Hot Hitting Again Bolsters Plentiful Pitching as Novi Clinches 1st Title
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 17, 2023
EAST LANSING – When Novi head baseball coach Rick Green presided over his team for the official start of practice in March, there were two immediate observations.
One, in his words, “there is a lot of work to do” – but that’s normal talk that just about every coach probably spoke at that moment.
Second and most importantly, there was something else about his team that stood out as he began his 23rd season at the helm.
“I knew we had the pitching staff as long as we are healthy,” Green said. “We were deep in the pitching staff.”
The entire state saw that firsthand during this MHSAA Tournament.
For the first time, Novi is a state champion in baseball following an 8-3 win over Brownstown Woodhaven in the Division 1 championship game at Michigan State University’s McLane Stadium.
Over seven tournament games, Novi allowed just 14 runs, and Green added that another facet of his team emerged over the last three weeks.
“Our pitching staff carried us most of the way, and then hitting came through in the playoffs,” he said.
It certainly wasn’t an easy road for Novi (32-8), which knocked off the likes of Catholic League finalist Detroit Catholic Central, No. 3-ranked Northville, No. 7 Battle Creek Lakeview, No. 16 Hartland and a 30-win Woodhaven team en route to the title.
Before this dream run, Novi hadn’t made it to the Semifinal round since doing so in 1973, when the Wildcats finished runner-up in Class C.
Senior Alex Czapski was able to speak about the historical significance for the program better than any of his teammates after the game, given he had older brothers who graduated in 2014 and 2017 and the farthest any of them got was the Regional round.
Czapski, whose tying single with two outs in the seventh inning of a Semifinal against Mattawan kept Novi alive before his team went on to win that game in 10 innings, literally has grown up around the program.
“We have just been playing for this team for a long time,” Czapski said. “We had pitching depth, and we had hitting that tended to get hot. The thing we know about this team that makes us stand out is we have a brotherhood. Our team chemistry is something I don’t think I’ve seen out of a Novi team.”
Novi was in control throughout the Final, collecting 15 hits and putting constant traffic on the bases.
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the top of the third inning, taking a 2-0 lead on a 2-run single by junior Thad Lawler with the bases loaded and two outs.
Novi tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning, with juniors Brendon Bennett and Andrew Kummer and senior catcher Brett Reed each providing RBI singles to give their team a 5-0 lead.
Woodhaven (32-12) got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, cutting Novi’s lead to 5-1 when senior Nick Phillips singled with pinch-runner Dawson Terry on second base. Terry scored when a throw to home got past the catcher.
After a scoreless fifth inning, Novi all but put the game away by scoring three runs. One scored on a wild pitch, and then Reed hit a 2-run single to left-center to give the Wildcats an 8-1 lead.
Woodhaven did make things a bit interesting in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two runs and putting runners on first and third with one out. But Reed threw out a runner trying to steal second, and Novi sophomore Uli Fernsler then finished a complete-game performance with a strikeout to start the celebration on the field.
Fernsler allowed three runs and eight hits, walked none and struck out eight. Woodhaven, meanwhile, had to use four pitchers and struggled to contain Novi’s offense.
The Warriors were making their second trip to the championship game after falling 8-1 to Grosse Pointe South in 2018.
“(Fernsler) pitched a really good game, and we were the opposite,” Woodhaven head coach Corey Farner said. “We didn’t hit our spots at all and had a hard time getting outs. You can’t put 19 runners on base and expect to win. That was the difference in the game. They pitched a really good game, and we didn’t.”
Bennett had three hits and an RBI, junior Caleb Walker had three hits and Reed had two hits and three RBI to lead Novi in its historic victory.
“This is so special,” Green said. “I’m so happy for our kids, and I’m so happy for all of our past players.”
PHOTOS (Top) A Novi hitter drives a pitch during Saturday's first championship game at McLane Stadium. (Middle) The Wildcats raise their trophy during the awards presentation. (Below) Novi's Uli Fernsler makes his move toward the plate. (Photos by Olivia Napier/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Pitchers Set Pace as MP Sacred Heart, Marcellus Advance with Shutouts
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2026
EAST LANSING — To this day, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart junior ace pitcher Nate Siler doesn’t know where his nickname of “gator” came from and why.
