodsky is starting his 10th season as Nicolet’s baseball head coach, his 12th year overall at Nicolet and 20th year as a high school coach. He has experience and wisdom to share with his 2022 team.
Jason played baseball as a Nicolet freshman (Class of 2001), making the varsity team his junior year. He pitched for the Knights. In 1998 Nicolet won its second state championship, 13 years after that first in 1985. Although Jason was not on the state championship team in 1998, he did play in the state tournament in 2000 (the team fell just short in the semi-finals). It was still “one of the most exciting moments of my baseball career and high school experience. Jason played in men’s leagues for 12 years post high school, and he’s got 20 solid years of coaching under his belt.
His second trip to the state tournament happened as an assistant coach for Brown Deer High School in 2008. “Our players worked so hard to get to that point. It was amazing to see a group of players come together and mesh so well to meet their goals.” But it was his team’s trip to the sectional finals in 2013, Jason’s first year as head coach for Nicolet, that really holds special memories. “We played in the sectional championship, the game prior to making the state tournament. We lost 4-3, but it was one of the most exciting baseball games I have ever experienced…exhilarating!” Coach Grodsky continues, “We began the season with three losses and only one win in our first six games. After a rough start, our players focused on how they could help the team and became one of the best teams in the area.”
Disappointment happens often in baseball. However, Coach quickly refocuses the team on “our goals and the importance of moving forward after disappointment. We always encourage our players to look to the next pitch, play, or game as we know there will be another opportunity to be successful.”
“It has always been difficult for me to accept a loss, but I have continually learned and relearned that we can move forward from disappointment and that many things are bigger than baseball…it’s important to remember life outside of baseball. At the end of the day, if everyone works hard and tries hard, we have been successful.”
Success isn’t always about championships. Such was the 2018 season. “Our senior class became the record holders in most of our statistical categories, setting many new program records” says Coach. “This group of students entered high school and immediately helped uplift the program, working so hard for four years and taking the program to new heights by scoring 100 runs more than we had in any previous season. We also had three players win 1st team all-conference awards.”
The upcoming 2022 season should hold tremendous opportunity. “Our players have continued training throughout the winter. We look forward to competing for the North Shore Conference Championship and have our baseball players work hard each day and game.” With assistant coaches Chad Hofmann, Jordan Bock, Patrick Richert, Blake Elliott, and Alex Unekis, Coach Grodsky will be looking for senior captains Ryan Strunk, RJ Nord and Charlie Bongard along with junior Evan Mortonson “to lead through voice and hard work. They constantly push each other and other players with their example of hard work and dedication to the team. They are vocal leaders who are committed to making the program better.” New players are “welcomed as brothers and we celebrate each other” as players receive their uniforms. After their games, win or lose, “we attempt to honor the team, each position group and each player every game.”
Coach Grodsky “hopes to leave our players and school with a sense that we learned how to work as a team, compete for each other, love what we are doing, and know that we have honored Nicolet and our community through these athletic activities. I would like for our team to compete for Conference Championships and beyond and show that we are a winning program. Improvements we have made throughout the years have put these goals on the map.”
Nicolet baseball has been one of the most successful programs in school history with two state championships and nine North Shore Conference Championships. The program has had just four coaches (only three) in the past 60 years. Retired head coaches Dick Huxtable and Dick Sykes are in the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
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