Did you see that?

April 16, 2012

Check out our must-know scores and news from April 9-14.

(Click on links for coverage.)

Baseball

Milestone victory: Johannesburg-Lewiston coach Rick Guild won his 700th game, becoming the ninth Michigan baseball coach to do so according to the MHSAA record book. Guild took over the Cardinals program in 1975. (Gaylord Herald Times)

No-no No. 2: Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett’s Alex Daar threw his second no-hitter of this young season, striking out 15 in a 4-0 win over Livonia Clarenceville. He also struck out 15 in his first no-hitter this spring. (Detroit News)

Softball

One day, two no-hitters: Saginaw Valley Lutheran pitchers Sarah Appold and Kelsey Schaus combined to no-hit Flint Southwestern for the day on Saturday. Appold threw a no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader, striking out 14, while Schaus did the same in the second game while striking out 11. (Saginaw News)

Soccer

Hornets sting Mason: In a matchup of reigning District champions in Divisions 3 and 2, respectively, Williamston downed Mason 3-1. Both teams likely will be ranked when the first polls are released this week. The Hornets are 4-1, with their lone loss to Birmingham Marian, and with Hudsonville Unity Christian and a tournament including Flint Powers Catholic, Detroit Country Day, Frankenmuth, Plainwell and Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard coming up over the next two weekends. (Lansing State Journal)

Tennis

West Ottawa wins at Lowell: Holland West Ottawa, which tied for 12th at last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final, edged currently-ranked Division 3 No. 8 Grand Rapids Catholic Central 47-44 to win the Lowell Invitational. (Holland Sentinel)

Media

Thanks, Jim: Longtime Port Huron Times-Herald sports editor Jim Whymer retired from the paper after more than 33 years. An enthusiastic advocate of high school athletics, Whymer has been a tireless presence both in his community and statewide serving as a voting member of various Associated Press committees for football and basketball rankings and all-state teams. (Port Huron Times-Herald)

Editor's note: Did we miss something? Comment below and tell us about it. Is there an event coming up that we should make sure to note? Comment or e-mail [email protected].

Learning as They Play, Algonac Boys Soccer Back on Pitch for 1st Time since 2016

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

September 18, 2024

Zeke Stiltner knew what he was signing up for when he agreed to join the Algonac boys soccer team.

Bay & ThumbAs a senior, joining a program that hadn’t taken the field since 2016, he wasn’t expecting many – if any – wins. He wasn’t looking for a grand send-off. He was simply happy to be there at the beginning of something new.

“It’s such a unique experience,” said Stiltner, who played travel soccer in California prior to moving to Algonac as a freshman. “You don’t get the opportunity to build a brand-new team and build a bit of a legacy.”

Stiltner and his Algonac teammates are part of a restarted program that has been dormant for eight years. While the team has begun 0-7, just being on the field at all is a success. And growing the team to 17 active players, with just four seniors and no juniors, is more than they could have imagined.

“I don’t think there was any expectation of measuring success with wins and losses and the record,” Algonac coach Lance Whitney said. “We all knew the wins and losses was probably not going to be great. Really, we went into the beginning of the year teaching the kids how to play soccer and have fun.”

It was Algonac wrestling coach Brian Ranger who had originally brought the idea of reviving the soccer program to Whitney when the latter began teaching in the district in 2022. The two had gone to high school and wrestled together at Richmond, and Ranger – who serves as the team’s assistant coach – was looking for something for his wrestlers to do in the offseason, as Algonac was also reviving its football program at the time.

“Half the team is wrestling kids,” Whitney said. “He kind of used it as a way for his wrestlers to do something other than nothing if they weren’t playing football or running cross country. Some of them came out because they just wanted to do something, and a lot of them were recruited by Ranger.”

Whitney had coached at Richmond for a decade, his last season with the boys in 2022. He’s also a coach at Thundercats travel club, where his daughter and Ranger’s daughter had played. 

That time included plenty of success and a good number of teams filled with experienced players. 

Algonac started this season with three players who had played organized soccer.

“I think for me, you change your whole approach,” Whitney said. “You have to kind of balance that I’m only going to teach them so much technical stuff in two and a half months, but I have to, at some point, teach them, ‘Here’s the formation. Here are positions. Here are responsibilities.’ What I did in August is brought them all together for a week and said, ‘This is how you strike a ball. How you pass. How you play defense.’ All the technical stuff you can do.

“I’m not pretending this is the type of team where we’re going to be able to drop a ball at the goalie’s feet and play out of the back. But we do at least one technical skill (in practice), then I treat them like I do any other team I coach, even my highest-level girls team. We do Rondos, possession – try and let the game teach them how to play.”

But even for the few experienced players, that first week was more than enough. Simply being on the field playing was a breath of fresh air.

“I enjoyed it,” senior Griffin Degowske said. “That first practice, it was just fun to be out there. I was just glad we had a team.”

Goal-setting and expectations were also on a different level for the Muskrats. After losing their first two matches by goal-differential rule in the first half, the goal was to get to a second half. When that was accomplished, the goal was to complete a game without a mercy rule ending it.

They’ve accomplished that in both of their past two games, even scoring their first goal since 2016 in a 7-1 loss to Armada on Sept. 12.

The goal was scored by freshman Oliver Geck off a corner kick. While it made the score 5-1 midway through the second half, you couldn’t tell from the celebration.

“They celebrated like they won the game,” Whitney said. “It was really awesome, especially for the kid that scored. Oliver is a freshman, and he’s never really played before. He’s a pretty athletic kid, and the ball was bouncing around and he struck it. We were close (to scoring again) a couple times (Monday) night.”

While the team is still growing skill wise, Whitney is continually impressed with what they’re giving him from an effort standpoint. The team’s toughness and athleticism – no doubt buoyed by the influx of wrestlers – also has stood out.

“Teaching them is a lot different than teaching a (kids) team since they were 6(-years-old), and they’re 13 now,” Whitney said. “But they’re starting to put things together. A lot of the things they do, they can get to the right place, they can move, they can get to where they need to be positionally. It’s just the lack of technical skills right now that will mess up plays.”

Most important, at least for the future of the program, are the numbers. With 17 on the roster and 13 eligible to come back for not just 2025, but 2026, there’s a clear path forward for Muskrats soccer.

“It is amazing,” Whitney said. “It’s a step in the right direction for the school and the program, and all of those kids individually, too.”

Paul CostanzoPaul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.

PHOTO Algonac’s Louis LaParl (2) clears the ball during a game against Croswell-Lexington. (Photo courtesy of the Algonac boys soccer program.)