Flashback 1980: Thrilling Conclusions
June 2, 2020
By Ron Pesch
Special for Second Half
With all Spring sports canceled for 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been a season of recalling fond memories as we all sit and wait for the return of high school athletics in Michigan.
This time we’re diving 40 years deep to the Baseball and Softball Finals from 1980, which saw five of eight championship games decided by two runs or fewer and mostly on late-inning dramatics while played at various parks across the Lower Peninsula.
Here’s a flashback to the 1980 championship rounds:
BASEBALL
A strong argument could be made that Matt Costello’s ninth-inning heroics rank among the top moments in MHSAA tournament history.
In the days when the state Semifinals and Finals were played on the same day, and split across four separate sites spread across the state, an impressive 1,025 fans turned out for the Class A title game between Royal Oak Kimball and Grosse Pointe North, hosted at Wyandotte’s Memorial Park.
For Kimball, it was the fourth appearance in the state title game. The Knights, led by coach Frank Clouser, had appeared in the Class A title game for three straight years, 1971-1973, earning a championship in 1972 with a 3-1 win over Detroit Western.
It was the first appearance in the Finals for North and coach Frank Sumbera. Earlier in the year, the Norsemen had been the top-ranked team in the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Class A poll, but the squad hit a mid-May speedbump. Within five hours, North dropped two games, falling to St. Clair Shores Lakeview, 6-5, then 3-2 to Harper Woods, which was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in Class C. North rebounded, and finished the regular season as the top team in the Class A rankings with a 23-4 mark.
North opened the championship game scoring with three quick runs in the first inning. Kimball made it 3-1 in the bottom half of the inning, then grabbed a 4-3 lead in the third as 6-foot-4 senior Dave Kopf, (a 32nd-round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers one week earlier) crushed a three-run homer. North tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth when junior Bill Babcock led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice, then scored when the throw to first base on Keith Schatko’s suicide squeeze bunt went wild. Following a pop out, Costello picked up his first RBI on the day, on a double over the left fielder’s head that scored Schatko, giving North a 5-4 lead.
Babcock, who had tossed a 2-0 no-hitter earlier in the day in the Norsemen’s Semifinal against Wayne Memorial, replaced starter Tom Shook in the bottom of the sixth inning. Following a walk, Kimball’s Scott Sturley smashed a two-out triple to tie the game, 5-5.
Neither team could push across a run in the last inning of regulation play. Kimball threatened in the bottom of the eighth, notching a leadoff double. But the danger ended when North catcher Mike Seagram picked off the runner.
Sumbera told Wright Wilson of the Grosse Pointe News that the play was the “turning point of the game.”
Singles by Babcock and Scott Young and a walk by Al Lucido in the top of the ninth inning set the stage for Costello.
“I had Matt swinging away because they were charging their infielders all the time, so we were playing for the hit,” said Sumbera to the Detroit Free Press following the title contest.
“I was just trying to get the run in when I went up there,” stated Costello, who “cracked a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence, more than 365 feet away.”
“When I hit it I knew it was going to be a home run. That was the greatest.”
Costello finished with three hits and an MHSAA championship game-record five RBIs, a mark that stood alone until Jacob Holt from Muskegon Catholic Central tied the record 35 years later, in 2015.
Trailing 9-5, Kimball loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning and scored a run on a two-out wild pitch. But a pop-out to first ended the rally, and North grabbed a 9-6 win and its first diamond title.
Sumbera , who had taken the reins of the North program in 1973, would lead the Norsemen to a second title in 2006. Today, he ranks third in all-time baseball victories in Michigan after a 45-year coaching career.
Flint Powers downed Mount Pleasant 8-7 in a Class B thriller, played at Lansing’s Municipal Park. Mount Pleasant grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, before Powers’ Jim Morrissey popped a two-run homer to knot the game in the fourth. The Chargers added two more runs in the top of the fifth, but Mount Pleasant shortstop Bob Lee followed in the bottom of the inning with a two-run shot that tied the game at 4-4.
Powers took a 7-4 lead in the sixth inning and upped the lead to 8-4 on a Mike Morgan bases-loaded single in the seventh. With the game on the line, Mount Pleasant’s Scott Tuma blasted a two-out, three-run homer to cut the margin to 8-7. Morgan, who tossed a five-hit shutout complete game for Powers in its win over Farmington Hills Harrison earlier in the day, allowed two more runners before striking out pinch-hitter Todd Tuma to end the game.
