Traverse City Central's Battery Charged as Talented Trojans Take On Title Pursuits
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
May 1, 2026
Not yet.
Traverse City Central seniors Anna Tabaczka, Anika Peterson, Rachel Poortenga, Grace Cary and Piper Cavanaugh are well aware the Trojans have never finished first in the history of the Big North Conference.
They’re also aware a Regional softball trophy is not in the school’s illustrious trophy case.
But perhaps the strong senior leadership group is mostly aware Central just hasn’t won those crowns yet, with the emphasis on “yet.” The Trojans are focused on winning one game at a time with their eyes on those elusive prizes.
“It’s definitely one game at a time because I know there's a lot of good teams out there and it takes run support, and it takes clean defense,” said second-year Trojans head coach Julie Tiesworth. “Our District is not a cakewalk. So we can't cross any bridges too soon. Winning the conference has never been done – it's a goal – but I'd say making a postseason run is our biggest goal.”
It’s been a near-perfect season for Central so far. In fact, it’s pretty much been a dream season.
Since ace pitcher Cavanaugh transferred from cross-town rival Traverse City West and started wearing the black and gold, she hasn’t lost a game. And Cavanaugh has thrown two perfect games and another no-hitter while picking up strings of innings of no walks and multiple strikeouts.
Cavanaugh, who committed to Oregon, is 11-0 on the season. She has given up just 10 hits and five runs, allowed only one base on balls and fanned 114 in just 50 innings of work. The Trojans’ firepower, meanwhile, shortened most of those games to mercy-rule wins.
This week, the Trojans moved closer to a Big North Conference title with 15-0 and 17-1 victories over Cadillac. Sophomore Julia Brady, who broke the Trojans’ home run record as a freshman last year, led the way belting two home runs in three at bats in both games. Cavanaugh went 5-for-5 at the plate with a double, triple and a home run, and Grace Cary, the team’s catcher heading to play softball next year for Ohio State, was 4-for-5 across the twin bill, also adding a triple and home run.
Cary emphasized the Trojans’ commitment to taking one game at a time as they could inch closer to a conference title Tuesday at Sault Ste. Marie.
“It’s one goal at a time, but it'd be nice to go past Regionals, at least one game, because we've never won Regional Finals,” said Cary. “The BNC would also be nice to have, but I feel like a main goal for us as a team is to win Regionals.”
Regardless of how the season turns out, Cary and Cavanaugh will treasure the moments playing together – something they started doing as 9-year-olds. The incredible pitcher/catcher battery played extensive travel ball together and also apart with different programs.
“The funny thing, too, is Grace started out as a pitcher and Piper started out as a catcher,” pointed out Tiesworth, who fondly recalls watching their early development. “Then they found their strengths. As Piper switched over to pitcher, they started to climb with different travel organizations and getting broader exposure. Growing up together, playing against each other, playing with each other, and then to be reunited for their senior year is special.”
Cavanaugh played at TC West as a freshman and focused on travel ball her sophomore and junior years. Cary played all four years for the Trojans.
“Grace has been here kind of grinding for four years, and she's been in the spotlight for four years,” Tiesworth said. “She's a spicy, fiery, speedy, aggressive bass runner. Grace and Piper have very different personalities, but they add so much together. You can't have a pitcher of that caliber if you don't have a catcher of that caliber – even to warm up Piper for a game.”
Cavanaugh is thrilled to be pitching to her long-time battery mate again.
“I love it,” Cavanaugh said. “I think being able to play this last year with her is just a great way to end our high school years. We’ve gone full circle, now finishing off our senior season together before we all go off to college.”
Cavanaugh, who has been called the best pitcher in the state by opposing coaches, is dominating the high school level after stepping away the last two years. She was immediately eligible to play softball this spring for Central because she did not play the sport at West last season.
“No one has seen Piper pitch in the state of Michigan since she was a freshman,” Tiesworth noted. “And for me, it was just so fun to see her, as a senior now, come back around. Of all the kids I've coached, she's one of the most modest, humble, hardworking, best teammate … this kiddo is the total package.”
Cary noted that the Trojans are putting up plenty of run support and defense behind their pitchers as well.
The Trojans have scored 215 runs over their 19 games so far. Cary is leading the team in batting, hitting almost .600. Cavanaugh at .550 is right behind her.
Brady has eight home runs and is batting near .500. Peterson is next at .457, and the other senior leaders, Tabaczka and Poortenga are hitting above .300.
“We have super strong leadership from these senior athletes,” Tiesworth said. “We’re definitely led by it, and we have four sophomores on the roster that want to follow suit and play college softball.”
The Trojans are 17-2, with the losses coming on doubleheader days when Cavanaugh pitched just one of the two games.
One of the defeats was to West. Cavanaugh tossed a perfect game in the opening 3-0 win, and the second game was called in the seventh inning because lightning as West led 11-9 at the Trojan Athletic Complex.
The Trojans are looking forward to a possible rematch with the Titans in a District pairing. The District will be hosted by West and also includes Alpena and Marquette.
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City Central pitcher Piper Cavanaugh, left, and catcher Grace Cary pose for a photo together while making Os for Oregon and Ohio State. (Middle) The Trojans’ dugout celebrates during a game. (Top photo courtesy of Pattersnap. Middle photo by Jan Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle.)
Game May Change, But Success Continues as Wilson Nears 800 Coaching Wins
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
April 16, 2024
SOUTH HAVEN — No dugouts, no outfield fences, $25 bats.
Things have come a long way since Wilma Wilson took over the coaching reins at her alma mater 35 years ago.
“When I played, we didn’t have fences, we didn’t have dugouts; we had benches,” the South Haven softball coach said. “If you hit a home run, it had to be an in-the-park home run because there were hardly any parks that had any fences.
