Logo

High 5s - 6/19/12

June 21, 2012

The final High 5s of 2011-12 go to a pair of Ishpeming Westwood golfers who led their team to a rare feat of four straight Finals championships, and perhaps the most unexpected team champion of the spring season -- the Dansville softball team, which downed reigning champion Petersburg-Summerfield in the Division 4 championship game.

Berkley LaFreniere
Ishpeming Westwood senior
Golf

LaFreniere completed her fourth and final season on the Westwood golf team this spring by helping the Patriots to a fourth-straight MHSAA title. She shot a 90 to finish individual runner-up at the Division 2 Final to teammate Megan Manninen. LaFreniere also was a forward on the basketball team and played No. 1 doubles for the tennis team that ended the fall with a third-straight Upper Peninsula Division 2 championship. Three of the golf titles were in Division 2, while the 2010 championship came in Division 1.

Winning ways: "It takes a lot of practice. Obviously the time you put in is what gets you the best results. But I also think it's about having fun."

I learned the most about golf from: "My dad (Paul) is a big golfer. We've had a membership at Wawonowin (Country Club) since I was really little. I would say maybe 10 years old (is when I started), maybe even younger."

If I could play with three others: "Rory (McIlroy) from the PGA, Tiger Woods just because he's the best known, and probably Jack Nicklaus. I just always hear about him when I'm watching golf. They always compare things to him."

Up next: LaFreniere will attend the University of Michigan and study one of the sciences, perhaps biochemistry, on the way to becoming a pediatric oncologist. "When they find a cure for cancer, I want to be part of that."

(Click to read more.)

Megan Manninen
Ishpeming Westwood senior
Golf

Manninen, with LaFreniere, also completed her fourth and final season on the Westwood golf team as part of the Patriots' fourth-straight MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals winner. Manninen shot an 87 to also win her second-straight and third total UP Division 2 individual championship. A point guard on the basketball team, she'll signed to play hoops this fall at Lake Superior State University.

I learned the most about golf from: "My dad (Kevin Manninen). He's the manager of Wawonowin Country Club and was the manager as Marquette Golf Course. He played at Oakland University and in a couple of U.S. Open qualifiers."

If I could play with three others: "My dad, Jame (Reichardt, her uncle who died May 14) and my grandpa (Harold Reichardt)."

My favorite golfer to watch: "Rory McIlroy. I enjoyed watching him last year in the U.S. Open. He was new, and he was trying to win for his dad because it was Father's Day. I enjoyed watching him a lot." 

My favorite to watch play hoops: "Skylar Diggins, the point guard for Notre Dame. I like her control and leadership."

Up next: Manninen will get the chance to contribute immediately for the Lakers' basketball team, and will major in pre-med with hopes of becoming a physician assistant. "I want to help people, and when I was down at U-M (to visit her uncle at the hospital) I saw a lot of opportunities to do that."

(Click to read more.)  

Dansville softball

On Friday, the Aggies won their first MHSAA Semifinal. On Saturday, the finished the weekend with the Division 4 championship. Dansville was in its third trip to Bailey Park over the last four seasons, and defeated top-ranked and two-time reigning champion Petersburg-Summerfield, 3-2. Not only was it the first softball championship in school history, but also the first MHSAA title in any girls sport. The Aggies had entered the postseason ranked No. 9 and finished this spring 31-5.

This spring's previous honorees

Paw Paw players greet teammate Elizabeth Vanderburg after her game-winning home run Thursday at Secchia Stadium.

Richmond's Ace, Paw Paw's 'Ms. Walk-Off' Send Teams Into Saturday

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

June 12, 2025

EAST LANSING — You might as well dub Paw Paw sophomore Elizabeth Vanderburg as “Ms. Walk-Off” this season. 

Paw Paw head coach Mike Mottl noted Thursday that Vanderburg has had four game-winning walk-off hits this season for the Red Wolves. But none were as important or dramatic as how she finished her team’s Division 2 Semifinal against Carleton Airport. 

