Dutkowski enjoying state tourney run

Sports are in the Dutkowski family blood.Nate, who is the youngest of four siblings, has continued that family tradition while being a standout baseball player at NorthWood High School.Nates mom Sharon ran cross country in high school and his dad Bill played baseball in high school and college.

Older brothers Alec (golf) and Matt (baseball) and older sister Ali (volleyball and basketball) also had a passion for athletics.All of them have made an impact on Nate and hes made them proud with the way hes handled adversity and success through his four years on the Panthers varsity baseball baseball team.The Dutkowski family will be in the stands this Saturday when Nate and his teammates face Norwell at 1:30 p.m.

(EST) in a semistate semifinal contest at LaPorte High School.

The Panthers will take a 20-12 record into the game and the Knights are 18-11.In the first semifinal at 11:30 a.m.

(EST), top-ranked Andrean (28-3) will face Delta (22-9).

The two winners play for the semistate title at 8 p.m.

(EST).My parents are very hard workers and theyve always wanted the best for the their kids, said Nate, who will be playing baseball next year at Spring Arbor University.

Theyve been there every step of the way for us.

To see them sacrifice for all four us made us want to give back to them.My oldest brother Alec is the reason why the rest of us as siblings got into sports.

He was the leader.

Hes been a rock and made us all a lot stronger mentally and physically.Matt then came out here (to NorthWood) and set a few (baseball) records.

Ive been chasing him and have wanted to be like him.

If Im as good as Matt then Im a pretty good ball player.NorthWood baseball coach Zach Benko certainly thinks that Nate is much more than a pretty good ball player.Benko has watched Dutkowski make significant contributions this year while playing shortstop and pitching.Hes one of the guys that we have that will find a way to impact a game, said Benko, whos in his first-year of his second stint as head baseball coach at NorthWood He plays a really strong shortstop.

We also feel really confident with him when hes on the mound.

In the batters box, hes an incredibly difficult out.

He can also run the base paths really well.He brings a lot of versatility to the team.

Thats kind of rare thing in todays game to have someone who can impact a game in so many ways.On the season while hitting third in the order, Dutkowski is batting .343 with 19 RBIs.

Hes hit seven doubles and tripled once.As a pitcher, Dutkowski is 5-2 with a 1.33 earned-run average.

He has struck out 38 batters over 42 innings.Dutkowski is also among the team leaders in stolen bases, as he has swiped 12 bases.The Panthers senior admits that he has a favorite position on the diamond.I prefer playing shortstop, he said.

When it comes to pitching I just go out there and throw strikes and whatever happens, happens.

Id rather field the ball at short and throw it across the infield.A four-year starter on the varsity, Dutkowski has had to face personal adversity and team struggles.Dutkowski underwent arm surgery on December 30th, 2022.My freshman year I was a pretty important pitcher on the staff and they were relying on me a lot, Dutkowski said.During the fall going into my sophomore year, I had an ulnar nerve slip out of place while I was pitching in a fall baseball game.

I felt a pop in my right arm.

My sophomore year I didnt pitch and I didnt pitch much my junior year.Coming into this year we really didnt know how much I would be on the mound.

It has just felt great to go out there and start and close games.Dutkowski said that he felt close to 100-percent healthy six to weeks after the surgery.Coach (AJ) Risedorph sat me out the first three games of my sophomore year because he didnt think I was quite ready to play after the injury.

I then had to prove to him at practice that I was ready to go.Dutkowski appreciated the encouragement he got while not playing a sport he loves.I have a great support system around me, Nate said.

They brought out the best in me.

We also have a great training staff here with Mr.

(Paul) Widner.

He just does a great job of making sure that all the athletes can get back in time from their injuries.

He also makes sure that were healthy enough to play.Obviously, it was tough not pitching my sophomore year, but it was the best for me.

The good thing is that I could still be out on the field at shortstop every single game.To go with the frustration of not being able to play because of the injury, Dutkowski had to endure a stack of losses during the early years of his Panther baseball career.His freshman year, NorthWood finished 6-22 and during his sophomore year the Panthers were only 11-15.We had a lot of freshman and sophomores on the team when I was a freshman, Dutkowski said.

We knew what we had, we just couldnt piece it together.Over the next couple of years we built off that freshman year.

We got a great new facility (Field of Dreams in 2023), which has helped us a lot.

We come in to the new facility and get our work in.

Weve also come together through the years and become brothers and a family.Along with Dutkowski, other seniors that have helped create a family and a winning culture are Connor Reed, Aidan Jones, Landon Perry, Mason Bogan, Mason Warren and Ty Stankovich.Theres a handful of guys that have been on the varsity for four years, Benko said.

Theyve been through every type of season, including this one where theyve experienced a lot of success.

I think this years success shows that theyve learned from what has taken place in the past.

Theyve adapted, continued to grow and stayed the course.With a 2025 season to remember, with hopes of a few more wins.If you talked to us when we were all 10 years old our goal would have been to go on a long high school baseball playoff run, Dutkowski said.We still have a lot of work to.

Our goal right now is to win the semistate..

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