West Michigan Rules Division 1 Semis
June 13, 2019
By Matt Schoch
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – Luke McLean looked right at home Thursday at Michigan State’s McLane Baseball Stadium.
The Rockford High School sophomore scored the winning run with aggressive base running, also securing for himself the pitching victory in a 3-2 Division 1 Semifinal against Macomb Dakota in eight innings of steady rain.
“It’s awesome – an awesome atmosphere, an awesome field,” McLean said. “It’s the end (Saturday). We’ve just got to clutch it out at the end.”
Rockford (28-9) will play Portage Northern at 9 a.m. Saturday for its first championship since 2011.
McLean threw two scoreless innings in relief, setting down six straight batters after allowing a leadoff double to Dakota’s Patrick Merolla in the seventh inning.
Junior catcher Jeff Reseigh had two hits to lead the offense for Dakota (21-17-1). Set up by teammate Greg Guzik’s double, Reseigh’s sixth-inning single through the box scored a pair of runs and gave his team a 2-1 lead.
Down late, Rockford coach Matt Vriesenga said he reminded the Rams about their resiliency, as the team already had won two games in the eighth inning during the tournament.
“I saw our guys deflated a little bit. I just wanted to remind them that we’ve been there before,” Vriesenga said. “Three weeks ago, I did not see this happening. We were a good team, but I did not see this happening.
“But they proved me wrong. We’ve been coming to practice, working on the little things all year long.
“It’s a super special team, and I’m really excited for them.”
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Rockford pinch-hitter Isaac Toole hit a two-out single and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Alex Miller then hit an RBI single to left field to tie the score at 2-2.
Senior catcher Cody Sterkenburg started the game-winning Rockford rally in the eighth with a single. McLean ripped a single to move him to second, and a fielder’s choice on a Miller grounder set up the winning play.
With two outs, junior Owen Cairns hit a dribbler to third base, picked up but thrown wide to first base, dragging the Dakota fielder off the bag as Cairns reached safely.
Meanwhile, McLean alertly headed home to send Rockford to Saturday’s Final.
“All that was going through my mind was my seniors,” McLean said. “I was playing for them. I really wanted to play for them in the state championship, and I was just busting my tail down that line to score.”
Sterkenburg added a two-out RBI single in the third for Rockford, which got a strong starting performance by right-hander Zach Marshall, who threw six innings, allowing two runs and striking out five. Marshall scored on Sterkenburg’s hit after his own single.
For Dakota, righty Matt Biebuyck allowed one run over seven innings and had five strikeouts in the program’s first trip to the Semifinals.
Coach Gerald Carley’s Dakota team, which entered the game winning eight of 11 for an improbable run to East Lansing, will graduate six seniors.
Portage Northern 2, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 0
Cam French outdueled travel ball teammate Tyler Sarkisian to advance to the Final.
French threw a complete-game shutout, allowing three hits and no walks, and striking out six in the gem.
“Honestly, the plan was just come in like I have all season, just throwing strikes, filling up the zone and mixing up some of the pitches,” said French, who improved to 11-0 on the season. “With this big of a crowd, and people cheering you on, you just got to stay mentally focused and know what’s at hand. And I did that.”
Shortstop Nolan McCarthy delivered the big hit in the sixth inning with an RBI triple off the wall to score Eastern Michigan-bound Tyler Helgeson, who reached on a bunt. McCarthy then scored on an error.
Meanwhile, McCarthy led the defense behind French, as his diving stab opened the third inning.
Greg Lapetina, Jack Beffel and French added hits for Portage Northern (38-7), which will be playing for its first Finals title in this sport.
Sarkisian, who will pitch at the University of Chicago, allowed one earned run and struck out four over six innings for Brother Rice (25-13).
Sterling Hallman opened the seventh inning with a single for Brother Rice and reached second on a wild pitch. But French got three straight fly outs to center field to close the win.
Brother Rice had just two baserunners reach second base.
Second baseman Tito Flores ended his Brother Rice career with two hits. His coach, Bob Riker, called Flores a “culture changer” for a program. Flores' next stop: University of Michigan, which will play in the College World Series.
As for Portage Northern, the Huskies are back in the Final for the first time since 2015 when they suffered a 2-1 loss to Hartland in 10 innings.
“We feel good to be back here,” French said. “We’ve been waiting a long time.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Rockford’s Luke McLean scores the game-winning run in the Rams’ extra-inning victory over Macomb Dakota on Thursday. (Middle) Cam French fires a pitch during Portage Northern’s shutout of Brother Rice.
Marine City Makes More History, St. Francis Outlasts Historic Opponent
By
Drew Ellis
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2025
EAST LANSING – Winning its first Regional championship in program history was a big accomplishment for the 2025 Marine City baseball team.
Now, the Mariners find themselves one win away from their first Finals championship.
Utilizing aggressive base running and timely hits, Marine City defeated Olivet, 8-5, in a Division 3 Semifinal on Thursday at McLane Stadium.
“It means everything to us,” Marine City coach Ryan Felax said of his team’s first Finals appearance. “Marine City hasn’t won a Regional up until this year, so we’re three games beyond the first time ever. For us to be able to come out here and do what we have done, feeling like we were the underdog since the District Finals, is a special feeling. I can’t even express what it means to the program, what it means for our city, and what it means for the seniors, especially.”
Marine City (26-10) will face Traverse City St. Francis in Saturday’s championship game at 9 a.m. The Mariners believe they are going into the title-deciding contest with nothing to lose.