With her team down to its final out, Vanderburg delivered a 2-run home run inside the foul pole and over the left-field fence to give Paw Paw a 3-2 victory and its first trip to an MHSAA championship game. The Red Wolves will face Richmond for the Division 2 title at 10 a.m. Saturday at Secchia Stadium.

Vanderburg most recently had hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to advance her team past Otsego in their District Semifinal two weeks ago.

Ms. Walk-Off indeed.

“I got pitched outside all game, so I was going to wait on the outside pitch and take it to right field,” she said. “It was a high, inside pitch, so I just took it that way. I knew off the bat it was gone.”

Mottl said, at the very least, he felt Vanderburg was going to make hard contact. 

“I had no doubt whatsoever she was going to do that,” he said. “She’s just an amazing athlete and for a sophomore, I don’t think she has blood in her body. It’s all ice.”

It was an unusual Semifinal matchup in that neither team had a senior on the roster. As crushing of an ending as it was for Airport, knowing everyone will be back next year was something that allowed Jets head coach Jessica Irwin to smile.

“Just being here is good for them to see,” she said. “Just the pressure of it, and you can come in a little more relaxed next year.”

Airport (33-9) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a 2-out, 2-run double to left field by junior Peyton Zajac. 

Paw Paw (37-3) got on the board in the fifth, cutting Airport’s lead to 2-1 on a single to left by Vanderburg.

Red Wolves sophomore pitcher Lauren Mackellar also starred. She didn’t allow a run after the first inning and finished with a 6-hitter, striking out 11 and not walking a batter.

Mottl knows not many people will be expecting his team to win the Final against Richmond, but his squad is fully capable of delivering the program’s first title. 

“Don’t worry about next year,” Mottl said of what will be his team’s mindset. “You don’t know what’s going to happen next year. The opportunity is here. You’ve got to take opportunities when they are presented.”

Click for the full box score.

Richmond 2, Escanaba 0

It was an all-state pitchers’ duel as No. 1-ranked Escanaba met No. 7 Richmond in the second Semifinal, with Richmond senior Katie Shuboy getting the better of Escanaba senior and Michigan signee Grayson LaMarche. 

Shuboy tossed a one-hitter, striking out 12 and walking one batter. LaMarche threw a three-hitter, striking out 13, walking one, while not giving up an earned run. 

“You can’t overthink it,” Shuboy said of facing the Escanaba lineup. “You just have to trust your stuff, go out there and throw.”

Richmond catcher Ashley Stafford frames a pitch during her team’s win over Escanaba.Richmond scored the only two runs of the game with two outs in the top of the sixth inning. The Blue Devils put runners on second and third base with one out following a passed ball after a strikeout, a bunt single and a sacrifice bunt. 

Following a groundout, an Escanaba throw aimed at getting the Richmond runner at third went into left field, allowing both runners to score. 

That was all the run support needed for Shuboy, who has tossed back-to-back shutouts beginning with a 6-0 win over Goodrich in a Quarterfinal.

“I just trust my defense,” Shuboy said. “When we got those two runs, I knew it was going to be game because my team made amazing plays in the field. I trust myself, and I knew that we were going to win that game.”

Escanaba (38-5) was seeking its first Finals title since winning the second of back-to-back crowns in 2019. 

The Eskymos got their leadoff hitter on in the bottom of the fifth inning on their only hit of the game, but the rally fizzled quickly. 

“She mixed it really well,” Escanaba head coach Andy Fields said of Shuboy’s performance. “It was nothing we haven’t seen this year. She did an excellent job locating. It was just tough to get a gauge on what she was doing."

On the other side, Richmond will go for its third title during the 47-year tenure of head coach Howard Stuart. 

Richmond’s most recent Finals championship came in 2021. 

“She was moving the ball, and we were really struggling,” Stuart said of LaMarche. “But we were OK in the end.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Paw Paw players greet teammate Elizabeth Vanderburg after her game-winning home run Thursday at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) Richmond catcher Ashley Stafford frames a pitch during her team’s win over Escanaba.