Lakeshore, John Glenn Win Big in D2
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
June 15, 2017
EAST LANSING – Stevensville Lakeshore trailed 1-0 and did not have a hit until leadoff batter Ryan Remus stepped to the plate to open the bottom of the third inning of Thursday’s Division 2 Semifinal against Chelsea.
That’s when the game changed. Remus singled, went to second on a balk and with a head-first slide scored the tying run – swinging the momentum clearly toward the Lancers.
Lakeshore went on to score four runs in that inning and defeat Chelsea 7-1 at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium.
Lakeshore (35-6), headed to a Final for the first time since 1990 when it won the Class B title, will play Bay City John Glenn for the championship at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Glenn will make its second Final appearance in search of its first MHSAA title.
Glenn (34-8) hammered Dearborn Divine Child, 15-4, in the second Semifinal, with 15 hits and a seven-run second inning to set the tone.
Cal Barrett homered with two outs in the first Semifinal to stake Chelsea to a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs allowed three walks over the first two innings, but Remus’ at bat helped turn the game around. Standing on second after the balk, Remus got a good jump on Trey Thibeault’s line drive single to right center. Hunter Neff’s throw to Barrett seemed to beat Remus to the plate, but the senior second baseman alluded the tag with his slide.
Tyler Mojsiejenko followed with another single to center, and when the ball got past Neff, Thibeault scored for a 2-1 lead. Starting pitcher Connor Brawley tripled to score the third run, and Brawley came home on Max Gaishin’s sacrifice fly.
From there Brawley held Chelsea (31-10) to two hits over the final four innings, and the junior lefthander finished with a complete game five-hitter. He walked none and struck out five.
Remus said he didn’t notice the balk, but was aware that he started something big.
“I was just trying to get myself a good lead,” he said. “I didn’t look to see the throw (from center). I trusted my on-deck hitter (Brawley). He knew when it was coming and gave me the (slide) sign. After that we started hitting the ball hard and finding holes.”
Chelsea coach Adam Taylor didn’t think those four runs changed the momentum. He said his team had come back from greater deficits and was confident they’d do it again.
“The difference was their starter,” Taylor said. “He threw all three pitches for strikes, and in high school that works. Get it and go.
“When people scored on us throughout the year, we did a good job of coming back. It goes back to what I said. Their pitcher was the difference.”
Lakeshore had nine hits, and Mojsiejenko (with three) was the only batter with more than one.
“That balk kind of loosened us up,” Lakeshore coach Mark Nate said. “Sometimes it takes us awhile. That slide was big. Credit my third base coach (Matt Cotton) for that.”
Bay City John Glenn 15, Dearborn Divine Child 4
John Glenn had four hits in the second inning, and add in three Divine Child errors and the Bobcats had a big, early lead.
“They had us for three (errors), and it could have been four,” Divine Child coach Dan Deegan said. “They teed off on every one of our pitchers.”
Brad Mularz went all five innings and allowed five hits for the Bobcats. Getting those seven quick runs made his job that much easier.
“It means a lot to just go five,” Mularz said. “It keeps us fresh. With (Friday) being a day off, we’ll be ready.”
Corey Langenburg had two hits and four RBI to lead Glenn. Matt Fisher, Ben Cnudde and Mularz each had three RBI, and Tanner Gilles, the eighth batter in the lineup, went 4-4.
“They’re a loose bunch,” Glenn coach Jeff Hartt said. “Sometimes they’re too loose. When you put the ball in play in high school baseball, good things can happen.”
Divine Child finished 23-20.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lakeshore pitcher Connor Brawley makes his move toward the plate during Thursday's Semifinals. (Middle) Bay City John Glenn's Brad Mularz delivers a pitch.
Watervliet Diamond Teams Shining Heading Into District Weekend
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
June 3, 2021
Watervliet took the concept of a banner season to another level this spring as the Panthers posted a pair of perfect seasons in Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore play.
A baseball team with only three seniors went 12-0 in the division and was matched by a softball squad featuring only one senior that also ripped through that half of the league to a 12-0 mark. It was the first division title for the Panthers in softball since 2006 and was a return to the top spot for the baseball team after a championship in 2018.
For 11th-year head coach Josh Tremblay’s baseball program, which is 19-12 heading into Division 3 District tournament play this weekend, it was a result of great starting pitching from junior right hander Andrew Chisek – who racked up an 11-2 record on the bump with a 1.83 ERA – a do-anything-to-get-on-base mentality and superb defense.
