MUSKEGON — Montague alum and Milligan University player Nick Moss didn't plan on playing organized baseball this summer. After his first of two seasons at NAIA Milligan University in Tennessee, where he hit .336 in 40 games as the Buffaloes posted a strong 41-15 overall record, Moss planned to "make some money" working while staying sharp via hitting and weightlifting on his own time.
However, when the Muskegon Clippers gave him a call a couple weeks ago, needing an outfielder after star Caden Thelen left the team at the end of June to prepare to go back to Grand Valley State University, it was an opportunity Moss felt he couldn't pass up. (Thelen's loss, which the team knew was coming, was a big one for the Clippers; he still leads the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League in RBI, with 30, despite not having played in over a week.)
"I told (Clippers' assistant coach Tim Simon) I might be a little rusty, but this is a great opportunity, local, close to home," Moss said. "I felt the urge. Why not? I started up (last) Tuesday with them and it looks like a great time to hop on."
Moss indeed joined up at a great time, helping the Clippers sweep the Flag City Sluggers in a Tuesday-Thursday series last week to fight their way into the playoff picture. The sweep pulled the Clippers' record to 13-11, within one game of the Sluggers for second place and a playoff spot in the GLSCL's North Division.
In Last Thursday's game, the last of the series, Moss reached base three times, drove in a run, stole a base and recorded an assist from left field as the Clippers hung on to beat Flag City 9-8. The game ended when outfielder Zane Wilson, who replaced Moss defensively late in the game, threw out a Slugger baserunner at the plate for the final out.
Clippers' coach Brian Wright, the former 45-year coach and teacher at Shelby who retired from the school at the end of the 2026 season, said he told Wilson, who through Monday was hitting .109 and needed a confidence boost, that he'd get him in Thursday's game for an at-bat or two when the Clippers led 9-4. Although the Sluggers rallied soon afterward, Wright didn't want to go back on that statement. Removing Moss, he added, was no reflection on the former Montague Wildcat.
"It's a blessing that we were able to pick Nick up," Wright said. "He's going to be a big help for us. We're excited about that."
Unfortunately for the Clippers, after sweeping the Sluggers, they were on the other end of a sweep in their next series against the South Division-leading Grand Lake Mariners, but the Sluggers were swept by the Hamilton Joes as well, so the Clippers remain within a game of the postseason with a week of games to play.
Moss hadn't played much outfield prior to this past season at Milligan; he was a middle infielder, and a very good one, in his time at Montague and in two years at Lake Michigan College in southwestern Michigan. At Milligan, a combination of injuries to other players and Moss' own success at the plate led his coaches to inquire whether he could play the outfield. Moss, who said he has a great relationship with Milligan coach Skyler Barnett and his staff, said he'd give it a shot.
"It's been a slow process," Moss said with a laugh. "I'll tell anybody that wants to know that I'm not the best defensive outfielder, so it's coming with time. I'm just happy to be able to be in the lineup and contribute when I can."
Moss certainly looked the part in the field Thursday, playing clean baseball and throwing out a Slugger who tried to stretch a long single into a double. Moss credited teammate Kaden Howard with picking his throw and making the tag at second on the play.
"The biggest takeaway is, do the easy things right," Moss said. "That's just hitting your cutoff (man,) so I've always just thrown at the cutoff, and I let those guys in the middle make the right decision."
Moss said he's looking forward to one more season at Milligan before joining the "real world," noting the game plays faster the higher up the ladder you go. It's a challenge, but one Moss has relished.
"I've always thought I've had a pretty good IQ for the game, and I've always been a good contact guy, but the further you go on, the game always evolves," Moss said. "Now you're at a four-year (school), in a really good conference, the game constantly gets quicker. You're always learning on the fly, picking up new stuff."
At the plate, Moss was 1-for-2, smacking a RBI single up the middle to cap a four-run Clippers' third inning that put the team ahead for good, 5-2. He drew a walk in the fifth inning and was hit by a pitch in the seventh, then stole second. Moss said he recorded a couple hits the day prior, but Thursday's single represented his best-hit ball in his brief Clippers' tenure to date.
The Clippers as a whole took advantage of several fielding miscues by Flag City and some timely hitting to build their 9-4 lead before their own struggles in the field contributed to the Sluggers' attempted comeback. An opposite-field two-run double by Dalton Dick, which gave him three RBI in the game, preceded Moss' hit and put the Clippers up 4-2. Brayden Turner drove in Justin St. Antoine after the latter's leadoff triple in the sixth inning, giving him two RBI for the game and making it 8-4, and Dick added his fourth RBI of the game later in the inning to make it 9-4.
Moss parachuting onto the Clippers' roster just in time for a playoff race turned out to be fortuitous timing for both him and the team, and he hopes to be able to be a factor down the stretch.
"We're in a great spot," Moss said. "We've got nothing to lose and just playing as hard as we can. I think that really showed. We've got a lot of guys that busted their butt all nine Innings (tonight) and all through this series...There's no letting up. It's not getting any easier. I feel like, one through nine and through the whole (pitching) staff, that's how we're thinking."
