Michael Polcyn '16 accomplished more in two years with Ripon's baseball program than most players achieve in four. A native of Ripon, Wis., where he helped Ripon High School win the 2011 Division Two State Championship, Polcyn played his first two years of college baseball just up the road at UW-Oshkosh where he started for the Titans each season. He then made the decision to come home to Ripon College, transferring to his hometown school prior to his junior year. That decision helped Polcyn go from being a great college baseball player to one of the best players in NCAA Division-III, which ultimately ended with him signing an undrafted free agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

A Second Team All-American during his final season at UW-Oshkosh, Polcyn also earned All-American honors in both years with the Red Hawks, garnering the only First Team selection of his career as a junior, which also saw him selected as the Central Region Player of the Year. Named Midwest Conference (MWC) Player of the Year and First Team All-Region in both of his seasons at Ripon, Polcyn is one of just three players in program history to finish with a career batting average over .400, ranking second with an average of .403. He also finished his Red Hawk career with 25 home runs, which is tied for fourth in program history and ranks seventh in MWC history, despite playing just two seasons. That helped Ripon qualify for the Midwest Conference Tournament both years, winning the MWC Championship as a senior in 2015 to advance to the NCAA Division-III Regional Tournament.

"Transferring to Ripon was one of the best decisions I've ever made," Polcyn said. "Being able to compete for conference championships every year and making the NCAA Tournament is something I'll never forget, while the friends and memories I made will last forever."

Polcyn also finished his career with 28 doubles, four triples, 85 RBI, and 100 runs scored, while finishing with school records in career slugging percentage (.785) and on-base percentage (.501), both of which rank second in MWC history.  

"Michael was simply a man amongst boys and is one of the greatest hitters our program will ever see," Ripon College Head Baseball Coach Eric Cruise said. "As a teammate, he was as loyal as they get and was the ultimate leader by example. Coaching Michael was an absolute joy and an experience I'll take with me for many years to come."

In his first season with the Red Hawks, Polcyn finished 41st among all Division-III players in batting average (.422), while also ranking fourth in slugging percentage (.823), fifth in home runs (5), seventh in total bases (121), eighth in on-base percentage (.532), and 10th in runs scored (56). That season also saw Polcyn tie a school and conference record with six hits in a game at Carroll University. Later that season, in his first-ever MWC Tournament game, Polcyn went 5-for-5, hitting for the cycle with four extra-base hits.

He followed that up with a senior campaign that saw him finish fourth in D-III for home runs (13), 20th in slugging percentage (.746), and 34th in total bases (106), while also finishing with a batting average of .380.

"What Michael could do at the plate to single-handedly change a game is something I've only seen in a couple guys who have come through our program," Cruise said. "Opponents FEARED Michael and they changed how they played the game because of him."

That statement was never more true than in the 2015 postseason when Polcyn was intentionally walked six times in four MWC Tournament games, including three times in the MWC Championship game, which Ripon won 8-0 to secure the program's 21st conference championship. That advanced Ripon to the NCAA Tournament against UW-Whitewater, who was the defending National Champion and ranked third in the country at the time. In the seventh inning of that game, Whitewater intentionally walked Polcyn to load the bases, only to see the next batter, Nick Schmitt, crush a grand slam to break the game wide open, en route to a 15-7 Ripon victory in what is still one of the greatest and most memorable wins in program history.

When Polcyn wasn't getting intentionally walked, he was usually depositing baseballs on the other side of the outfield fence. During the second half of his senior season, Polcyn went on a power surge that arguably hasn't been seen in MWC history before or since. During the final 14 games of his college career, Polcyn belted 12 home runs, including three in 11 at-bats during the conference tournament. He followed that up with four more homers in Ripon's three games at the NCAA Tournament, including three dingers in a 5-4 loss against Coe College, which ended with Polcyn on deck. He was named to the All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of that Regional.

"The hitting rampage Michael went on during the final couple weeks of his college career was absolutely unreal," Cruise said. "It was the type of thing you could only do in a video game."

Once his college career was finished, Polcyn briefly pursued a professional baseball career, signing as an undrafted free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals Rookie League affiliate in the Gulf Coast League, located in Jupiter, Fla. Polcyn played just two games of minor league baseball before hanging his cleats up for good, but his experiences at Ripon College will last a lifetime.

"There are many great coaches at Ripon, but Coach Cruise is one of the main reason I transferred into the program," Polcyn said. "He had a lot to do with my success while I was playing at Ripon, creating workouts, pushing me, and re-installing confidence when I was in a slump and I'll forever be grateful for him."

Polcyn currently resides in Neenah, Wis. He works as a Zone Sales Representative for ZT Distribution in the Oshkosh/Fond du Lac territory.


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