WARREN, Mich. – Taylor Grzelakowski, current Westside Woolly Mammoths manager of the United States Professional Baseball League (USPBL) and former Minnesota Twins Organizational All-Star, has been named Macomb Community College baseball head coach, Athletic Director Bryan Rizzo announced Wednesday (June 29). Grzelakowski (pronounced jell-uh-COW-skee) takes over the helm of the Monarchs baseball program for Cliff Howe who resigned at the end of the 2022 campaign after eight seasons as head coach.

"Coach Grzelakowski has a tremendous knowledge of the game and a passion for helping student-athletes become the best version of themselves in the classroom and on the field," Rizzo said. "We are thrilled to add Coach Grzelakowski to our great staff at Macomb Athletics and I look forward to working with him."

A 2012 graduate of neighboring Fraser High School, Grzelakowski is eager to lead his home county's collegiate baseball program.

"I am extremely excited and fortunate to have been chosen by Bryan Rizzo, Tim Johnston and the college's leadership to lead the Monarchs baseball program," said Grzelakowski upon receiving the news he was tabbed as the program's new head coach. "We will develop players for the next level both on the field and in the classroom and will play an exciting brand of baseball. The staff we are assembling has incredible connections with four-year coaches at every level, as well as a host of professional connections. I can't wait to get started."

Along with his professional coaching duties in the USPBL, Grzelakowski spent the past two years as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at his alma mater, Madonna University. While at Madonna, Grzelakowski helped lead the Crusaders to back-to-back Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament Championship Series appearances and a berth into the 2022 NAIA Opening Round. Under Grzelakowski's tutelage as hitting coach, the 2022 Madonna team ranked in the top-five nationally in home runs (52), runs scored (374), runs batted in (341) and extra-base hits (150).

Prior to his coaching days at Madonna, Grzelakowski was a standout on the diamond for the Crusaders and culminated a highly successful career by being named WHAC Player of the Year and a NAIA All-American as a senior in 2017. During his senior season, Grzelakowski earned the high honors by belting 12 home runs while driving in 60 runs behind a .426 batting average and a .756 slugging percentage. The four-year starter also earned Academic All-American honors and a host of Academic All-Conference accolades during his time at Madonna.

The power from Grzelakowski's senior campaign carried over to his professional playing career as the first-year Utica Unicorn led the USPBL in home runs when he signed a professional contract to join the Minnesota Twins organization in 2017. While with the Twins organization, Grzelakowski would go on to be named a Florida State League Mid-Season and Post-Season All-Star, a MiLB.com Organizational All-Star and eventually reached Twins Double-A affiliate, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

In addition to being the new leader of Macomb Baseball, Grzelakowski will remain on as the manager of the Westside Woolly Mammoths and will continue to provide skill training to local players. Grzelakowski is also the founder and owner of Fortitude Baseball, a consulting service that specializes in mental and performance training for athletes striving to reach the next level.

Grzelakowski and staff will immediately hit the recruiting trail seeking unsigned student-athletes to add to their 2022-23 roster. Interested student-athletes are asked to fill out a recruit form here: https://www.macombmonarchs.com/sports/recruiting_form.