High 5s - 4/24/12
April 24, 2012
Each week, Second Half gives "High 5s" to multiple athletes and a team that have performed exceptionally on the field or made a notable impact off of it.
Please offer your suggestions by e-mail to editor Geoff Kimmerly at [email protected]. Below are this week's honorees:
Mallory Weber
Northville senior
Soccer
Weber, a two-time Division 1 all-state forward, leads one of the best teams in the state. Northville is 5-0-2 and ranked No. 3, with its most significant win so far coming last week, 1-0 over reigning Division 1 champion and current No. 5 Novi. Although Weber did not score that goal, she did help open up the field by drawing two and at times three defenders. She has nine goals and five assists this season, and has signed with reigning Big Ten regular-season champion Penn State after also considering the University of Maryland and the University of Miami (Fla.). She also played basketball at Northville.
For love of the game: "I love soccer. It's so competitive. It's just fun. It's fast-moving; basketball you stop so much, but in soccer you're always continuing."
I learned the most about soccer from: "Probably my (club) coach Andy Vanover. He was my coach for probably six years, and he taught me to never give up. That work ethic is part of what makes my game so hard to defend."
I model my game after: FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi. "Just how he's so good with his foot skills. That's the biggest part of my game I try to work on."
Up next: Weber is undecided on her major at Penn State, but is considering something in food science and nutrition. "I just like the whole thing of how food affects your body, how it plays into your performance."
Jake McFadden
Clare senior
Track and Field
McFadden won the 110-meter hurdles (14.9 seconds), the 300 hurdles (39.3) and the 200 dash (22.3) on Saturday at the Remus Chippewa Hills Invitational as Clare scored 174 points to finish first. He's the reigning MHSAA Division 3 champion in both hurdles races and helped Clare to a third-place team finish at the 2011 Final. He also owns school and Jack Pine Conference records in the 110 (14.82) and 300 (39.28), according to a report by the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun. McFadden played football in previous falls until this school year, when he switched to cross country to help him get into better shape for track season.
Up next: McFadden has signed to run track at Michigan State University, and will study biomedical engineering. "I just like the working-with-my-hands aspect, making new things (like) replacements for hips and knees, making innovations in that kind of stuff."
Quick learner: McFadden shot put and ran on a relay in junior high, but didn't try hurdling until high school. "I just watched a lot of film on myself, just fixed stuff there."
I look up to: "I'd say my brother (Mike McFadden, a 2010 Clare grad). He's the one who really got me into track. He played baseball freshman year and ran track sophomore year, and he really liked track. I wanted to follow in his footsteps and see what I could do."
Crossing over: "I played football every year but senior year. I ran cross country this year. It was a good experience, got me in shape. I ran about what I wanted to run, time-wise."
Stevensville Lakeshore softball
In a battle of top-ranked teams, Stevensville Lakeshore -- ranked No. 1 in Division 2 -- downed Division 1 No. 1 Mattawan 4-3 in eight innings to win Saturday's Mattawan Invitational. The Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference rivals also met in last season's Mattawan championship game, with Mattawan winning in eight innings, and again in last weekend's Portage Invitational final -- a 4-2 Wildcats win. Mattawan had won 38 straight games before falling to Portage Central earlier Saturday.
Lakeshore also beat Division 1 No. 3 Grandville, 7-1, and Vicksburg 6-1. The Lancers improved to 11-2 with the tournament sweep.
This spring's previous honorees
Sarah Appold, Saginaw Valley Lutheran softball
Nick Stiles, Bath baseball
Standish-Sterling, Whiteford Aces Set for Season-Finale Face-Off
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 16, 2023
EAST LANSING – The final game of the 2023 MHSAA Softball Tournament has the makings of a pitchers’ duel for the ages.
Standish-Sterling senior Devri Jennings and Ottawa Lake Whiteford junior Unity Nelson were equally dominant in Friday evening’s Division 3 Semifinals at Michigan State University’s Secchia Stadium, setting the stage for a Saturday night showdown.
“Two great pitchers are going to duel tomorrow, that’s for sure,” said fourth-year Whiteford coach Matt VanBrandt. “But at the same time, both teams can hit the ball. So it should be very interesting.”
In the first game, Jennings stymied a Ravenna offense that already had earned several entries in the state’s record book, limiting the Bulldogs to three singles in a 10-1 win.
Nelson was even more impressive in the second D3 Semifinal, keeping her perfect record and minuscule ERA intact with a two-hitter in an 8-0 win over Laingsburg.
Standish-Sterling (37-7) will be shooting for its first softball state championship, while Whiteford (37-4) will be looking for its first since 1987 when they meet at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
In addition to outstanding pitching, both teams also got their bats operating late in Friday’s semis.
Whiteford, which lost in the Division 4 Final last year and hasn’t missed a beat in a larger-school division, gradually pulled away from Laingsburg – scoring three runs in the third inning, three more in the fifth and capping the scoring with two runs in the sixth.
Junior Kaydence Sheldon led the way for the Bobcats, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Patrina Marsh ripped two hits and two RBIs and Karlei Conard also knocked in two runs.
That was more than enough offensive production behind Nelson, who kept her perfect season record intact at 23-0. She also boasts a scant 0.53 ERA and added 11 strikeouts Friday, bringing her season total to 305, which is more than two strikeouts for every inning pitched.
“I definitely came in with my A game today,” said Nelson. “My screwball was my go-to pitch, and I was hitting it on the inside corner.”
Laingsburg (36-7), which had a breakthrough season this spring by winning its first Regional title since 1978, received hits from Ashley Bila and Addyson Buchin. Buchin went the distance and took the loss, allowing just two earned runs.
Whiteford, which knocked off No. 2-ranked Algonac in the Quarterfinals, has won three softball state titles. The Bobcats have finished runner-up four times since the 1987 championship run.
VanBrandt said his players were excited when they learned they would be moving up to D3 this season.
“A lot of our players were excited for the challenge – that’s the way these girls are,” said VanBrandt. “We got to see some new teams, and we stepped up to the challenge.”
Standish-Sterling 10, Ravenna 1
Ravenna came into the Semifinals boasting eye-popping offensive numbers, but the Bulldogs bombers met their match in Jennings.
She set the tone from the start, striking out five of the first six batters she faced as her team seized control.
“We have worked so hard since winter, and it feels great to be here and to show everyone what we’ve got,” said Jennings, who tossed a three-hitter with no walks and seven strikeouts to completely shut down the Ravenna machine. She improved her season record to 26-2.
Instead, it was the Panthers’ offense which applied steady pressure up and down the batting order to build a 5-0 lead after five innings, then put the game away with five runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Senior Lexi Mielke went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Addi Fetters and Jennings both went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Macy Fegan added two hits, and Sami Kopasz knocked in two runs.
The Panthers (37-7), who knocked off No. 1-ranked Evart during Regionals and then No. 5 Gladstone in the Quarterfinals, were in the Semifinals for the third time in the past four years. They now will play in the softball championship game for the first time in school history.
“We worked really hard on how we were going to pitch those batters,” explained ninth-year Standish-Sterling coach Rich Sullivan. “Devri Jennings was awesome. She hit her spots, and she was able to do what we needed her to do to stop that offense.”
Ravenna (36-6), in the Semifinals for the first time since 2005, scored its lone run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by senior Emma Gillard, who was the starting pitcher.
PHOTOS (Top) Whiteford's Alyssa VanBrandt cranks a pitch during her team's Semifinal win Friday.(Middle) All eyes are on the next pitch as the Bobcats rally against Laingsburg. (Below) Standish-Sterling’s Devri Jennings winds up during her team’s Semifinal win. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)