The Panthers have a .783 on-base percentage as a team and boast six players with 25 or more hits. Chisek leads the team with 34 hits, while senior outfielder Josh Reeves sits at 31, sophomore first baseman Bryton Cockrun and sophomore pitcher/infielder Tyson Williams have 27 apiece and both freshman pitcher/infielder Wyatt Epple and junior outfielder Ethan Fish have 25. Chisek and Cockrun are tied with a team-high 22 RBI.
Freshman Chase Tremblay and Williams each earned three wins on the mound and helped contribute to a team ERA of 3.59. Senior Evan Hutchins has been a team anchor behind the plate with only 11 passed balls allowed. Chisek has a team-high 66 strikeouts, and Williams is right behind with 60.
“(Chisek) was one of our better pitchers in 2019, and he had a taste of success that year,” Tremblay said of the year Watervliet made it to the Division 3 Regional Semifinals and lost to Bronson. “He was pretty excited about getting back at things. He has been good there for us. We actually have about eight guys that can pitch, but we’ve been fortunate that we haven’t had to do that deep in our rotation. We knew that would be one of our strengths this year that we would be pretty deep in terms of arms.”
Watervliet has given up just 65 walks all season, which has helped out an already phenomenal defense. But with the bats in their hands, the Panthers buttered their bread by bases on balls (103) and taking shots to the body (41).
“We just try to get on base and be pesky. We just try to bang out base hits, run the bases and try to score some runs,” Tremblay said.
The Panthers will be pesky for a while with so many players returning next season.
“We’re a really young team, so coming into the year we didn’t really know what we were capable of,” Chisek said. “We figured out we were a really good team, and it has been fun to play with these guys. What clicked for us early on was pitching. All of our pitchers throw strikes, which gives our defense the opportunity to make plays. We started hitting the ball, and that took more pressure off the defense.”
And now their goal is a D3 District title. Watervliet takes on Niles Brandywine on Saturday in the semifinals. The two teams clashed earlier in the year and split a doubleheader.
At 28-5 this year, the Watervliet softball team is riding a 13-game winning streak into the postseason, which begins Friday with a District Semifinal matchup versus Fennville.
In the circle, the Panthers have been anchored by juniors Hannah Hart (11-2) and Haiden Edelberg (14-1). Edelberg has fanned 89 batters with a 2.54 ERA, and Hart has 66 strikeouts with just five walks and a 2.90 ERA.
Head coach Tom Golden’s scrappy young squad has used speed as its primary weapon during a historic season. Besides seven home runs, freshman shortstop Grace Chisek has 61 hits and 60 RBI this year, having stretched 11 of those into doubles and eight into triples en route to a .635 batting average.
“We’ve all played together for so many years, and we connect well,” Chisek said. “Our bonds are good, so being young doesn’t really hurt us. We talk about what the pitcher is throwing and adjust. And there’s just a lot of speed on our team.”
Slapper Sammy Dietz, a sophomore third baseman, also has registered 61 hits with 19 RBI and a team-high 58 stolen bases in the leadoff spot, while freshman Abby Whorton, an outfielder and catcher, has 47 hits with 16 doubles, eight triples, four homers and 52 RBI.
“Our defense is pretty solid because we have athletes, but we’ve had to put up some runs,” Golden said. “Making good choices at the plate, swinging at good pitches and finding a way to get on — not necessarily by just hitting the ball, but by having quality at-bats.
“With our speed, a routine groundball becomes something pretty exciting because we get out of the box pretty quick.”
Rival Coloma has been Watervliet’s biggest hurdle “over the last four or five years,” Golden explained. The Panthers swept Coloma this season, and they will square off again if both teams advance to the District Final as expected.
“They won state a few years ago and have been the top dog,” Golden said. “We finally beat them for the first time since 2016 to win a (SAC) divisional title. That was definitely one of our goals, and we took care of business.
“That’s the thing about this group, is that it doesn’t really matter who we play. We’re a young team with only one senior, but we have a lot of young talent that has played a lot of softball. They just really enjoy going out to play.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: (Top)The Panthers baseball and softball teams celebrate their matching SAC Lakeshore championships this spring. (Middle) Watervliet’s Grace Chisek rounds third base on the way home for a softball team bringing a 28-5 record into this weekend. (Photos courtesy of the Watervliet athletic department.)