Copper Country Flames catcher Sam Kiiskila is shown during a 2020 game. Kiiskila, a Calumet High School graduate, is the first in school history to commit to play college baseball. (Submitted Photo)

CALUMET — When it comes to high school sports in Calumet, hockey is king.

The Copper Kings were one win away from being state champs on the ice earlier this winter. And in a hockey town that was Hockeyville USA in 2019 and now claims the 2021 Michigan Mr. Hockey award winner Dean Loukus, baseball just isn’t at the forefront of Calumet sports.

But that didn’t hold back 2020 Calumet High School graduate Sam Kiiskila from becoming the school’s first-ever graduate to sign a college baseball NLI. Kiiskila committed to Bay College in Escanaba.

Kiiskila also played hockey all four years at Calumet, as a goalie. He developed another passion however, and that was for baseball — a spring sport dictated by cold unpredictable weather.

“I can’t remember when we had a graduate from here go on to play at a higher level,” said Calumet’s baseball head coach David Yeo. “I am very happy for him. Sam has a great baseball IQ and can play anywhere on the field.”

While Kiiskila can play anywhere on the field, his best position is catcher. He noted that there are quite a few similarities between playing goalie and catcher.

“With both of them you are trying to get hit by the puck or the ball,” he explained with a smile.

Kiiskila said that it was in his junior year of high school where baseball began to take the lead in front of hockey.

“It had always been hockey up until my junior year but I began to devote a little more time to baseball at that time,” he said. “Playing (American) Legion ball that summer was a confirmation that I was good at this and I began taking it really seriously.”

So seriously that he went to a baseball prospect camp at Central Michigan University in the winter of 2019 and drew attention.

“My numbers coming out of that camp were competitive as of those with the guys who are able to play all year round,” he said.

As the winter of 2019 turned into the spring of 2020, there was no opening day for baseball in Calumet, or anywhere else, because of the COVID-19 shutdown. However, the baseball gods hadn’t forgotten about Kiiskila as he got a call that spring from the Scotland Campus Sports Baseball program in Scotland, Penn., asking him if he would like to play with them in the spring of 2021.

This unique program gives players all the benefits of a college baseball program without losing a year of athletic eligibility. It is for those student-athletes who are not typically not sure what they wanted to commit to or where.

“To this day, I am not sure how the coach there found out about me, but I wasn’t complaining,” said Kiiskila. “It was a perfect fit for me as well because I was knew I was going to basic training with the Army Reserves after graduation (from Calumet) and that would be my fall semester. So in February of this year I went to Pennsylvania.”

Kiiskila said he had a good season with the Scotland Knights.

“We competed well and it was certainly a notch up in terms of competition than what I was used to up here,” he said. “We were regularly playing against guys who had already committed to playing D1 baseball.”

As the season went on, Kiiskila knew he wanted to play his next season a littler closer to home and reached out to Bay College baseball coach, Mike Pankow, who liked Kiiskila skills’ video and invited him on board.

Kiiskila explained that fall ball at the D2 junior college begins in August. He plans on majoring in mechatronics and robotics engineering. In the meantime, the Army Reservist is keeping his skills up this summer by playing in the Twilight League with Garnet Garage. As well there are workouts on the diamond with Copper King friends when possible.

As the school year and fall ball at Bay draws near, Kiiskila is ready.

“It excites me that it will be an environment that will work best for me,” he said, “and to be able to further improve my game and be able to get my schooling done as well.”