GREEN BAY — This summer, former Bay Port standout Ethan Plog, who graduated in 2024, is pitching for the Green Bay Rockers. Once he is done there, he will head to play for College World Series champion LSU. But his journey to get there is an unconventional one.
“He actually diced up my school in Iowa this year, so I got to see him pitch for seven innings against us. It was kind of a no-brainer to go get him,” Rockers manager Josh Merrill said of Plog.
Merrill, who is also the head coach at North Iowa Area Community College, saw firsthand what Plog could do on the mound while he was a freshman at Iowa Western Community College this past season.
“I just wanted to go somewhere where they were going to develop me the best they could in the two years I was going to be there,” Plog said. “It was probably the best decision of my life.”
Hear Plog talk about his journey here:
Plog had only three offers coming out of high school, ultimately deciding that the junior college route would best fit his needs. He says the biggest thing he learned was how to develop a pitching routine while he was there, but he also realized that his changeup needed a lot of work.
“I got to my junior college, and they saw it and were like dude this is garbage, and then they started working with me on my changeup, and now it’s probably my best offspeed pitch,” the future LSU pitcher said. “They taught me how to throw more stuff than just a fastball and curveball.”
His journey to LSU began before he ever played a game for Iowa Western, all thanks to his head coach, Ryan Cougill, who had a connection with Tigers assistant coach Josh Simpson.
“One day, Josh reached out to Ryan and said, ‘Hey, got any pitchers or guys for me?’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah, we got a lefty; he’s pretty good for us. You want to come watch?’” Plog said.
In October, Simpson came and watched one of Plog’s outings and called him right after.
“I was freaking out. He called me and was like, ‘Hey, I want to get you out on a visit in November,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, that works for me,’” Plog said.
On his last day visiting Baton Rouge, Plog committed, and he just wants to help the reigning champs in whatever way he can.
“Hopefully I can be a starter there, but honestly, as long as I’m playing there, as long as I’m there, to be honest, I’m happy,” he said. “I don’t really care where I play with them.”
But first, Plog has some things in his game he wants to clean up before he heads into his next chapter.
“Now I’m just boosting my confidence, working on pitch shapes and pitches, kind of just working on the mentality side again,” he said.
Plog has one more appearance lined up for the Green Bay Rockers before he heads to Baton Rouge in the fall.
