Western Wayne's Ethan Grodack is having a busy summer on the diamond and the gridiron

LAKE ARIEL — Western Wayne's Ethan Grodack isn't exactly taking it easy in his final summer of freedom before heading off to college.

Grodack graduated from Western Wayne in June and will be continuing his academic career this fall at Wilkes University. There, he'll study secondary education and history while also playing baseball.

In the meantime, he's working hard to stay sharp as an athlete both on the diamond and the gridiron.

Last Thursday night, Grodack likely played the final football game of his career, suiting up for the County at the 90 ^th Scranton Lions Club Dream Game.

In addition, he's taking a regular turn on the mound for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Miners of the East Coast Collegiate Baseball League.

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Grodack has mixed feelings about this time of transition. On the one hand, he's sad to see his high school years come to a close. On the other, he's genuinely excited to begin applying the life lessons he's learned out in the wider world.

“I really enjoyed my time at Western Wayne,” Grodack said. “I made a lot of friends growing up in a small town, playing football and baseball. We all learned to stick together during hard times and that's something I'll always look back on.”

On the diamond

Grodack put together a stellar senior season on the diamond for Western Wayne.

As a team, the Wildcats struggled a bit to compete in the always-rugged Lackawanna League, going 4-10 in Division II action The 'Cats did secure a spot at this year's District 2 tournament, though, but were eliminated in the first round of the Class 4A bracket by eventual state qualifier Scranton Prep.

Grodack was the ace of Western Wayne's staff, going 2-2 with an ERA of 3.25 across 13 appearances. He was also among the league leaders in strikeouts with 56.

Offensively, Grodack batted .241 with 14 hits, five doubles, two triples and 14 runs scored.

In recognition of his on-field accomplishments this spring, Grodack was the lone Wildcat chosen to play in the 2024 Field of Dreams Senior All-Star Classic.

“Ethan had a really good senior year,” said veteran skipper John Boandl. “He's a great baseball player, a leader on the field, and an even better person off the field.”

After the season, Grodack signed on to play with Scranton-Wilkes Barre in summer league action. To this point in the campaign, he's been used exclusively as a pitcher.

Heading into this week's action, the Manager Mike Guy's Miners were all alone atop the ECCBA standings with a 22-12 record.

Grodack's most recent outing came on Saturday at Trenton (NJ). He earned the starting nod and worked three hitless innings, striking out three and not walking a batter as the Miners posted an 8-6 win.

Grodack has been extremely effective on the hill this summer. While he's still searching for that elusive first decision, he has posted a 1.56 ERA and minuscule .083 WHIP across 18 innings.

“I've really been focused on pitching to contact and hitting my spots,” Grodack said. “Throwing the two-seam fastball inside has worked very well especially against right-handed batters. It causes them either to pop out or ground out.”

The ECCBA Summer League regular season ends this week with playoffs tentatively scheduled to begin on Friday.

“The team has worked really hard to this point,” Grodack said. “I'm very confident that we can make a deep run in the playoffs.”

Last hurrah

Grodack closed out his high school football career with a flourish last Thursday at Valley View.

He and teammates Alex Lucke, Frankie Leyshon and Carter Mistishin helped lead the County to a wild 35-28 win over the City at this year's Dream Game.

Grodack saw significant action on defense at safety and on special teams.

“It was a once in a lifetime experience, but definitely bittersweet too,” Grodack said. “The game itself was really fun and working together with all your teammates to achieve victory is always a great thing.”

Western Wayne put together yet another solid season on the gridiron in 2023. The Wildcats went 7-3 overall, finishing second in the Division II standings.

Grodack and his teammates then advanced all the way to the District II Class AAA championship game before falling to Prep.

Individually, Grodack caught 10 passes good for 104 yards and one touchdown. On defense, he racked up 48 solo tackles and added 47 assists. He registered three tackles for loss and snagged five interceptions.

A new adventure

According to Grodack, deciding which college to attend this fall was a no-brainer.

The Wilkes University baseball team, which is also coached by Guy, posted an overall record of 22-16 this spring. The Colonels went 11-13 in Landmark Conference action, but were especially strong at home with a mark of 14-5.

“I'm very excited to start the next chapter of my life at Wilkes,” he said. “Playing baseball at the next level is going to be an adventure. I really like the atmosphere there. I know that I'm going to be surrounded by a lot of great people at Wilkes.”

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Western Wayne's Ethan Grodack is having a busy summer on the diamond and the gridiron