Birmingham Seaholm baseball hits turning point with new coach

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Ian Glass took the mound with the bases loaded in the fourth and escaped without allowing a run.

Ian Evert blasted a two-run home run to left-center in the bottom of the fourth, adding to the lead.

Birmingham Seaholm's Casey Goetz splashes coach Mike Nahtygal during an Oakland Activities Association-Blue baseball game on Thursday, April 30, 2026.

Then, the defense handled the rest, holding Groves scoreless over the final three innings.

“We had a fire lit inside of us,” said Evert, a junior Orchard Lake St. Mary’s transfer who had two hits and three RBI. “We really wanted to get that series. Went out there with some flame and some intent and were ready to play.”

Winning back-to-back against their rivals snapped a four-game losing streak and marked just the second time they’ve won two straight.

Some of that comes from adjusting to Nahtygal, who arrived from Grosse Pointe North and is still getting to know his new players.

But it also comes from the team settling into roles and starting to put it together. A month and a half into the season, the Maples finally look ready to compete every day.

Birmingham Seaholm celebrates a home run during an Oakland Activities Association-Blue baseball game on Thursday, April 30, 2026.

“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of Jekyll and Hyde,” Nahtygal said. “We’ve had days where we’ve put up 12 runs, and then there are other days where we’re going to have six errors. Once we start putting it all together by the end of the year when districts come up, it doesn’t matter what our record is. As long as you’re playing baseball at the right time, we’re going to go far.”

Seaholm wants to keep it going, especially with a doubleheader at Grosse Pointe South and Grosse Pointe North this weekend.

What better way to keep the streak alive than beating Nahtygal’s former team and rival in one trip to the east side?

“It’s a big weekend, and I’m really excited to get back after it with these guys,” Nahtygal said. “I want to show them where I came from, and I’m just excited to keep the energy and their buy-in going. For the seniors to come in with another new coach, their third in three years, and to buy in and listen to what I’ve been saying and get behind me and continue to push the team in the right direction, it’s been huge.”

Also helping close out the series was Aaron Van De Mark, who had two hits and an RBI, Casey Goetz, who drove in a run, Dylan Furlani, who had two hits and scored twice, and pitcher Liami McDonald, who struck out six and allowed one run on one hit in 3 1/3 innings.

Birmingham Seaholm's Ian Glass pitches during an Oakland Activities Association-Blue baseball game on Thursday, April 30, 2026.

“We’ve been pouring it on this week,” Evert said. “We had a fire lit inside of us and have been ready to play, ready to get this series. I think we’re going to carry the momentum through this weekend into the rest of the season. Everybody loves Nahty. He’s a great guy, a great coach and relatable. The guys love him, and we have no complaints at all.”

Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.

This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Birmingham Seaholm baseball beats Birmingham Groves, 8-1