First-Time Title Winner Guaranteed in D4
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
June 16, 2017
EAST LANSING – Coach Bryan Scheurer figured his Portland St. Patrick team couldn’t play much worse.
The Shamrocks committed four errors over the first four innings of their Division 4 Semifinal and trailed Unionville-Sebewaing 8-4.
“Our motto is to throw strikes early,” he said. “We want to throw strikes and take the outs they give us.”
That wasn’t working. In addition to the errors, St. Patrick issued three walks.
“We weren’t playing well,” Scheurer said. “Another one of our mottos is, losing is not acceptable. We’re going to chip away, grind away.
“We didn’t make it easy.”
The Shamrocks scored four runs in the fifth inning to tie the game and pushed across four more in the seventh to defeat USA, 12-8, on Friday at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium.
St. Patrick (28-0-1), a 10-3 loser to Sterling Heights Parkway Christian in the Final last season, will attempt to win the program’s first title when it plays Hudson (27-16) at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Hudson, which had never won a Regional title until this season, trailed Gaylord St. Mary, 2-1, after four innings and then scored two in the fifth and added three in the sixth to take a 6-2 lead on the way to achieving another program first.
St. Patrick had two triples in the fifth inning of its win. Freshman Devin Fedewa’s two-run triple was the key hit.
Graham Smith then started the seventh with a walk, and the bases were loaded with one out after an error and a hit batsman. Dan Mackowiak batted in what proved to be the winning run with a sacrifice fly to center. Nathan Lehnert and Scheurer’s nephew, Brandon Scheurer, had RBI singles, and another run scored on a well-executed double steal.
St. Patrick trailed Bay City All Saints 3-0 and 6-4 in a Regional Final before coming back to win, 7-6. Brandon Scheuer said his team has come back a number of times this season, so the fact the Shamrocks were trailing again didn’t faze them.
“We’ve seen games like that before,” he said. “We try not to hit doubles and home runs. We want to hit singles. We play small ball. We’re good at it. Apparently, they are, too.”
USA (30-8-1) batted around in the third inning and scored four runs to take a 7-3 lead. Scheurer came on in relief in that inning, and though he gave up three of the four runs, he settled down and allowed just two hits and no runs over the final three innings to receive credit for the victory.
Scheurer had four hits, and four of his teammates had two including Brendan Schrauben, Lehnert and Fedewa, all of whom had two RBI.
St. Patrick had 15 hits to nine for USA. Cooper Kauffold had three hits and three RBI for the Patriots.
“That was a heck of a game when you think about all of the back-and-forth play,” USA coach Tyler Bader said. “I told our players you’ve got to use this as a springboard. Not having experience here can add up.”
USA was playing to reach an MHSAA Final for the first time.
Hudson 6, Gaylord St. Mary 4
Jesse Hesistan went the first six innings for Hudson before filling the bases with no outs in the seventh. Coach Jeremy Beal brought in Garrett Gamble from third base and switched Hesistan to third.
The move worked. Drew Koenig hit a grounder to Hesistan, who stepped on the bag and threw to first to complete the double play. Though a run scored, Hudson got what it wanted.
“I was nervous,” Gamble said. “Pitching in relief is never easy. You just have to get it done. You prep for this.”
Brady Hunter singled in St. Mary’s fourth run, but Gamble got the last out on a fly out to center.
“(Hesistan) had enough pitches left to finish,” Beal said. “He was staring at getting us to the Final. That double play was just like we drew it up.”
Hudson’s three runs in the sixth inning proved valuable. Black Borck singled home the fourth run and Gamble, who went 4-4 with four RBI, followed with a two-out, two-run triple.
“We needed to score some runs,” St. Mary coach Matt Nowicki said. “When you get in a hole like that, it’s tough. It would have been nice to take that next step.”
Nick Torsky went the distance for St. Mary (29-8), and Joseph Moeggenberg went 3-3 at the plate.
“We don’t have experience in games like these,” Beal said. “But our athletic department has had success. Wrestling for one. We coach kids in the fall, and it carries over to the winter. We coach kids in the winter and it carries over to the spring.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Portland St. Patrick second baseman Dan Mackowiak throws to first during Friday’s Division 4 Semifinal. (Middle) Hudson puts a tag on Gaylord St. Mary’s Nick Torsky.
Off to Superb Start, Three Rivers Eager to Build on Program-Best Run
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
April 14, 2026
THREE RIVERS – The Three Rivers varsity baseball team reached historic heights last spring with an experienced group of seniors and talented underclassmen in Scott Muffley's return to the third-base coaching box.
Three Rivers caught fire during the 2025 postseason and finished 25-15 overall, winning Division 2 District and Regional championships before falling 10-0 in its Division 2 Quarterfinal to eventual champion Ada Forest Hills Eastern. The Regional title was the program's first.
Muffley, a Three Rivers alumnus and long-time marketing teacher at the high school, begins his second season of this second tenure after previously guiding the Wildcats to a District title in 2010. He later enjoyed a successful stint as Schoolcraft's head baseball coach before resigning to follow the careers of his daughter Josie in Division I softball at Florida State and son Jordyn in minor league baseball.
Even though he graduated eight seniors, Muffley returns six starters, including senior starting first and third baseman Mason Awe.