Rain delayed the second Class C Semifinal game and postponed the championship contest until Monday, June 16. Leading 5-0 after three innings, Dundee finished off Lansing Catholic Central 7-2, then topped Parchment 3-1 for its first and only baseball crown. Norm Pentercs, who would later pitch at Grand Valley State, struck out 11 and allowed only four hits in the title game. Those games were played at Broome Park in Flint.
A seventh-inning walk-off bases-loaded single by Scott Trudell broke a 1-1 deadlock to give Grass Lake a 2-1 win over Muskegon Western Michigan Christian in Class D, hosted at Marshall High School. David Knoll allowed just three hits and struck out 13 for the win. It was the second appearance in a Final on the year for WMC, which fell to Detroit East Catholic in an MHSAA basketball championship game in March.
SOFTBALL
Veronica Miller’s single with two outs in the fifth inning drove home Julie Guerra, snapping a 1-1 tie and propelling Flint Carman to a 2-1 victory over East Detroit and all-state pitcher Roxanne ‘Rocky’ Szczesniak in the Class A championship game. Linda Allen picked up her second win on the day. Earlier she tossed a shutout in Carman’s 14-0 victory over Holland West Ottawa. Szczesniak, who would later star at Wayne State, allowed only three hits in the contest after delivering a one-hitter in East Detroit’s 11-3 victory over Ann Arbor Huron in the Semifinal.
“Everything worked great for me today,” Deanne Moore told the Lansing State Journal after tossing a two-hit, 6-0 shutout in Fenton’s Class B Final victory over Grand Rapids Northview. “I knew I had to pitch strikes and my fastball was moving around. I threw a couple of changeups to keep them guessing.”
In the title game, Moore opened the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning. It was followed by a triple by Sandy Thornton, who scored when Theresa Flynn singled up the middle. Moore scored again in the fourth inning following sacrifices by Sue Mora and Flynn, for a 3-0 lead. Northview’s fate was sealed in the fifth as Fenton tallied three more on Thornton’s two-run single and a fielder’s choice by Lori Glass.
It was the third-consecutive Class B title for the Tigers. Moore, a senior righthander, finished with a 24-2 record and would go on to an All-American career at Michigan State, earning entry into MSU’s Hall of Fame in 1996.
Rhonda Thran added her name to the MHSAA Championship Game Record Book, knocking in five runs as Berrien Springs routed Lakeview 11-4 in the Class C title game. Thran matched the RBI record set by DeWitt’s Cindy White in the Panthers’ Class C title victory over Center Line St. Clement in 1977. The sophomore centerfielder, along with second baseman Jan Dowell, was one of two regulars who were also starters on the Shamrocks’ volleyball team that won the Class C championship during the 1979-80 winter sports season.
Junior Cindy DeFay fired a three-hitter in the championship. “The whole team really wanted this one. I had a good feeling that we were going to win so I was ready to play. It’s the best game I’ve pitched all year,” she told Jack Walkden of the Benton Harbor Herald-Palladium following the game. DeFay had “missed much of the first half of the season with a severely sprained ankle.”
In the Semifinal, Berrien Springs downed Leroy Pine River 10-8 and banged out 21 hits across the day’s two games, highlighted by five hits by both Rachel Roots and Sheila Duffel, followed with four by Thran.
A police escort guided the team and its retiring coach, Roy Rennhack, back into town after the games played across the state in Oak Park near Detroit – “More than 150 cars joined the caravan, which paraded the team through town atop firetrucks.”
“It was a perfect going away present,” said Rennhack.
It was truly an amazing sports year for the Shamrocks girls, who also won Regional titles in track and basketball. Between 1979 and 1985, Berrien Springs volleyball teams won five Finals volleyball titles. (Those squads were honored in the second year of the MHSAA’s Legends of the Game program in 1999).
In Class D, Central Lake scored a dramatic 2-1 win over Vestaburg. In the top of the seventh inning, Vestaburg had knotted the game at 1-1 before relinquishing a walk to Pam Ellison in the bottom of the inning that set things in motion for the Trojans. Ellison stole second, then advanced to third on a sacrifice by Wendy Johnson. Following a walk to Wendy Baker, catcher Mary Hopp singled Ellison home for the win. Central Lake had finished as state runner-up to Laingsburg in 1978, then fell to Morenci 6-5 in the Semifinals in 1979.
