Liggett, GR Christian Zero Out Opponents, Zero In on Championship Day
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 16, 2023
EAST LANSING – Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett senior pitcher Joey Randazzo knew the magnitude of the opposing lineup and opposing pitcher.
But he insisted there wasn’t extra pressure on him going into a Division 2 Semifinal against 2022 champion Ada Forest Hills Eastern.
“My goal is never to put up zeroes,” Randazzo said. “My goal is to pound the zone and let my defense work. My job is just to pound the zone.”
Randazzo did better than that.
He pounded the zone and also happened to put up zeroes, tossing a 5-hit shutout to lead Liggett to a 2-0 win over Forest Hills Eastern in what was the definition of a pitchers’ duel.
Liggett, which won the Division 3 title two years ago, will go for its seventh Finals championship at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Grand Rapids Christian.
The most dominant players all game were Randazzo and Forest Hills Eastern senior Jacob Pallo, who entered the game with a 0.49 ERA and allowed only one hit through his first five innings of work.
After having only one runner get to second base over the first five innings, Liggett finally mounted what turned out to be the deciding rally in the bottom of the sixth.
A single by Randazzo and a double by junior Reggie Sharpe set the table with two outs for senior Oliver Service. On a 3-1 count, Service hit a tapper in front of the plate that was fielded by Pallo, who had to hurry his throw to first to get the speedy Service.
The throw got past the first baseman, allowing Randazzo and Sharpe to score.
In the top of the seventh, Randazzo gave up a leadoff single to Pallo, but a double play and a popout ended the game.
Pallo allowed just three hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts in what also was a terrific performance.
“He pounds the zone, and he does what I ask him to do,” Liggett head coach Dan Cimini said of Randazzo. “He throws off-speed and moves the ball all over the place. He’s got like 12 different fastballs. He’s just a gamer.”
There will be a new champion in Division 2 with Forest Hills Eastern dethroned, but it was still quite a run for the Hawks over the last two years to win a title and get back to the Semifinal round.
“Just the growth throughout the season to get to this point was tremendous,” Forest Hills Eastern head coach Ian Hearn said. “Hats off to Randazzo. He mixed it up really well and kept us off balance.”
Grand Rapids Christian 4, Flint Powers Catholic 0
It was deja vu for Grand Rapids Christian and senior pitcher Kyle Remington.
Last year, Remington was the winning pitcher in a Division 2 Semifinal, allowing just one run in a complete-game performance.
A year later it was pretty much a duplicate performance, except this time Remington didn’t allow any runs, tossing a 7-hit shutout to lead Grand Rapids Christian past Flint Powers.
Now, the Eagles hope it won’t be deja vu Saturday, when it will try to not repeat the loss in last year’s championship game.
“I understand how difficult the road is getting here,” Grand Rapids Christian head coach Brent Gates said. “We’ve had a goal from day one to get back here and finish the job. We’re one away now.”
The Eagles (35-5) earned another opportunity thanks in large part to Remington, who struck out seven and walked one.
Remington’s biggest moment came in the bottom of the first inning, when he got out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam with a strikeout.
“It was pretty big not to give up any runs in a bases-loaded jam,” Remington said. “I think it was a slider. I can’t really remember, but it was pretty huge.”
Grand Rapids Christian opened the scoring in the top of the second inning, scoring three runs on three hits and an error.
Cam Seth plated one run on a fielder’s choice, and then senior Isaac Hubka hit a single to center that scored two more runs.
In the bottom of the third inning, Powers had runners on first and second with one out, but following a single to center by senior Jack Dawley, a perfect relay to home by Grand Rapids Christian cut down the Powers’ baserunner at the plate.
Powers couldn’t get a 2-out hit, and the game remained 3-0.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Eagles made it 4-0 on an RBI single by junior Parker Seth.
Powers (33-9-2) was making its first appearance in a Semifinal since 1984.
“They played hard all the way to the end,” said Powers’ Tom Dutkowski, who completed his 41st year as head coach. “I don’t feel like we lost so much as we got beat by a team that played a little bit better than us. They had a little more timely hitting and made a couple of plays that were really outstanding. It was a well-played game by a very experienced Grand Rapids Christian team.”