“I have no clue to be honest,” Siler said. “It’s just something I’ve had my entire life. I really don’t know where it came from.”
Regardless, Siler certainly did some “chomping” on the mound during a Division 4 Semifinal against Royal Oak Shrine Catholic on Friday.
Siler was in total control from the first pitch, striking out 16 batters and tossing a three-hit shutout to lead the Irish to a 4-0 victory.
Ranked No. 2 in the state entering the tournament, Sacred Heart (37-4) will go for its third Finals championship at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Marcellus.
“Just throwing strikes,” Siler said of what was key to his dominance. “Do your job and not let the moment get too big. Stay even-headed and do the same job I’ve been doing all year.”
Sacred Heart provided Siler with all the run support he would need in the top of the first inning, striking first for two runs on an RBI single by senior Brady Davis and an RBI double by junior Hank MacDonald with two outs.
“We’ve in the tournament been jumping off in the first inning and getting some runs,” veteran Sacred Heart head coach Earl Hartman said. “That’s always going to help (us get) relaxed. The two runs we got in the first inning were all (Siler) needed, and it usually is. He doesn’t often need more than that to win a ballgame.”
In the fifth inning, Siler and MacDonald hit consecutive RBI doubles to give Sacred Heart a 4-0 lead.
Siler did encounter some strife in the bottom of the seventh when Shrine loaded the bases with one out on a bloop single, walk, and hit batter.
But Siler ended the threat and the game with back-to-back strikeouts.
Shrine, which was making its first Semifinal appearance since advancing to the Division 4 championship game in 2003, finished 26-9.
“He controlled the game from beginning to end,” Shrine head coach Dan Noble said of Siler. “He was never really frazzled. We have cut down on our strikeouts significantly this year from last year, but you’ve got to give him all the credit. He’s the difference in the game. He just controls everything that he throws. He’s got a plus fastball, and he throws it with a four-seam and a two-seam action. Nothing looks the same, yet he ends up hitting the same spot.”
Marcellus 4, Painesdale Jeffers 0
In the midst of focusing on his team’s current situation and what’s to come, Marcellus head coach Christian Hutson made sure to take time and offer reflection following his team’s win over Jeffers.
“I wish every coach could experience this today,” Hutson said while fighting back tears. “Just this atmosphere and being on that field. You never know if it’s going to happen. It’s pretty awesome. I’m all smiles. I don’t know what to say because there’s been some years where it’s been tough for us. It’s paid off.”
Marcellus (22-11) will play for a Finals championship for the first time thanks to the performance of junior Cale Hackenburg, who threw a four-hit shutout, striking out 15 and walking one.
“Everything was working,” Hackenburg said. “My fastball, I could locate it well. My slider was making them uncomfortable.”
Marcellus also got his team’s offense going, hitting a one-out triple in the bottom of the first inning and then scoring on a sacrifice fly by junior Abram Coffey to make it 1-0 Wildcats.
In the third inning, Marcellus took a 3-0 lead on an RBI single by Coffey and a Jeffers error on the same play that scored another run.
Marcellus rounded out the scoring in the fifth inning when Coffey tripled and then scored on an RBI groundout by senior Eli Torres.
The Jets (15-9) were also making their first trip to a Semifinal, and got a boost when senior ace Cameron Anderson was able to start after it was thought he would be lost for this week. Anderson was involved in a horrific outfield collision during the Regional round.
Jeffers head coach Joe Romano said Anderson suffered a cracked collarbone in his non-throwing shoulder that healed enough to start, but that it greatly affected his velocity trying to follow through.
Anderson gutted through 2 1/3 innings before being taken out.
“He was in pain,” Romano said. “He went through a lot of therapy this week just to get to this. It was not looking good, but he wanted to play so bad. He’s going to have a memory for the rest of his life. They hit three or four good hits, and that is what cost us the game. Other than that, it wasn’t anything that we did wrong.”
PHOTOS (Top) Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s Brody Collin (1) welcomes home teammate Brady Davis after Davis crosses the plate during their team’s Division 4 Semifinal win Thursday. (Middle) Marcellus pitcher Cale Hackenburg makes his move toward the plate during his team’s Semifinal victory.