Moment: Kamin Powers Escanaba to Final
May 14, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A number of key moments go into each championship season. And Nicole Kamin’s during last season’s Division 2 Softball Semifinals may have been the most key in Escanaba finishing its repeat title run.
Kamin, then a sophomore, sent a sixth-inning pitch over the center field fence at Secchia Stadium on June 13, 2019, pushing the Eskymos ahead of North Branch 2-1 on the way to winning an inning later by the same score.
The blast set up teammate Gabi Salo to finish her one-hit pitching performance in the top of the seventh inning. Escanaba went on to defeat Stevensville Lakeshore 7-3 two days later in the Division 2 Final.
Kamin, batting second for the Eskymos in the Semifinal, had struck out and then grounded out in her first two at bats of the game.
“The nerves were kicking in for sure,” Kamin said that day. “I just went up there and swung it. It’s just amazing, honestly. Such a big game like this, to bring us to a championship game. It’s awesome.”
Click for coverage of that Semifinal from Second Half and watch Kamin’s homer below from the NFHS Network.
Have You Seen "The Catch" from Friday's Softball Semifinals?
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 17, 2023
An over-the-fence homer-robbing grab by Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s Alexys Zeien took just a few seconds to become legend Friday, creating a buzz all over Old College Field where the MHSAA and Michigan State are hosting Softball, Baseball and Girls Soccer Finals this weekend.
The Irish senior centerfielder’s snag of what looked to be a sure-thing fence-clearing drive by Unionville-Sebewaing junior Gabrielle Crumm is getting national play this morning as well. Check it out above, from the NFHS Network, via the State Champs! Sports Network feed.
Click for full coverage of USA’s 2-1 win from MHSAA.com.
PHOTO by Jim Pivarnik.