PHOTOS (Top) University Liggett catcher Oliver Service lays out to get to a foul ball Friday at McLane Stadium. (Middle) A Liggett player lets out a yell during his team's win. (Below) Grand Rapids Christian’s Josh Winkle (12) attempts to race home in front of a play. (Photos by John Castine/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Novi Ace Set to Close Prep Career Among Wildcats' All-Time Greats
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 1, 2025
NOVI — Ironically, what’s likely to go down as one of the most accomplished baseball careers in Novi High School history began during football season.
During a fall ball session back in 2021, Novi baseball coach Rick Green was summoned to watch a bullpen session of then-freshman left-hander Uli Fernsler, a player he and others on the coaching staff figured was pegged for a spot on the junior varsity roster.
“My pitching coach at the time said to ‘come down to the bullpen, you need to see this kid,’” Green said. “He was just so poised when he threw, especially with me there. He didn’t throw hard at the time, but he had good location.”
Come the following spring, Fernsler added some velocity and couldn’t be left off the varsity team. Since then, the Novi community has come to find out why he’ll soon graduate as one of the school’s all-time athletic greats.
So far this year, Fernsler has 55 strikeouts, four walks and just two earned runs allowed. It’s no wonder pro scouts have flocked to his starts, with Hometown Life reporting more than 20 showed up to watch him pitch against Canton in March.
Signed to play collegiately for Texas Christian, Fernsler has a shot to establish Novi school records for strikeouts and earned-run average depending on how the rest of the season unfolds.
However, his biggest claim to fame is that he was the winning pitcher for the Wildcats in both the 2023 Division 1 championship game and also Novi’s Semifinal win at McLane Stadium, something that has become rare since pitch-count limits were instituted in 2017.
In an 8-3 championship game win over Woodhaven, Fernsler tossed a complete game, striking out eight, walking none and allowing two earned runs.
However, his under-the-radar performance in the Semifinal was arguably more important.
In that game, Novi tied Mattawan 1-1 with two outs in the top of the seventh on an RBI single, and then starter Andrew Abler pitched a scoreless seventh to force extra innings.
From there Fernsler took over, pitching three scoreless innings of relief under immense pressure. Novi didn’t score in the eighth and ninth innings, so Fernsler couldn’t afford to even let in one run or else the Wildcats’ dream would be over.
Fernsler held firm, and then after being staked to a three-run lead in the top of the 10th, shut the door in the bottom half to preserve a 4-1 Novi win. He allowed just one hit over his three innings of relief, and more importantly, did so efficiently enough to stay under the 49-pitch limit that would’ve prevented him from taking the mound in the championship game.
Fernsler recalls warming up in the bullpen with Novi still down 1-0, thinking that all he wanted was a chance to pitch on a college mound at Michigan State.
“I was just really hoping we would score a run, which we did,” he said. “There was definitely some nerves. But it wasn’t too bad. I had some confidence I could do what I was able to do.”
All in all, Fernsler allowed just nine hits, two earned runs and struck out 10 in 10 innings of work on the state’s biggest stage as a sophomore.
He also had an excellent junior year, but Novi’s hopes of repeating were derailed in a 3-1 loss to rival and eventual Division 1 champion Northville in a District Final.
He’s been dazzling so far as a senior, helped by a new pitch Green recommended he try after last season to complement his fastball, slider and changeup.
“I told him to try and throw a curveball to get another pitch to get hitters off-balance in addition to the changeup,” Green said. “We worked on it all summer, and he’s really done a nice job with it this year.”
Fernsler said coaches at TCU have come to see him throw a couple of times this season, but haven’t really offered advice or instructions and have pretty much let him do his thing.
Eventually, Fernsler hopes further doing his thing will result in leading Novi to another appearance at Michigan State for another Finals weekend, although the 2023 run is not familiar to the majority of Novi’s current roster.
“It’s kind of a new team,” Fernsler said. “I don’t think we are carrying momentum from that. We are just trying to figure out what we can do to get back.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Novi pitcher Uli Fernsler makes his move toward the plate this season. (Middle) Fernsler follows through on a pitch during the 2023 Division 1 Final. (Top photo courtesy of the Novi athletic department.)