Passion of a Pit Spitter: Love of the game, northern Michigan brings players, coaches back

Jun. 15—Editor's note: This article was published in the Record-Eagle's "2023 Pit Spitters" special section. Click or tap here to read the section in its entirety online.

TRAVERSE CITY — Yeah, there were some signs early on that Aaron Forrest and baseball might be cosmically paired.

Forrest's first word was "ball." His parents had to leave the bottom three feet of the Christmas tree undecorated when Forrest was a child because of his knack for grabbing ornaments and flinging them around the family room.

"I like to say that baseball is in my blood," said Forrest, the 23-year-old righthander from Doane College in his second year with the Traverse City Pit Spitters. "The game, as difficult as it is and as brutal as it can be sometimes, is still a beautiful game because you always have another opportunity. This game can be heartbreaking, but it can also be the best experience of your life."

Forrest said the summer of 2022 in Traverse City, his first as a Pit Spitter, was one of those "best experiences."

"It's the most fun I've had on the baseball field," he said. "But I also had some starts where the ball didn't exactly roll my way and I struggled, and that really is heartbreaking. But every day is a new day, and you have so many opportunities."

Forrest said that, as a pitcher, he has a hundred pitches and a hundred opportunities every game to make something special happen.

"Yeah, sure, you miss a few in a row, but you've got one coming up — this next pitch — and that's what I'm going to focus on," Forrest said. "You realize what a rewarding game baseball is. Between all of the opportunities you have and being put into big moments, it's just special."

But there was a time when Forrest wasn't sure if he wanted to take advantage of those opportunities anymore — when his relationship with what he called a "beautiful game" became strained and he found himself falling out of love with the sport that had been such a big part of his identity and his life.

Forrest grew up in Peoria, Arizona, and went to junior college there. He was trying to balance a full load of course credits along with the workload and commitment of being a baseball player in his first semester. And it wasn't exactly going well. Baseball became more of a burden than a source of joy.

"I ended up in this mindset where I didn't really enjoy baseball anymore," Forrest said. "I wasn't sure if it was something I wanted to continue to do."

So Forrest decided to pray on whether or not to stick with it. He chose to give it some thought, sleep on it and make a decision in the morning. When he woke up, he decided to stick with it in the hope that his love for the game would return sooner rather than later.

But that spring, Forrest was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow that would eventually require three surgeries and years of rehabilitation.

"It was a complete unknown at that point," Forrest said. "Was this something that I wanted to continue to do? Would I even be able to come back and do it?"

Just like that, the game that he was ready to give up on but then decided to stick with was taken away from him — not by choice and without his say.

The major setback gave Forrest a brand new perspective on the game. At practice, the day after Forrest found out he would be out for at least 18 months, all he could do was watch his teammates move around the field and have fun on the diamond while he was relegated to the sidelines.

"I went from not loving the game to wanting to give it a shot to having it ripped out of my hands and now I miss it," Forrest said. "I was frustrated at myself for taking it for granted."

The ever-optimistic and thankful Forrest certainly won't make that mistake again. And after a few good college seasons and a long road back to the mound, Forrest is delighted to be where he is now.

"I'm in one of the most beautiful places on the planet playing for what I think is the greatest coaching staff on the planet with some of the greatest fans and the best organization," Forrest said. "The highs and lows that come with this game, that's why people have such a passion for it and such a drive to play it. You get that full range of hating it, loving it and everything in between."

Forrest is one of 14 returning Pit Spitters this season. Josh Rebandt, who is in his fifth season as field manager for the club, said it speaks volumes that so many want to come back and play in Traverse City.

"If you're going to play in the Northwoods League and play 72 games in 76 days, there has to be a certain level of passion and love for the game," Rebandt said. "That's one thing we take pride in. We want to be the team that hangs on to the most players at the end of the season. We take pride in having players who don't want to go home."

The goal, Rebandt said, is to create an environment and a clubhouse culture that encourages players to stick around.

"We want to be the standard across all of summer collegiate baseball. We want to be the organization where players from all across the country want to come play," he said.

And ensuring that happens means the coaching staff has to foster the passion for the game that Forrest and others display day in and day out.

"It starts with us. It has to," Rebandt said. "Our coaching staff has to be passionate. We have to love the game of baseball. We have to love being at the field every single day. It all starts at the top. So if we don't have that passion, our players aren't going to have the passion to show up every day when we're not putting forth that effort ourselves."

Having guys like Glenn Miller on the roster definitely makes the coaching staff's job a bit easier.

Miller is the Pit Spitters starting third baseman and a 21-year-old from Pentwater. Oddly enough, his first-ever time going to a baseball game was right where he plays now when he was 5 years old and saw the Beach Bums play at what was then known as Wuerfel Park.

Ask Miller why he loves the game of baseball, and his face lights up. He can't help but smile when talking about the game that has given him so much.

"It's just having the understanding that God blessed me with the ability to play baseball," Miller said. "Him giving me the opportunity, I have to take advantage of that and play."

"Growing up, it was what I did. It was what I always did," Miller continued. "Playing T-ball. Playing whiffle ball. You have to remember that it's just a game."

For Miller, baseball is a game that he has grown to love more and more with each passing year. He approaches it with the same childlike wonder he did at 5 years old, and he makes sure his inner child keeps that passion burning.

"It can be a long season, but only if you think about it and think about it being a grind and how tough it will be to get through," Miller said. "But if you think about how much fun it is and how much fun you had as a kid playing it, you don't worry about that. I have to remind myself that I'm playing a kids' game, and I need to be thankful and appreciative of that. Have that mindset of 'I'm a little kid playing baseball.'"

Miller bonded with others through the game. He played in the backyard with his siblings. He'd bring his mom and dad out to play as well. Miller loved taking trips to sporting goods stores with his friends just to look at the new gloves and bats. They'd even play catch in the store to try out the mitts.

"I just love it. There wasn't a moment that I didn't," he said.

And now that love is shared by Miller and his fellow Pit Spitters.

"You want it to be fun, but you can't do it on your own. You can't have fun on your own," Miller said. "You're going to need really good teammates to pick you up. And that's the great thing about playing up here. All of the guys love baseball. Everyone is willing to pick you up and will be there for you, no matter what."