“We were a pretty close-knit team,” said Ellison., recapping the rally.
“I had fantastic kids,” recalled coach Gary Johnson 40 years later. “We played a lot of big-time schools. I never had a second pitcher when I coached. Back then, if you had a girl who could throw a fastball you were at the top of the world. We had Judy Koens.“
Koens allowed just four-hits in the title game and along with Hopp was named to The Associated Press Class D all-state team as Central Lake finished 33-4. Koens would pitch at Central Michigan, posting stellar ERAs during her four seasons and earning all-Mid-American Conference honors in 1984 as a senior.
Ron Pesch has taken an active role in researching the history of MHSAA events since 1985 and began writing for MHSAA Finals programs in 1986, adding additional features and "flashbacks" in 1992. He inherited the title of MHSAA historian from the late Dick Kishpaugh following the 1993-94 school year, and resides in Muskegon. Contact him at [email protected] with ideas for historical articles.
PHOTOS: (Top) Berrien Springs celebrates its 1980 Class C softball championship. (Middle) Grosse Pointe North claims the Class A baseball title in its first Finals under coach Frank Sumbera. (Below) Central Lake improves from Class D softball runner-up in 1978 to champion two years later. (Photos gathered by Ron Pesch.)
Forest Hills Eastern, Standish-Sterling Celebrate 5-4 Wins to Set Up Saturday Matchup
By
Drew Ellis
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2025
EAST LANSING – Seeing its championship hopes slip away, Ada Forest Hills Eastern turned to a pair of juniors Thursday to give it a boost.
A relief effort from Colton Brinks and a timely hit from Ben Fausey allowed the Hawks to fight past Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in a Division 2 Semifinal, 5-4, at McLane Stadium on the campus of Michigan State University.
The win moved Forest Hills Eastern to Saturday’s Division 2 Final at 11:30 a.m., where it will face Standish-Sterling. The Hawks will be seeking their second title in program history, with the last coming in 2022.
“It’s just playing another game, that’s it,” Forest Hills Eastern coach Ian Hearn said of advancing to the MHSAA Final. “We really haven’t focused on the magnitude of the possibility of winning. The game is the same, people change, so we’re just going to keep approaching it the same way.”
The Hawks (41-1) held a 4-0 lead after one inning, but saw Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (26-13) slowly crawl back.
In the fifth, up 4-3, Hearn went to Brinks on the mound in relief of starter Cam Pallo with one out, and the junior got out of a bases-loaded jam.
“He has done that multiple times and been very successful,” Hearn said of bringing in Brinks. “I don’t want to say (OLSM) was starting to time (Pallo) up or whatever, but he was starting to get tired. He was hard with his fastball, and his slider and curve ball. So, everything was firm, firm, firm. Colton came in a little bit more over the top and was able to change a lot of speeds and hit his spots. It typically takes a moment to adjust, so we’ve been fortunate that Colton has been able to get us a lot of soft contact.”
The Eaglets would tie the game in the sixth inning on an error, but Eastern responded in the seventh when Fausey hit a leadoff double. Senior James Dempsey then laid down a bunt that forced a St. Mary’s throwing error and allowed Fausey to score to give the Hawks the lead back.
“My first three at-bats, I was getting some nerves out, but I know I am a good hitter,” Fausey said of his double. “I was hunting a fastball on the first pitch, and thankfully I was on time.”
In the bottom of the seventh, the Eaglets put the first batter on base, but Brinks forced a double play, followed by a flyout to end the game.
“I’ve done this in every single playoff game except for one, so I am kind of getting used to it,” Brinks said of locking up the game late.
Forest Hills Eastern didn’t waste much time getting on the scoreboard, as it posted four runs in the first inning. The first two Hawks were walked, followed by a bunt single from Dempsey.
Brendan Thompson, another senior, then came through with a two-run single up the middle to make it 2-0. Junior Kenric Penkevich brought in another run on a fielder’s choice, then Pallo had an RBI single to cap the scoring in the first.
“I think our guys came out very motivated, with a lot of positive energy,” Hearn said. “It was very good to get started with the lead, that’s for sure.”
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s had its first five batters retired before junior Tyler Shubnell laced a double to left field. Shubnell would advance to third on an error from a pickoff attempt, then score on a balk to make it 4-1 through two innings.
