The recruiting process is long and daunting for many elite high school baseball players, and most feel a sense of relief when it’s finally over.
That was certainly the case for Garden City senior pitcher Ethan Armstrong.
No, not his decision to commit to Michigan baseball, but his choice to stay home and play all four years for his hometown high school, rather than leave for a state power or private school.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound right-hander turned away multiple opportunities to transfer every year, picking the friends he grew up with over the chance to play on a stacked roster and possibly compete for a state championship.
That’s why he dedicated his postseason awards this spring to the people around Garden City who helped shape him.
Two weeks after being named Gatorade Player of the Year, Armstrong added another honor. He was named Michigan’s Mr. Baseball during the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association’s 45th annual East-West All-Star Baseball Classic on Monday, June 15, at Comerica Park.
“I could’ve went private quite a few times – I don’t know the exact number – but I stuck to public because being able to play with my best friends is what made me stay,” Armstrong said Monday after helping the East down the West, 9-1. “It’s kind of like college recruiting. Bigger programs want you to be part of their squad, but I’m proud of myself [for staying local]. It’s all for my city because I love my city.”
Like many kids in town, Armstrong started with the Garden City Youth Athletic Association, the local nonprofit founded in 1954 that prides itself on putting “kids in sports, not in trouble.”
And like many standout players, he eventually left for travel ball, climbing the ranks and drawing attention from college recruiters. But many of his friends remained in the GYCAA.
He never forgot where he came from, which is why he donated $1,000 of his Gatorade Player of the Year prize money back to the organization.
“That youth program is very strong and a very tight-knit community,” said Cougars coach Avery Emerson, a 2017 Garden City graduate and former GYCAA kid. “That’s where usually all of us start playing tee ball, get into travel ball and then some of us expand from there. Everyone who grows up in Garden City starts by playing GCYAA, so when any one of us succeeds, it feels like the whole city has succeeded.”
Armstrong might be the best example.
In high school, he was the face of Garden City’s turnaround, helping transform the Cougars from a run-of-the-mill Western Wayne Athletic Conference team into the No. 13-ranked program in Division 2 this spring.
As a senior, he posted a 0.21 ERA with 70 strikeouts, three shutouts and a 5-1 record. During the regular season, he tossed a no-hitter and held opponents to a .100 batting average over his 34 innings. He also hit .388 and added five doubles, three triples, six home runs and 26 RBIs for the 30-6 Cougars.
Entering the season, Baseball America ranked him Michigan’s No. 1 recruit in the 2026 class. Perfect Game listed him as the nation’s No. 114 prospect.
When the Cougars were rebuilding during his early years, Armstrong could have left.
He never seriously considered it, despite plenty of schools trying to lure him away.
“I think he saw the turnaround we were having,” Emerson said. “Us getting a brand-new field helped a little bit, but we went from 14 wins his sophomore year to 22 his junior and then to 30 this year. He played a big part in that, and he could see the trajectory the program was going into.”
While Armstrong couldn’t lead Garden City on a deep postseason run, the city stood behind him the whole way.
Literally.
During the Cougars’ 1-0 loss to No. 7 Dearborn Divine Child in the district championship, nearly 1,000 fans packed the area around the ballpark, according to Emerson. They lined the backstop, crowded the fence and filled the hill beyond the outfield.
Armstrong gave them a show through 8⅔ innings, striking out 13, walking two and allowing just two hits before exiting.
That’s when the Falcons broke through. Jack Krakowski drove in Dallas Terski on a ground ball for the game’s only run, bringing Armstrong’s standout prep career to an end.
Still, the locals got one last look at Armstrong, including plenty of young GCYAA players who hope to follow in his footsteps.
“It’s meant a lot, growing up in the GCYAA program,” Armstrong said. “I’ve definitely grown up a lot since GCYAA, but I wouldn’t be here without them. They started me in baseball.”
Fortunately, plenty of fans got one last chance to watch Armstrong in a Cougars uniform during the All-Star game at Comerica Park.
After accepting his Mr. Baseball plaque at home plate, Armstrong started on the mound for the East. He faced eight batters over two innings, striking out one while allowing two hits and one run.
The lone blemish came in the second inning when Howell’s Daniel Hampton ripped an RBI double for the West’s only run. (Hampton, a Northwood commit, later earned West MVP honors.)
Armstrong got that run back in the fifth.
With Birmingham Brother Rice’s Tristan Turner on third, he belted a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 6-1.
The East had no trouble scoring all evening.
Novi Detroit Catholic Central’s Bennett Thompson delivered an RBI double that scored Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Henry Ewles. Livonia Churchill’s Lucas Brown followed with a two-run single that brought home Thompson and Richmond’s Logan Evans.
Ewles knocked in Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Luke Crighton with a line-drive single. Turner later tripled down the right-field line to score Monroe’s Carson Liedel. St. Clair’s Braden Schalk added an RBI single in the sixth, bringing home Bloomfield Hills’ Ryan Wilusz.
The biggest swing belonged to Belleville’s Logan Wade in the eighth.
The Spring Arbor commit launched a two-run homer 432 feet; it landed in the left-field bullpen, earning him East MVP honors.
A few of the players making big plays were also contenders for Mr. Baseball. Some even played for programs that had tried to lure Armstrong away over the years.
But after a reportedly spirited debate during the MHSAA semifinals in East Lansing on Friday, it became clear where the coaches stood.
A couple of coaches went hard for Armstrong, citing not only his dominance on the field but also his decision to stay at Garden City rather than join a perennial state title contender.
“I got to give all the credit to him, honestly,” Emerson said. “It takes a kid putting in a lot of work to earn that, and he’s worked extremely hard for it. He’s wanted it, and he’s earned everything that’s coming to him in the future.”
And what’s coming next may not be four years in Ann Arbor.
Armstrong is expected to hear his name called in the 2026 MLB Draft next month. He said he has a valuation in mind. If he’s selected high enough, he’ll begin his professional career. If not, he’ll head to Michigan and try to boost his stock.
Either way, don’t expect him to rush the decision.
If Armstrong’s career has proven anything, it’s that loyalty matters to him.
“He’s born and bred Garden City,” Emerson said. “I think a part of the reason he wore our gray uniform today is because it says ‘Garden City’ across the chest. It means so much to him to see our program succeeding and doing well. He knew he could play anywhere and people would find him because of the talent he had. And he wanted to bring Garden City along for the ride with him, and that’s been pretty special.”
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life and the Detroit Free Press. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Ethan Armstrong’s Mr. Baseball win a victory for Garden City
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
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By Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com | USA TODAY Network