"We got really hot towards the end of last season. We played our hearts out with great team baseball,” Awe said. “When everyone started listening to Coach Muffley near the end of the year, that's when we began hitting and playing very well. Our pitching and hitting are really strong again.”
Hitting, speed on the basepaths and defense will be Three Rivers' biggest team strengths. Awe was selected second-team all-state as a junior after batting .462 with 12 extra-base hits, 23 RBI, 26 runs scored and 12 stolen bases.
He had multiple college baseball scholarship offers but instead will attend Kalamazoo College and play football, hoping to compete for the starting quarterback job this fall.
Other key returnees for the Wildcats this season include junior pitcher and utility player Aiden Williams, junior catcher Tate Rohrer, senior centerfielder Brady Penny, senior pitcher and third baseman Gabriel Young, junior shortstop and pitcher Drake Dibble and senior outfielder Carson Bowley.
"Mason is going to be my utility guy. He can play anywhere in the infield and has a strong stick in our lineup," Muffley said.
"Tate will have to be a strong horse for us again behind the plate," Muffley added.
Dibble, a three-sport athlete, will be counted on heavily to make a lot of plays at shortstop.
"We had great team players last year. Our goal is to win more hardware and win our (group’s) first conference title. That hasn't been done in a very long time,” Dibble said. “The biggest thing is we just have to play for one another."
Sophomores Rylan Corte and Tyson Rohrer are making a big impact. Corte is a middle infielder, while Tyson Rohrer is a left-handed pitcher and roams the outfield.
"Rylan has a phenomenal glove and is very smooth," said Muffley, who added that Corte and Dibble already have executed a half-dozen double plays.
Williams returns as Three Rivers' ace on the pitcher's mound, where he compiled a 6-2 record with a 1.69 ERA as a sophomore with 49 strikeouts over 49 2/3 innings pitched.
Corte, Dibble, Tyson Rohrer, Penny, Cole Dunmier, Nowak and Young will shoulder a few innings on the mound as well.
"It was tough as a pitcher my sophomore year in a conference as strong as ours, but I got solid experience. I took this year off from football and put 30 pounds on, and I have increased my fastball by six miles per hour," said Williams, who has verbally committed to play at Glen Oaks Community College in two years. His future plans are to study education and become a coach.
"Team chemistry is definitely a key. We had a lot of tough losses early last season, and once we came together as a team we all had one goal, to keep winning."
Despite graduating a significant class a year ago, Three Rivers hasn't missed a beat this spring getting off to an 8-0-1 start. That strong beginning includes league sweeps of Otsego and Sturgis.
The Wildcats are 4-0 in the Wolverine Conference entering today’s home doubleheader against Plainwell. They are shooting for the school's first league title since 1974.
When Muffley got an opportunity to return to the program before last season, he jumped at it.
"I had the itching to get back into coaching, When (athletic director) Matt Stofer asked me to come back, it was just perfect timing,” Muffley said. “I saw the group of individuals we had coming up. I knew there was a lot of talent there. The only thing we had to do was get them to buy into a system, and it took time.
“Things went very well for us last season once we did that. It involves not only the ability to play the game, but mental toughness, self-visualization, goal setting, positive and negative self-talk, being a good teammate and the ability to be coachable.
"What we have are a lot of good quality players who are interchangeable with plenty of arms, especially our younger kids. We just have to put everything together. Baseball is a mental game, 70 percent failure and 30 percent success. It's a learning process that many of these kids don't see until the next level. We're teaching that aspect to them now."
Penny, a four-year varsity player, serves as Three Rivers' leadoff hitter followed by Williams in the No. 2 slot, Young or Tyson Rohrer hitting third and Awe as the clean-up hitter.
Dibble, Tate Rohrer, Corte, Ethan Moreland and junior Alex Nowak also have provided plenty of punch at the plate during the early portion of the schedule. Three Rivers' goal at the plate is to hit .330. The Wildcats batted .326 a year ago, and that was a big reason for much of their success. They were a base-hitting team with just six home runs in 2025.
"Our achievements last season were big and helped put Three Rivers baseball on the map. I think we have a good squad. We want to win another District, Regional and keep working from there," said Penny, who anchors the Wildcats' starting outfield.
"Brady has blazing speed; the kid makes some unbelievable catches out there and tracks things down well. At the plate he can lay down a bunt and beat plays out," Muffley said.
When not pitching, Tyson Rohrer will play first, left field or right field. Bowley, junior Ethan Moreland and junior Lincoln Burkey also will log time in the Wildcats' outfield.
"My role as a senior is to keep everyone humble and to play for one another and be a real team, build chemistry and teach the younger guys to listen. If you can do all those things, you will succeed," Bowley said.
Sophomore JT Wilds, a pitcher and infielder, will split time between the junior varsity and varsity squads throughout the season, along with Cooper Goff (c, of).
Muffley's coaching staff consists of Derek Adams – one of Muffley's former players – along with Steve Dibble, Jerry Burgess and Chris Kearney.
"Our coaching staff is phenomenal. We all share the same philosophy and have the same level of passion for the game,” Muffley said. “They have all been a Godsend. We all get along and believe in playing the game the right way."
Scott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Three Rivers’ Aiden Williams delivers a pitch to the plate last season during a tournament game. (Middle) Brady Penny throws the ball back into the infield after making a catch in center field. (Photos courtesy of the Three Rivers athletic department.)