As the 2026 baseball season ends, Glen Lake and Lake Leelanau St. Mary each had memorable seasons to represent Leelanau baseball’s best.
The Enterprise baseball Dream Team is voted by coaches Kris Herman (Glen Lake), James Bunek (St. Mary) and sports editor Brian Freiberger.
This year’s MVP was so good we had to give it twice. Lake Leelanau St. Mary senior Josh Bunek and Glen Lake senior Tanner Crick earned the honors.
Co-MVP: Josh Bunek (St. Mary)
Lake Leelanau St. Mary senior Josh Bunek ends his senior season with a Dream Team MVP with a .493 batting average, 29 runs, 25 RBIs and 13 stolen bases during the 2026 campaign.
Bunek has been part of a solid foundation that has led the Eagles to compete for a district championship this season.
“I knew we had a strong group coming up when I was a freshman. We were starting to get in a flow of things. We were stopping the goofing around, starting to focus in, and we started following by their example,” Josh Bunek said. “Over the past few years we just kept building and building and building. This year we had an older group of guys who have been in the program for a while … I’m very excited to see how they do in the future, and I’m going to be at a lot of the games watching.”
Bunek will be heading to Ferris State to study mechanical engineering technology.
One of his favorite moments was throwing a no-hitter against T.C. Christian earlier this season. Bunek threw a five-inning nohitter with two walks and seven strikeouts.
“One of the learning lessons of baseball is to never give up. Baseball is a big game of failure, failure, failure, failure, and then, you get one hit out of every three at-bats. One out of every three times is phenomenal.”
Co-MVP: Tanner Crick (Glen Lake)
Glen Lake senior Tanner Crick earned his own Dream Team MVP thanks to his dominating pitching performances and timely hits.
“We did better than a lot of people were expecting us to do this year,” Crick said.
Crick had a senior moment during the regional semifinal when he threw a gem of a game as he went five and one-third innings, giving up four hits, zero earned runs, three walks, and 10 strikeouts during a win over Bear Lake in a D4 regional semifinal.
“There’s a lot of different things playing the sport that have created memories for me, but also just being around a bunch of your friends for that time in the clubhouse, on the buses, at restaurants, I will have a lot of memories from it all,” Crick said.
Crick is moving into carpentry while attending NMC come the fall.
Spencer McNitt (Glen Lake)
Glen Lake freshman Spencer McNitt earned a baseball dreamteam nomination after earning a dual sport nomination with track.
“(McNitt) is really dedicated. He’s very disciplined and purposeful in everything that he does. He wants to be great at everything, and he’s extremely coachable,” Glen Lake coach Kris Herman said.
Oliver Mitchell (St. Mary)
Lake Leelanau St. Mary senior Oliver Mitchell ended his senior season with a .328 average, 30 runs scored, 14 RBIs and 18 stolen bases.
Mitchell batted from the two spot and supported the defense in left field.
“(Mitchell) was a kid that did not like bunting early on in the season, and we kept pushing him. Then he ended up being one of our better bunters,” St. Mary coach Jim Bunek said. “Mitchell was always willing to lay down a bunt and move guys to the next spot and give us a chance to score runs, and he ended up being one of our top base stealers as well. He’s really good at reading pitches.
Mitchell earned all-district honors for his contributions in the infield and the outfield.
Edwin Ryder (St. Mary)
St. Mary junior Edwin Ryder had a batting average of .339 with 15 runs scored, 25 RBIs and seven stolen bases.
Ryder was patrolling center field for the Eagles and even stepped up to pitch from time to time.
“Ryder is one that we put in a new position. He was always an infielder and a pitcher, and we had to fill a gap in center field, and he was willing to step up,” St. Mary coach Jim Bunek said. “Ryder could run down the balls, left field, right field, on the move, over his head. He did an outstanding job for us in center. (Ryder) went from a .130 batter to a .330 batter from his sophomore to his junior year.”
James Bunek (St. Mary)
St. Mary junior James Bunek answered a big question mark for the Eagles, leading to a successful season.
“Behind Josh, James just got better and better until that district game against Buckley, and he pitched a five-inning shutout during a 13-0 win,” St. Mary coach Jim Bunek said. “(James) got better and stronger and started developing his off-speed and his other pitches. In terms of offense, James ended up leading us in stolen bases this year. I’m looking for big things for him to be a leader next year.”
Bunek had a .270 batting average with 32 runs, 14 RBIs and 23 stolen bases with a 6-2 pitching record.
Jacob Peplinski (Glen Lake)
Glen Lake senior Jacob Peplinski earned his spot on the Dream Team from the catcher position. Peplinski stepped in beautifully for graduate John St. Peter, who earned all-state honors for the Lakers in 2025.
“(Peplinski) got a chance to really show what he could do this year, and did a nice job for us behind the plate. Peplinski came on at the end of the season in particular, throwing out runners to become a really valuable defensive player for us,” Glen Lake coach Kris Herman said.
Sully Atkins (Glen Lake)
Glen Lake sophomore Sully Atkins earned his spot on the dream team for adding his depth onto the Laker squad. Atkins served as a pitcher and infielder for the Lakers and was relied upon heavily as the Lakers second option.
“Sully did a really nice job as a pitcher for us this year, especially. Coming into the season, Atkins had never pitched in a varsity game. He was good at working hitters, mixing pitches, and locating,” Glen Lake coach Kris Herman said.
Brady Turner (Glen Lake)
Glen Lake sophomore Brady Turner was a big bat for the Lakers and handled first base all season..
“(Turner) did a nice job transitioning to a position that he had never played before as a first baseman. Turner got better as the season went along to the point where he really did a nice job for us, and is an outstanding threat as an offensive player,” Herman said.
HONORABLE MENTION: Lake Leelanau St. Mary senior Cody Couturier earned an honorable mention with a stat line of: 0.286 AVG, 22 R, 19 RBI. Augie Gossett also earned an honorable mention for the Eagles with a .361 batting average, 32 R, 24 RBIs, and 9 SB as a junior.
Glen Lake’s Colton Newman earned an honorable mention for the Lakers with all-conference and all-district honors.
