Nate Phillips, a sophomore infielder for Highland, has been making waves with his talent and leadership. Sam Michel, the Trojans’ coach in his first season, previously served as an assistant and graduated from the school in 2011. Michel made it a priority to connect with Phillips two years ago. He experienced concern over the potential of Phillips transferring due to rumors about talented players moving schools.
Michel stated, “In today’s world of guys bouncing around and going to different schools, when you’re a talented player, the whispers all start.” Michel acknowledged the rumors of Phillips possibly leaving and made an effort to ensure Phillips remained at Highland or to establish a strong relationship with him.
“So I went and saw him a lot as an eighth grader, in the summer, coming in here, and he ended up playing with our Senior Babe Ruth team that year as a 14-year-old, and he didn’t just hold his own. He played for us, hit second, played third base, was a contributor on that team playing against 17-, 18-, and 19-year-olds. So it became obvious he was going to have a great shot to walk in here from day one and be a starter.”
Phillips began his freshman year as a starter at third base, contributing significantly to the Trojans’ first sectional title win since 2000. This year, Michel raised expectations by appointing Phillips as a captain and shifting him to shortstop.
“That’s been this year’s battle,” Michel explained. “Last year, as a freshman, it was, ‘Let him settle in. Let him play.’ This year has been, I told him straight up, ‘I’m going to come at you at times this year. If I don’t think it’s good enough, because you’re a guy who wants to play college baseball and has aspirations to play at a high level, if you really want to do that, I’m going to coach you like that.’”
Michel is determined to develop Phillips for future challenges, noting that sometimes tough love is necessary. Phillips has embraced this hard-nose approach, stating, “He’s preparing me for college, and he’s just trying to teach me how it’s going to be in the future. I really like how he does it.”
Phillips excels on the field for the Trojans, who repeated as sectional champions and will compete at NorthWood. His impressive statistics include a .385 batting average, .615 slugging percentage, 1.058 OPS, one home run, four triples, 11 doubles, 24 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases—all team highs.
Adjusting to the shortstop role, Phillips has adapted to his new position especially after junior shortstop Danijel Zekavica suffered an injury. Phillips expressed how he has grown into the role, saying, “I’ve really grown into it, and it’s pretty nice. I like spreading the field more, getting the ball more.”
Teammate Logan Finch commended Phillips’ abilities, stating, “He’s a great all-around player. He mainly plays shortstop this year, but he played third base last year, and he’s a pitcher too. So he can pretty much do it all.”
Highland is optimistic about their odds against NorthWood, a team they expect to be more competitive against than during last year’s regional match. Michel aims to shift the team’s mindset from solely focusing on winning sectionals to performing well in the regionals and beyond.
Phillips is equally optimistic, noting, “We have a great team and a great coach, and it’s just great to run it back after all the years we haven’t been able to win a sectional. So now we just have to try to get that regional and so on.”