Junior Luke Crighton took the mound for Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in the second inning and retired the first eight batters he faced. Ultimately, he held the Hawks scoreless for five innings.
“He’s done that all year for us. He’s really a superb two-way guy,” St. Mary’s coach Nick Di Ponio said. “He does it at the plate, does it on the mound, does it defensively, does it running the bases. I can’t say enough good things about what he means to this team.”
The Eaglets manufactured a run with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning as junior Andrew Tribul drew a walk and then was singled over to third by senior Wyatt Borbi. Shubnell then reached base on an error that allowed Tribul to score, making it 4-2.
OLSM got within a run in the fifth as a leadoff single from Anthony Elezaj was followed by two walks and a wild pitch to make it 4-3.
In the sixth, Forest Hills Eastern stranded the bases loaded, and St. Mary’s tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Shubnell hit a leadoff single and would score on a throwing error with two outs, putting the score at 4-4.
“He swung really, really well today,” Di Ponio said of Shubnell. “He squared up the bat well and helped get some big runs for us.”
Brinks got the win in relief, his ninth of the season. Crighton finished with eight strikeouts and one run allowed over six innings of relief.
Standish-Sterling 5, Mason 4
The third time proved to be the charm for Ryan Raymond and the Standish-Sterling baseball team.
After coming up shy two of the last three seasons in Semifinals, the Panthers punched their ticket to their first MHSAA Final on Thursday with a 5-4 win over Mason.
“It feels really good,” Raymond said. “We didn’t play our best game. Give Mason a lot of credit. They battled. We made a few errors and we are going to have to play clean on Saturday, but it feels really good to be in the Finals.”
The game was scoreless for four innings, but the Panthers (36-5-2) got a momentum-swinging play when Mason (31-7) was threatening in the top of the fifth.
With a runner on and one out, the Bulldogs had a single go into right field. However, Mason’s lead runner got caught in a rundown and eventually was tagged out, and the trailing runner then got caught in a rundown of his own and was tagged out to end the inning.
“It’s one of those things where you try to prep your guys, and every pitch we need to stay as focused as possible,” Mason coach Kohl Tyrell said. “It’s one of those things where we just got a little too aggressive. We tried to hold (the lead runner) up, so it backfired and he got caught. It’s a great teaching moment for us. Sometimes those teaching moments come in wins, sometimes they come in losses.”
That defensive play sparked the Panthers, as they would go on to score all five of their runs in the bottom of the inning.
“I think that defensive play where we turned a very awkward double play, I think that got us all out of a tense funk,” Raymond said. “It loosened us up a little bit.”
Playing looser, Standish-Sterling utilized its bunting to get the offensive surge. Senior Kasen Wendel put a perfect bunt single down the third base line to load the bases. Junior Ben Briggs then followed with a bunt of his own, which forced a Mason error at home plate and brought two runs across for the Panthers.
“We play small ball. I think that is the way the game should be played,” Raymond said. “You see how it works when it is executed correctly. My boys are good at doing that, because we work on it a lot.”
A sacrifice fly from senior Trace Collins was followed by a two-run single from senior Brock Bartlett to cap Standish-Sterling’s scoring.
Mason didn’t go quietly, as it posted two runs in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly from junior Travis Davis and a Panthers error. In the seventh, Mason scored another two runs thanks to another error while Standish-Sterling was attempting what would have been a game-ending double play.
“That’s this team,” Tyrell said of Mason battling to the end. “That’s why this is super emotional. It’s not the outcome, it’s hard to leave a team like this. The boys wanted it, and the fight never stops. They’re Bulldogs.”
With the tying run at second base, Raymond turned to senior Sam Briggs to record the final out, which he did by forcing a ground ball. Briggs got the save in place of starter Preston Kann, who pitched 6 2/3 innings and struck out seven in a winning effort.
“I am fortunate to have a lot of good arms, but two exceptional ones,” Raymond said. “They are both touching 90 (mph), but they are pitchers and they are baseball players. That helps a lot. They put a ton of time into their sport. Sam and Preston are dudes when it comes to pitchers.”
PHOTOS (Top) Ada Forest Hills Eastern players celebrate their Division 1 Semifinal win over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s on Thursday. (Middle) Standish-Sterling’s Brock Bartlett (15) applies a tag on a Mason runner attempting to get back to second base.