“It’s come a long way. Now you go to fields that are turfed. I love it. I’m glad to see the change for the girls and to see more emphasis on them playing and being involved.”
With a 791-406 record over her 35 years coaching the Rams softball team, Wilson is closing in on 800 career wins. Her current record puts her 19th among MHSAA coaches and just 16 victories behind former Monroe coach Vince Rossi’s 807 victories.
The Rams are 2-2 on the young season, but started off with a bang — actually three bangs over the right field fence in a one-run squeaker against Paw Paw on March 26.
Although the team has just 11 players, it is stacked with experience. Nine players saw action last season, and the five seniors have three or four years of varsity time.
Those seniors include twins Kamryn and Taylor Holland.
Against Paw Paw, Kamryn hit her first grand slam, a walk-off homer in a 12-11 win.
“I knew it was going to be close as soon as I saw it,” the third baseman said. “I just kept running and started jumping up and down when I saw it go over.”
She was one of the veterans instrumental in the team’s postseason play last year, as South Haven reached its Division 2 District Final before losing 6-2 to Hamilton.
The Rams are focused on a longer run this year.
“A lot of the girls have been on the same team, and we’ve played together the past three years,” Kamryn said. “We know enough about each other and work good together. Everything clicks.”
Her sister, a shortstop/pitcher, agrees she and her teammates already have solid connections and said Wilson is a big reason.
“I love how much she pushes me,” Taylor Holland said. “She’s always there when you need her. She’ll take you aside if you need anything and always wants us to be our best. I just love that about her, because she loves us on and off the field.”
Wilson does more than work on softball with the players.
“(Last week) I sat down with the girls and had a good heart-to-heart, working through frustrations, trying to help kids maneuver through things in life, whether at school, at home, in the game,” she said.
“That’s a huge part of coaching and what keeps me in it, knowing I can make a difference helping these kids manage life a little bit.”
Continuing the legacy
One of Wilson’s former players who is still very involved in the sport is her daughter, Marlee Wilson, in her first season as Western Michigan University’s head softball coach.
The Broncos won their 20th game of the season Sunday, making Wilson WMU’s winningest first-year softball coach.
“I coached her when she was small, coached her through high school, coached her in travel ball,” Wilma Wilson said. “She’s a very competitive kid, plays really hard. She has that same love for the game that I do, same drive.”
Marlee Wilson said one important thing she learned from her mom was to make softball fun.
“Practices in high school were always really fun,” she remembered. “It was the best part of the day. I couldn’t imagine it being any other way. (I want to) continue that and also develop the student athletes as people.
“There’s not a huge career in softball like there is in baseball and other sports, so you’re going to play four or five years in college then hopefully be prepared for life after sports, which (Mom) did a really good job with me.”
When she has a chance to talk with high school athletes, Marlee Wilson tells them to have fun and learn the basics of the game.
“That’s huge in high school,” she said. “At the college level, we can tell players who went through really good high school programs or travel programs that have those really good fundamentals or softball IQ.
“(Mom) does a really good job of developing players as a whole so when they get to that level, they understand that part of the game.”
Wilson played softball at WMU from 2014-18 and was a three-time academic all-Mid-American Conference honoree, a 2017 MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete and a four-time NFCA All-American Scholar.
Sparking like Sparky
Although Wilma Wilson calls him a “co-coach,” Dave Gumpert considers himself her assistant the last 11 years.
“I respect her many years as being a coach,” he said. “We talk things over, but she makes the final decisions.
“It’s been a really good relationship. She bounces things off me, I bounce things off her. It’s been a good run so far.”
Gumpert, who had a seven-year stint as a major league pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals, is the one who good-naturedly calls Wilson “Sparky” — and not because of her sparkling personality.
“She pretty much lets me run practice, and she walks around,” he said, smiling. “I played for (Tigers manager) Sparky Anderson and that’s what he did. He walked around the outfield, just talking to people and doing all the PR stuff while all the other coaches were getting the work done. So I like to tease her.”
Equipment has been another area of change during Wilson’s tenure.
“The equipment has gone crazy from the technology of bats,” she said. “A bat back in the day would be $20, $25. Now they’re $400.
“If take my school budget and buy balls for the season for both our (varsity and JV) teams and a bat, I’ve used two-thirds of my budget.”
But South Haven is making those bats work. Senior centerfielder Myraql McGee said hitting is among the team’s most noticeable improvements from a year ago.
“Our whole lineup is good power hitters. It doesn’t matter where you are, our lineup is pretty stacked,” said McGee, who will continue her career next season at Missouri Valley College.
“Fielding-wise, we could work on a couple things, but we don’t make as many errors at routine plays as many other teams.”
Other seniors are Sam Beeney and Kayley Gorham, and juniors are Madi Dotson, Grace Strebeck and Molly Verseput. Sophomores are Addison Dekoning and Erin Bos, and they are joined by freshman Ly’Nique Cunningham.
Gumpert was with Wilson when the Rams reached but lost in the Division 2 Final in 2018 and sees some similarities between that and this year’s team.
“Offensively, we had a good team, but I would dare to say this team is as good offensively as that team was,” he said. “It’s going to boil down to how well our pitching does, how well our pitchers progress. If we have the pitching I think we can develop into, I think we’ll be competitive with anybody.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) South Haven softball coach Wilma Wilson, right, welcomes home Kamryn Holland after Holland’s grand slam March 26. (2) The Rams enjoy watching Marlee Wilson’s Western Michigan Broncos this season. (2) Wilson, right, joins daughter Marlee to form an accomplished mother-daughter coaching tree. (4) South Haven senior Myraql McGee settles in under a fly ball. (Top and WMU photos provided by Wilma Wilson, family photo by Pam Shebest, and McGee action photo provided by McGee.)