Lansing’s Sperger to play DI baseball

Baseball is a year-round pursuit for Lansing junior Zack Sperger. From appearing at showcases to playing in regional tournaments to playing for the Bobcats, Sperger is always on the diamond. The hard work has paid off, as the shortstop has committed to play Division I baseball for UMass Lowell.

Sperger had been gaining the interest of schools by playing in front of college scouts on many occasions. Once the offers began rolling in, the junior had several options in different parts of the country. He explained what made him choose UMass Lowell.

“Baseball is one thing,” Sperger said. “In terms of competition, that played into it. Their coaching staff and the school itself and how their business program is because that’s what I’m looking to pursue in college. I’m going to be playing baseball there, but at the end of the day, I’m going to be going to school there. That’s the main reason I’m going there. UMass Lowell is a very good academic school.”

There will be some personal connections at the school, too. A one-time teammate of Sperger’s at a tournament in Georgia several years ago, James Capellupo, committed to play for the River Hawks earlier this year. Coincidentally, UMass Lowell’s head baseball coach, Ken Harring, was a standout player at Le Moyne College at the same time that Sperger’s uncle, John Haas, was a starter on the basketball team.

Sperger was on Lansing’s JV basketball team as a freshman before dropping the sport to focus on baseball. That extra time to develop his baseball skills has proven valuable, and he has stayed on that path.

“I was thinking about playing [basketball] this year,” Sperger said. “But just because you commit, obviously, the work doesn’t go away. It gets harder, if anything. Basketball just goes a little too long for me. I love it, but you have to make sacrifices sometimes. That was one of them that I had to make. The offseason work is the same as last year. If it worked in one offseason, why would I change the next? I’m just going to keep doing what I did last year. Hopefully, it all pans out I want it to.”

Sperger had an excellent season in the spring, getting on-base in well over half of his plate appearances. Playing at that same level, if not better, over the next two seasons, while already achieving his goal of earning a spot on a college team is his next task.

“In some aspects, [being committed] is a little weight off,” Sperger said. “Now, I know what I have to do in the classroom and what I have to do to keep up abilitywise. I’m never going to act like I can just stop working or I can take some weight off my back. I still want that pressure, always. I still want to play like I’m uncommitted. But it is good to know even if you have a bad game, at the end of the day, you do have that [commitment].”

Being a DI commit while playing Class C baseball in Section IV will put a target on Sperger’s back for the next two seasons. That will just lead to more motivation to succeed and improve.

“Whenever I’m going to strike out or whatever, everyone’s going to use that DI terminology,” Sperger said. “Like I said earlier, I just have to play like I’m uncommitted and just try to have the season like I did last year. Obviously, mistakes are going to happen, and outs are going to happen. I’m not perfect. But being held to that standard, I love it. It makes you want to get better. When I don’t play to that standard, I need to, so I like being held to it, honestly.”

The commitment to play college baseball is a culmination of years of hard work from Sperger. He’s held himself to a high standard and pursued every avenue to be noticed by colleges, leading him to UMass Lowell.

“When I was 12 years old, I went down to New York City for a pitch, hit, run thing, and I won that,” Sperger said. “I remember that’s when I really wanted to start doing it. You need a certain passion for it, but you also need a certain skill for it. When you have both things going for you, it makes it a lot more enjoyable. It’s like the saying, ‘You can’t really beat somebody who works that hard.’ Hard work will get you there.”

In the immediate future, Sperger is hoping to lead the Lansing Bobcats to a sectional title after the team’s heartbreaking walk-off loss to Trumansburg in the championship game in June.

“[I want] a sectional title,” Sperger said. “Last year, we proved that we should have been. In the last game, I think we had most of the control, and I think we win that game nine times out of 10. We split the regular season 1-1 with Trumansburg, but I think this year, we can beat Trumansburg. I think we could have beat them last year, but they were the better team that day.”

A winter of baseball work is underway for Sperger, having time to do so without playing basketball. Now being held to the standard of a Division I athlete, the junior is striving to prove that his future school made the right choice.

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