“We don’t have any pressure on us,” said Marine City senior Daniel VandeVyver, who got the win on the mound Thursday. “We’ve been looked down this whole tournament. There’s no pressure, so we’ve all just been coming out here, playing the game, and having a blast while doing it. We’re coming out with the (wins), so it’s great.”
VandeVyver threw 6.1 innings to earn his eighth win of the season for Marine City. After giving up a pair of runs in the first, the senior would go on to pitch five straight scoreless innings, allowing only three hits during the stretch.
“I came into that second inning with a lot more confidence,” VandeVyver said. “I was working more off-speed pitches and not using as many fastballs. It was working for me.”
The senior was also a key piece to the offense, finishing with three hits and three RBI.
“Danny VandeVyver is a special player,” Felax said of his senior. “He’s been doing this for me for four years. He’s a special pitcher. He’s a special kid. When he stays out of his own head, he can do pretty much anything.”
Olivet (22-7) got out to the 2-0 start in the first inning thanks to five singles in six batters, but the Eagles would strand the bases loaded as they looked to establish a larger advantage.
“We had bases loaded in the first inning and should have gotten more out of that,” Olivet coach Mike Whitley said. “We didn’t get as many as we should.”
Marine City answered in the top of the second, utilizing stolen bases and bunts to set up a sacrifice fly from freshman Tucker Volkman. VandeVyver than had an RBI single to even up the score at 2-2.
In the fifth inning, the Mariners broke the game open with four runs. The go-ahead run came when junior Dakota Droptiny was unable to get a bunt down, so he had to take a swing with two strikes. Droptiny proceeded to hit an RBI double to put Marine City up 3-2.
“Hey, I’ll take it,” Felax said. “He’s just a kid that doesn’t rattle.”
Lukus DeSmyther followed with an RBI single, then VandeVyver had a two-run double to make it 6-2 for Marine City.
The Mariners tacked on two more runs in the top of the eighth inning thanks to an error by Olivet and a double steal. All together, Marine City had 10 stolen bases in the win.
“You have to give (Marine City) credit. They are a heck of a team,” Whitley said. “They played a little small ball on us, which you don’t see in this area a whole lot. We just didn’t take care of business when we had the opportunity.”
Olivet made a late push in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring three runs thanks to an RBI double from freshman Andrew Rigelman and a two-run single from senior Lucas LaPaugh.
The tying run reached the plate before the Mariners recorded the final out.
“They just battled every day for me, and I think that showed in the seventh inning,” Whitley said. “Who knows, one more hit, it might have been a different ball game.”
Lalo Aguirre finished with four hits and two runs for Olivet, while Trip Burkett had two hits and an RBI.
Droptiny finished with two hits, two runs and an RBI, while Paul Muscat stole three bases for the Mariners.
Traverse City St. Francis 4, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett 3
In order to play for its first Finals championship since 1990, Traverse City St. Francis had to overcome the one baseball program with more championship game appearances than anyone else.
The Gladiators took advantage of some early Liggett errors to establish a 4-1 lead. From there, they held on behind the pitching of junior Sam Wildfong for a 4-3 victory in the first Division 3 Semifinal on Thursday.
“It was a great, great high school baseball game. Ligget is a great, great program. We felt like we had to knock the giant off to get to the Finals,” Traverse City St. Francis coach Tom Passinault said. “It feels great, because we have a lot of respect for their program. Our guys really battled today.”
Liggett, which has appeared in 10 Finals, defeated St. Francis 12-0 in the 2021 Division 3 championship game, the last Finals appearance for the Gladiators.
St. Francis (30-8-1) struck first, taking advantage of a few Knights miscues. An error put runners on the corners for the Gladiators, and then Wildfong scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0.
A two-run single from junior Tyler Thompson in the second inning extended the St. Francis lead to 3-1.
Junior Matthew Kane opened the bottom of the fourth inning with a double to left field. He then scored two batters later when freshman Colton Peterson laid down a squeeze bunt to put the Gladiators up 4-1.
“We had our best bunter at the plate. Colton Peterson is so calm and cool, and Matt is a great base runner, so it was just a perfect combination for us,” Passinault said of the play.
With the three-run lead, Passinault believed that Wildfong would be able to pitch his team to victory.
“In games where we got up a few runs and we had Sam pitching, we felt pretty good about our chances,” Passinault said. “Sam is a gym rat in the baseball sense. He’s 365 baseball. He is always ready. He’s the guy you want in that moment.”
Liggett was able to get the Gladiators’ lead down to one as it manufactured one run each in the fourth and fifth innings. However, the Knights stranded a pair in the sixth inning who could have changed the game.
“We put the ball in play all game; that wasn’t the issue. We just couldn’t get them around,” Liggett coach Jay Ricci said. “We started to make that happen later in the game, but we just couldn’t get that last run across the plate.”
Wildfong found another gear in the seventh inning, striking out the first two batters before getting a ground out to end the game. The junior finished with three strikeouts for the contest, allowing one earned run over seven innings.
“I treated it like any other inning. I was just having fun with my friends out there,” Wildfong said of the seventh. “The fastball was really working that last inning, and it was really fun to dial in and locate it well.”
Thompson finished with a pair of hits to go with his two RBI. Liggett was led by Ravi Hines, who had a single and an RBI. Reliever Joey Harris pitched three scoreless innings to keep the Knights in the game when down 4-1.
“He did great, and we were real confident he would come in and shut the door,” Ricci said of Harris. “That was expected. Joey Harris has done a great job all year for us.”
PHOTOS (Top) Marine City's Michael Blunden signals "safe" during his team's Semifinal win over Olivet. (Middle) St. Francis pitcher Sam Wildfong makes his move toward the plate.