D1 Semis: South Seeks to Unseat Champ
June 12, 2014
By Andy Sneddon
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – One big inning, one big relief performance.
And Grosse Pointe South will play for an MHSAA baseball championship.
The Blue Devils used a five-run fourth inning and the clutch relief pitching of Andrew Eaton in topping Battle Creek Lakeview, 6-4, on Thursday in an MHSAA Division 1 Semifinal at Michigan State’s McLane Baseball Stadium.
South (27-17), seeking its first championship since 2001, will play defending champ Bay City Western (37-7) in the title game Saturday.
Western, ranked No. 4, advanced with a 6-1 victory over Clarkston and will attempt to become the first school in the 43-year history of the MHSAA tournament to win back-to-back championships at the highest level (Division I or Class A).
South is unranked and largely unheralded, but far from untested. The Blue Devils overcame a 7-12 start to win the rugged Macomb Area Conference Red and upset second-ranked Sterling Heights Stevenson on Tuesday in a Quarterfinal. South had lost three times, by a combined 26-5, to Stevenson during the regular season.
“I’m so proud of this group,” said Dan Griesbaum, who is in his 31st season as South’s coach and is the state’s ninth all-time winningest coach with 707 victories. “They’ve just come such a long way.
“What we’ve done the last three weeks has just been amazing. We’re not seeing anyone in the playoffs who’s better than what we saw in the regular season. We’re used to this kind of stuff. We’re used to playing good competition.”
South could muster just one hit, a Ronald Williams single, off Lakeview starter Jacob Herbers through three innings.
Trailing 1-0, the Blue Devils broke through in the fourth, batting around and using five hits, an error, and a wild pitch to seize a 5-1 lead.
Lakeview (32-6) responded in the next half inning, batting around and scoring three runs on four hits to draw to 5-4.
“The thing that you want, right after you get up like that, is to come out and shut them down, and that’s exactly what we didn’t do,” Griesbaum said. “It was kind of frustrating. But a good team keeps battling, and that’s exactly what we did.”
Eaton came on for starter Douglas Graham with a runner on third base and no one out after the Spartans had pulled close. Eaton, a sophomore right-hander, got a lineout and a groundout, but then issued a walk and hit a batter to load the bases. He got a strikeout to end the inning.
James Fishback’s RBI double in the fifth inning extended South’s lead to 6-4. Lakeview threatened in the seventh, using an error, a single and a walk to load the bases. Eaton induced a game-ending flyout to end the drama.
“I was a little nervous there, but I just knew I had to calm myself down and get through it,” said Eaton, who allowed two hits, walked two and struck out four over three innings. “I think we’re sort of like a Cinderella team. No one really expected us to be here. … It’s just been a great run for us.”
Graham earned the win, allowing nine hits while striking out four over four innings.
Herbers surrendered nine hits in taking the loss. He struck out six and walked two. Just three of South’s six runs were earned.
Lakeview finished with 11 hits – Gavin Homer, Herbers and Russell Mathiak had two apiece – but stranded 11 runners, including eight in scoring position. Click for the full box score.
Bay City Western 6, Clarkston 1
Brandon Wise had three hits and Scott Badour tossed a five-hitter for Western, a team that lost seven starters to graduation after winning the 2013 Division 1 championship.
“I am (surprised), but I don’t want to downplay my team,” said coach Tim McDonald, who is in his 22nd year at Western. “They have been rock-solid for six straight (tournament) games. It’s going to take a really good team to beat us, because we don’t beat ourselves.
“In high school baseball and in probably any high school sport, if you don’t beat yourselves then that’s half the battle. If you don’t walk people and you don’t make errors – its tough to put two, three hits together at any level, and that’s what we’re making teams do.”
The Warriors graduated 10 players total off last year’s team, which became just the second in school history to win an MHSAA championship, along with the 1999 boys golf squad.
Six players from that 2013 baseball squad have gone on to play college ball.
“We have two starters back from last year, and we start four sophomores,” McDonald said. “They’ve stopped surprising me. I think they don’t think of themselves as sophomores anymore. We don’t have any stars on this team. We don’t have that one guy that you’ve really got to be careful of. It’s a team in every aspect of the word. We play baseball the way I think baseball should be played. We move runners along, we take advantage of opportunities, and it’s fun to watch.”
Western gave Badour all the support he would need with two runs in the second inning. The runners were driven home by Tyler Snover (sacrifice fly) and Jason Clark (two-out single), both sophomores.
Badour’s sacrifice fly and Snover’s RBI single in the fourth inning extended Western’s lead to 4-0, and the Warriors upped their advantage to 5-0 in the fifth when Carson Eby was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a throwing error.
Clarkston got back-to-back doubles in the fourth inning from Nathan Witt and Mitch Smith to plate it’s only run.
Badour struck out four and walked two. The Wolves (20-13) stranded seven runners.
“That’s Scott Badour,” McDonald said. “Not overpowering, but he’s a pitcher with a capital ‘P.’ He knows what he’s doing; he uses his defense. He stepped up huge for us.”
Witt allowed nine hits and walked one over 5 1/3 innings in taking the loss.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grosse Pointe South’s Andrew Eaton threw three innings of relief to help his team return to the Division 1 Final. (Middle) Bay City Western’s Zach Schirmer scores in the second inning past Clarkston catcher Nick Morey.
