Howell Ace Waits Turn, Makes History
June 14, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Given Josh Vyletel’s numbers this spring – most notably, his 15-2 record – Howell's senior ace had to have a pretty big junior year as well.
That's the natural thought, especially as this history-making baseball season approaches its final weekend with the Highlanders headed to the MHSAA Semifinals for the first time.
But in fact, he threw only seven innings and spent the rest of 2011 cheering on his older teammates.
“I just played my role as a junior and watched the seniors play. But when I had a chance, I took advantage of it,” Vyletel said. “I was only a junior. My chance was this year."
And he’s run with it all the way to Battle Creek. The Highlanders senior receives a Second Half High 5 this week for leading his team into the MHSAA Semifinals for the first time, and will get the ball Friday against Warren DeLaSalle.
Howell is 30-10, and Vyletel has won half of the team’s games including matchups with No. 1 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice and No. 3 Northville, and against rival Brighton in Tuesday’s Quarterfinal. He’s thrown 12 complete games with an ERA of 2.00 and 73 strikeouts in 98 innings pitched.
To hear Vyletel tell it, that's all because of the defense around him and the bats getting him that key run in what have been a series of close games. He's quick to deflect the credit, as a humble standout should.
But he's also played a significant part
“He was one of my top one or two on JV two years ago, but last year he barely saw the field,” said Howell co-coach Jason Ladd, who with former Hartland coach Mike Weatherly took over the program this spring. “We played Traverse City Central (this spring), and he won one of those games, and he threw a shutout against Brother Rice. That let us know he was the real deal. We didn’t know he’d be that good, but we knew he’d be pretty good.”
The best sign came in a two-inning appearance last season when the left-hander struck out five of six Hartland batters he faced.
During the offseason, Vyletel picked up a slider and a new way to throw his change-up to add to his curveball and a fastball that he sped up to nearly 80 miles per hour. Among those he worked with was former Climax-Scotts standout Travis Wade, who reached the Houston Astros’ Triple-A team in 2002. “If you have command of two (pitches), you can be a success. Command of four speaks volumes,” Ladd said.
Vyletel has always been one of the better pitchers in his grade, but never the best. But in this season's doubleheader against Hartland, he ended up with wins in both games (after weather delayed the second game).
Last weekend, he drew Holt and a matchup against Kansas City Royals draft pick Justin Alleman in the Regional semifinal. Vyletel got hit hard over his four innings. But the Highlanders came back from a 7-1 deficit, and Vyletel came back to win the Regional final over Dexter.
He's a Tigers fan to the core and a Justin Verlander fan too. "My initials are J.V. I've got to represent it," Vyletel said.
And tied for the 10th-most wins in MHSAA history for one season, there's no doubt he's an ace now -- regardless of the credit he deflects or anything that happens this weekend.
“We just started winning,” Vyletel said. “And winning is all that’s been on my mind.”
Click to read more about Vyletel's future plans and favorite pitches.
PHOTO: Howell's Josh Vyetel threw a shutout against Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice in March that set the tone for one of the winningest seasons in MHSAA history.
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.