The Merrill Baseball Program inducted three new members into the Merrill Baseball Hall of Fame on June 26 at Athletic Park, honoring coach and player Corey Opper, player Ty Grunenwald, and contributor Mike Hoff.
The ceremony followed the first game of the evening’s Merrill American Legion Invitational Baseball Tournament. Bill Heideman served as emcee and Brian Artac as presenter, with the program including an introduction of past Hall of Fame inductees and a moment of silence for deceased members before the 2026 class was formally recognized.
Ty Grunenwald grew up around the game through his family’s love of baseball, starting in T-ball before working his way through Little League, traveling ball, high school, and college. He was a two-sport athlete at Merrill High School from 2010 to 2014, earning All-Conference honors in football, while making baseball his primary focus. As a switch-hitting shortstop, he was named first team All-Conference and All-District as a Junior, then repeated as a Senior, while adding first team All-State and Academic All-State honors. He played in the WBCA Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Classic, Team Wisconsin, and the American Legion All-Star Game at Miller Park, and he led Merrill’s Post 46 Legion team to three consecutive State Tournament appearances. Grunenwald ranks among the top 10 in several career hitting categories at Merrill High School, including fifth all-time in doubles and third all-time in at-bats. He went on to play college baseball at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Arizona before transferring to North Carolina State University, where he played rugby and helped the Wolfpack to back-to-back ACC Championships. He now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife, Tylar, and daughter, Layla, and continues to play in the Central North Carolina Men’s Baseball League.
Mike Hoff’s connection to Merrill Baseball began in 1993 when he started coaching Little League alongside his son, Derek. What began as a father coaching his son grew into decades of service to the program. Hoff and his wife, Sue, raised four boys through Merrill Baseball, from T-ball through Varsity, while their daughter, Desirae, was a constant supporter along the way. Over the years, Hoff coached Little League, Senior League, travel, and All-Star teams, including the 1996 Merrill All-Star team that finished as State runner-up. His involvement extended beyond the dugout, as he served on the Little League Board of Directors, was Little League President, helped run concessions at Athletic Park, and supported Merrill Baseball Boosters and field improvements, including the deck at the high school field. In recent years, Hoff has continued to serve the Varsity program from the scoreboard booth.
Corey Opper credits much of his baseball foundation to Merrill mentors, including Tom Cornelius and Bruce English in junior high and Brian Artac and Bill Helmuth in high school. He played Merrill Senior Legion for three seasons under Kevin Golisch, graduated from Merrill in 1995, and later played for the Merrill Rangers before playing at UW-Stout. Opper moved into coaching soon after and built a lengthy résumé, including 17 years as a high school coach that produced 13 Conference Championships, 12 Sectional trips, three State appearances and a State runner-up finish in 2008. He also coached Junior Legion for three seasons and Senior Legion for 13 seasons, the latter producing six State appearances, two runner-up finishes, and a State Championship, along with a National Regional runner-up finish in 2014. Opper has spent the past nine seasons as Pitching Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for the UW-Stevens Point College Baseball Program, helping the team to two WIAC regular season Conference Championships, a Conference Tournament title, two Regional titles, and a Final Four finish in the World Series.
The committee extended special thanks to Merrill Baseball Hall of Fame committee members Dan Wendorf, Bill Helmuth, Brian Artac, Mike Weckwerth, and Bruce English. Sponsors for the event included the Merrill Baseball Association, Athletic Park Booster Club, Merrill Park and Recreation Department, WJMT Bluejay 730 Radio, Color Creations LLC, Premier Promotions, and American Legion Post 46.
Merrill Baseball Hall of Fame classes since 2010
2010 Inaugural Class: Mike “Butch” Hudzinski, Warren “Weck” Weckwerth, Roger Zuelsdorff, William “Bill” Helmuth, Ronald “Ron” Sterr, James “Kobe” Koblitz.
Class of 2011: Hal Sanders, Bob “Bobby G” Grunenwald, Arvo “Arv” Britten, Mike “Weck” Weckwerth. Honored: 1958 Merrill Bluejay Team.
Class of 2012: Clarence “Glen” Glenetzke, Bill “Billy” Boyd Jr., Greg Ament. Honored: Merrill High School Team 1974 Team.
Class of 2013: Rick “Butter” Bonnell, Norm “Jiggs” Heideman, Bruce English. Honored: The Beacon Bar A’s, 1974 and 1975 W.B.A. State Champs.
Class of 2014: Al Hehling, Jordan Stine, Brian Artac, Craig Josiger, Steve Imhoff. Honored: 1991 Merrill Rangers.
Class of 2016: Nick Grunenwald, Bob Natzke, Stan Rothmeyer. Honored: 2005 State Legion Champs.
Class of 2017: Chris Berndt, David Klug, Harlan Rothmeyer, Jared Sanders. Honored: Merrill Giants.
Class of 2018: Adam Cordova, Alex Grunenwald, Shawn Schultz, Mark Simon, Mike VanLieshout. Honored: 2007 AA American Legion State Champs.
Class of 2019: Gary Hanson, Ed Cordova, Dave Detert, Jim Schymanski. Honored: 1987 Merrill Senior League State Champions.
Class of 2021: Mark “Eddie” Hassel, Kevin Golisch, Ryan Leavitt, Debs Loud. Honored: 1985 American Legion Team.
Class of 2022: Kent Reinhardt, Tom Cornelius, Steve Dahm. Honored: 1976 and 1977 Bluejay Baseball Teams.
Class of 2023: Eric Dayton, Erik Finanger, Roger Wendorf. Honored: Merrill High School 1965 Wisconsin Valley Champions.
Class of 2024: Jeff Beyer, Mike Helmuth, Dave Pyan. Honored: Merrill High School 1990 Wisconsin Valley Champions and 1991 WIAA State Tournament Team.
Class of 2025: Alex Cordova, Tom Koblitz, Pascal Paul, Zach Wendorf. Honored: 2010 Great Northern Conference Champions and WIAA State Tournament Team.
Class of 2026: Ty Grunenwald, Mike Hoff, Corey Opper.
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