Performance: Holland Christian's Mike Mokma
April 29, 2016
Mike Mokma
Holland Christian senior – Baseball
Mokma has accomplished more than most during a varsity career now in its fourth season. But until last week, he’d never achieved perfection. The 6-foot-6 right-hander struck out eight of the first nine Holland batters he faced April 19 in tossing his first perfect game, a 3-0 victory that also has earned him the Michigan National Guard Performance of the Week.
Mokma has helped his team to District championships the last two seasons, and last spring despite an injury that briefly kept him off the mound – although he still contributed as the team’s first baseman. He’s back to full strength and has started this season 4-0 with a save, an ERA of 0.53 and 40 strikeouts against only three walks, and while also hitting .425 with 12 runs batted in. He’s been clocked on the mound consistently in the high 80s, topping out at 91 mph, and mixes in a curve that drops from the top of the zone and a slider that rips across the plate. Over the last three seasons, Mokma is 12-3 with a 1.07 ERA and 153 strikeouts with only 24 bases on balls; he’s also hit .410 with 17 doubles, three triples and three home runs. He finished his perfect game with 15 strikeouts, and Holland Christian now stands 14-2.
Also the center on the Maroons' basketball team, Mokma has had his heart set on a college baseball career since elementary school and committed to Michigan State University during the fall of his sophomore year. He carries a 3.3 grade-point average and will major in kinesiology – but has some unfinished business first as he hopes to help a strong senior class carry the team into this season’s final week for the first time since 2006.
Coach Jim Caserta said: “When your best pitcher is a leader, it sets the tone for the whole team. We have a lot of confidence when Mike is on the mound. There’s some pressure that comes with that, but he’s handled that great. He’s contributed not only pitching, but batting as well. But more importantly than that, he’s supported his teammates. Really this year, he’s seen the importance of being a senior leader and taking ownership of the team. We have a nice group of seniors; Mike has contributed a lot the last four years, obviously, and for him and the other seniors being the guys leading the team, it's great. He’s a baseball guy. He studies the game and he’s been around it a lot, and that carries over to his teammates.”
Performance Point: “It was always a childhood dream of mine to throw (a perfect game), and I had put a lot of work into it. I didn’t know (I was close) until the seventh inning, to be honest. With one out, there was a ground ball to second base and our second basemen (Brandon Riemersma) made a heck of a play on it. Our third baseman (Josh Sternberg) turned to me and took a huge deep breath and said, ‘You’ve got a perfect game going.’ From there, the adrenaline started pumping a little bit. … The pitch calls, our catcher (David Williams) did a heck of a job with that; it was probably the best game he’s ever called. Our coach had a big deal with that too, suggesting stuff to throw. The off-speed, the curveball, was probably the best it’s ever been.”
Swing and miss: “Besides the fastball, (my favorite pitch) is probably the slider. Just to see the swings and misses on it, they’re not always the prettiest.”
Dreams come true: “I’ve wanted to go somewhere for baseball since I was 6 or 7. It’s just been a dream of mine. My dad (Scott Mokma) played baseball through high school, and it was a big thing for me. … (MSU) is where I always wanted to go. My grandpa (Earl Mokma) was a big Spartan fan, my dad is a big Spartan fan, and I grew up a big Spartan fan. When they called and I got the offer, it was a no-doubter.”
Lead the way: “The goal has been to win in Districts and Regionals, but we have a long way to go to get there. We have to put in a lot of work, but it’s been a good year so far; we know where we want to be, and we’ve got to put in a lot of work the next couple of weeks. I’ve been given a leadership role, and our coach has stepped back and told us seniors to take over with that. When someone isn’t hustling, he tells us to get on them. We ask them where they want to be in life, where they need to be specifically in baseball for us to be able to win. They usually get on it.”
Changing lives: “I want to do something with physical therapy or be a massage therapist. I’ve been going to a guy in Zeeland who is a massage therapist and I’ve gotten to know the guy really well, and it interests me. You can do a lot of different things, not just work on people, but see how their lives are and make a difference in their lives.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2015-16 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom, or protecting lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2015-16 honorees
April 20: Abby Divozzo, Cadillac girls soccer - Read
March 30: Cassius Winston, Detroit U-D Jesuit boys basketball - Read
March 23: Kierra Fletcher, Warren Cousino girls basketball - Read
March 16: Jacob Montague, Grosse Pointe South swimming & diving - Read
March 9: Kyle Tuttle, St. Charles boys bowling - Read
March 2: Brittney Schnicke, Caledonia girls bowling - Read
Feb. 24: Kamari Newman, Detroit East English boys basketball - Read
Feb. 17: Jason Whitens, Powers North Central boys basketball - Read
Feb. 10: Rachel Hogan, Grand Ledge gymnastics - Read
Feb. 3: Nehemiah Mork, Midland Dow swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 27: Mardrekia Cook, Muskegon girls basketball - Read
Jan. 20: Sage Castillo, Hartland wrestling - Read
Jan. 13: Rob Zofchak, Dexter swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 6: Tyler Deming, Caro wrestling – Read
Dec. 15: Jordan Weber, East Jordan boys basketball – Read
Dec. 8: Kaitlyn Geers, Kent City girls basketball – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Mike Mokma begins his move toward the plate. (Middle) Mokma also is a top hitter and plays first base when he's not on the mound. (Photos by BKBrewer Photography.)