Scott Mackiewicz closes out strong season for Rockets

University of Toledo sophomore baseball player Scott Mackiewicz (Lake) started all but one game for the Rockets this season.

Toledo’s season came to an end in a 10-7 loss to Central Michigan in the Mid-American Conference tournament.

Mackiewicz had a strong day at the plate as well, going 3-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored.

Toledo finishes the year with a 33-25 record, its most wins in a season since the 2010 campaign.

“It’s never easy when a season ends, but I am so proud of this team,” head coach Rob Reinstetle said. “We accomplished so much this year. We set some personal records, team records, and had program bests. I have no doubts in my mind that this is one of the best seasons in Rocket baseball history, and it’s all because of this group of young men. 

“To the players who will not be back, all I can say is thank you. Thank you for all the hard work and for buying into what me and my staff wanted to do here. To the players that return next year, we now have a taste of where we want to go. 

“I told the team after the game that while this game today didn’t go as we wanted, they had nothing to hang their heads about. This team will be remembered as the team that set the bar and sent this program in a different trajectory for the future. It’s a sad day, but I love these guys and can easily tell anyone that asks, Toledo baseball’s best days are ahead of us.”

Mackiewicz, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound infielder, started 57 games, batting .275 (57-for-207) with 34 RBIs, 14 doubles, three triples, seven home runs, 34 walks and six stolen bases. He had 16 multi-hit games.

Mackiewicz was already an impact player his freshman year. He hit .305, slugged seven home runs, and tallied 36 RBI in 43 games as a freshman, including starting 35 games, 34 of which came at second base.

He finished his freshman year ranked sixth in the MAC in slugging percentage (.564), had an 11-game hitting streak (April 11-May 8), which was tied for the longest hitting streak by a Rocket in 2021.

Mackiewicz’s first-career multi-home run game came at Kent State (April 9) when he went 3-for-3 with two homers. He also hit a go-ahead grand slam against Western Michigan (May 2) and homered in three straight games against WMU.

He also hit home runs against Eastern Michigan (May 11) and Bowling Green (May 15), tallied two stolen bases against Akron (April 18) and scored four runs in the series finale against Bowling Green (May 16).

This year he had two home runs in one day against High Point, clubbing one in each game of a doubleheader on February 26.  He also had a homer at Western Michigan, at Ohio State, at Ohio, and at Central Michigan twice in two different games.

In Columbus on March 30, Toledo freshman Caden Konczak’s first career home run in the top of the sixth inning was the fifth of the night for the Toledo baseball team and proved to be the game-winner in the Rockets’ 7-6 win over Ohio State.

Trailing 6-3 in the top of the sixth, the Rockets scored four runs on three homers to take a 7-6 lead they would not relinquish Mackiewicz and freshman Garret Pike (Anthony Wayne) slugged back-to-back home runs to tie the game at 6-6, then freshman Caden Konczak smacked a 2-0 pitch down the right field line that cleared the fence and put Toledo up by a run. It was second game of Konczak’s career and his first collegiate hit.

  Toledo tallied a total of five home runs on the night, scoring all seven of its runs on the long ball. Junior Darryn Davis and senior John Servello also left the yard for the Midnight Blue and Gold, hitting home runs in the third and fourth inning, respectively.

  The win was Toledo’s first over the Buckeyes since April 12, 1983 and the first over a Big Ten team since March 19, 2017 at Illinois.

“I’m so proud of these guys,” Reinstetle said. “They came in and played really good baseball. So many guys had a hand in tonight’s win. We had a great night offensively. 

“Our five home runs really propelled us. Cal McAninch and Cam Szynski were outstanding at the end of the game out of the bullpen.” 

His junior year at Lake, playing shortstop, Mackiewicz posted a .371 batting average with five doubles, two triples, two home runs, 18 RBIs and 25 runs to earn first team All-Northern Buckeye Conference honors. 

Mackiewicz, a two-time All-NBC first team player, was part of a team that went 27-1 overall and 14-0 to win the NBC title in 2019. It was the Flyers’ fourth NBC title since 2012, and it came in former Lake coach Greg Wilker’s 35th year at the helm. 

“With Scott — he loves baseball,” Wilker told The Press. “The big thing with Scott is his freshman year he came in, and I remember we were at open (batting) cage and I was talking to one of my assistants and I said, ‘I’ve been fortunate. I don’t have many freshmen starting for me.’ (— from Press file stories and UT Athletics press material)