St. Mary's Sinks Reigning Champ in D2
June 13, 2015
By Andy Sneddon
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – None of the players on the Orchard Lake St. Mary’s roster had ever been on a Regional championship baseball team.
Most every starter returned this spring for Mount Pleasant, the defending Division 2 champion.
Greg Loukinen, one of just two senior starters for St. Mary’s, tossed a five-hit gem Saturday as the Eaglets unseated the Oilers, 4-1, in the Division 2 title game at Michigan State University’s McLane Baseball Stadium.
It was the first MHSAA baseball title for St. Mary’s (32-13) since 2003 and came against an Oilers team (27-13) that was not only defending its crown, but had outscored its opponents, 69-2, in seven MHSAA tournament games and recorded shutouts in eight of its previous nine starts.
“Our guys have competed at this stage in other sports – they haven’t been here in baseball, but they’ve competed in football and in the summer they’ve played in a lot of big games in front of a lot of people,” St. Mary’s coach Matt Petry said. “They didn’t show that it bothered them too much today.”
The Eaglets overcame three errors, two of which came in the top of the first inning when Mount Pleasant seized a 1-0 lead. St. Mary’s answered with the tying run in the bottom of the first on the legs of Mason Vaughn, who walked, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch.
“That was huge. I think that set the tone for us that we were going to be around all game. If we didn’t get that run back things might have gone a different way.”
The Eaglets went ahead for good in the second inning, getting an RBI double from Joe Carlini and a run-scoring single from Drake Titus as Mount Pleasant starter Hunter Buczkowski struggled to find his control.
Buczkowski walked five, struck out five and surrendered three hits over four innings in taking the loss. Three of his walks, plus a wild pitch, came during the Eaglets’ two-run second inning.
That’s all Loukinen needed as the left-hander struck out seven and walked just one.
“He battled through some adversity there in the top of the first and he did a great job of settling down after that inning and not letting it bother him after we kicked the ball around behind him a little bit,” Petry said. “He doesn’t let too much bother him. He doesn’t walk guys. If you’re going to beat him, you’re going to have to earn it and he did a great job of keeping their guys off base via the walk. And we made some plays behind him when we needed to.”
Hunter Buczkowski led off the Oilers’ half of the seventh inning with a single and Obie Ricumstrict drew a two-out walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Loukinen struck out Zach Heeke, Mount Pleasant’s leading hitter, to end the game.
“I was just paying attention to the fact that there was another batter that I had to get out, that’s how I look at it,” Loukinen said. “I take after my teammate Drake Titus. He doesn’t let anything affect him. Regardless of the run they scored (in the first inning) I knew what I needed to do, and I had the defense to back me up.
“The past few years have been a struggle. Two years ago we made it to regionals, last year we got cut off early. There’s a lot of brotherhood on the team; everybody feels it. It was 100 percent a team win. It wasn’t just me; it was the defense, the bats, everyone on the bench.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Joe Carlini yells in celebration after scoring a run Saturday. (Middle) Mount Pleaant catcher Daniel Keller picks up the ball as St. Mary’s Campbell Kinch signals to a teammate not to advance.
Maroons 'Make Most' of 1st Finals Trip
June 18, 2016
By Andy Sneddon
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – When the cart wobbled, Mike Mokma grabbed the wheel.
Mokma allowed four hits and struck out 14 on Saturday as Holland Christian won its first MHSAA baseball championship with an 8-5 victory over Linden in the Division 2 title game at McLane Baseball Stadium on the campus of Michigan State University.
The Maroons, who finished 36-6 and entered the tournament ranked third, had never made it past the quarterfinal round of the tournament. But they did have the steadying influence of coach Jim Caserta, who led Holland West Ottawa to the Division I title in 2003.
“We tried to take the big experience of the state championship and focus it down to the task,” said Caserta, who is in his third season at Holland Christian. “We told them, ‘Focus on the ball, catch the ball, throw the ball; focus on the little things.’
“They did great and when bad things happened, we didn’t quit.”
Bad things did indeed happen for the Maroons in the fourth inning when they committed three errors and Mokma issued two walks – his only two of the game – and Linden took advantage, scoring all five of its runs for a 5-4 advantage.
Mokma, who has signed with Michigan State, slammed the door after that, setting down the Eagles in order in their final three at-bats. Of those final nine outs, five came on strikeouts. Mokma’s strikeout total was one shy of the MHSAA Finals record 15.
Just two of Linden’s five runs were earned.
“Mike’s super competitive,” Holland Christian catcher David Williams said. “He’s going to grind it out every pitch. He just kept throwing the ball like he does.
“We let him down for a minute, but we got back on the horse. He was sharp today – more than adequate, he was fabulous. He gave us great chance to win, and the bats came around.”
The Maroons tied it 5-5 in the bottom of the fourth inning on Brandon Riemersma’s RBI single, then got the go-ahead run when Riemersma laid down a suicide squeeze to score Chris Mokma in the sixth.
Mike Mokma followed with a two-run double down the leftfield line.
“When we got down, when a couple bad things happened, our guys didn’t panic, and that’s what it takes,” Caserta said. “All year long that’s what we’ve done: Don’t panic and keep grinding and make something good happen.”
Jack Shore allowed nine hits, struck out four and walked two in taking the loss. The fifth-ranked Eagles committed four errors behind him and just three of Holland Christian’s runs were earned.
Coby Curtiss led Holland Christian with three hits including a double.
The title was particularly gratifying for the six seniors on the Holland Christian roster, including Mike Mokma and Williams. The two combined to form a solid battery during all four of their high school seasons.
“We have a strong group of seniors on the team,” said Williams, who is headed to Xavier. “We’re great friends, and we were sitting in the dugout before the game and started looking at each other. It was, ‘Well, we’ve played a lot of ball together. This is our last game as teammates. Let’s make the most of it.’”
PHOTOS: (Top) Holland Christian celebrates its first baseball championship Saturday morning at McLane Stadium. (Middle) Mike Mokma prepares to deliver during another winning performance for the Maroons.