First-Time Title Winner Guaranteed in D4
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
June 16, 2017
EAST LANSING – Coach Bryan Scheurer figured his Portland St. Patrick team couldn’t play much worse.
The Shamrocks committed four errors over the first four innings of their Division 4 Semifinal and trailed Unionville-Sebewaing 8-4.
“Our motto is to throw strikes early,” he said. “We want to throw strikes and take the outs they give us.”
That wasn’t working. In addition to the errors, St. Patrick issued three walks.
“We weren’t playing well,” Scheurer said. “Another one of our mottos is, losing is not acceptable. We’re going to chip away, grind away.
“We didn’t make it easy.”
The Shamrocks scored four runs in the fifth inning to tie the game and pushed across four more in the seventh to defeat USA, 12-8, on Friday at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium.
St. Patrick (28-0-1), a 10-3 loser to Sterling Heights Parkway Christian in the Final last season, will attempt to win the program’s first title when it plays Hudson (27-16) at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Hudson, which had never won a Regional title until this season, trailed Gaylord St. Mary, 2-1, after four innings and then scored two in the fifth and added three in the sixth to take a 6-2 lead on the way to achieving another program first.
St. Patrick had two triples in the fifth inning of its win. Freshman Devin Fedewa’s two-run triple was the key hit.
Graham Smith then started the seventh with a walk, and the bases were loaded with one out after an error and a hit batsman. Dan Mackowiak batted in what proved to be the winning run with a sacrifice fly to center. Nathan Lehnert and Scheurer’s nephew, Brandon Scheurer, had RBI singles, and another run scored on a well-executed double steal.
St. Patrick trailed Bay City All Saints 3-0 and 6-4 in a Regional Final before coming back to win, 7-6. Brandon Scheuer said his team has come back a number of times this season, so the fact the Shamrocks were trailing again didn’t faze them.
“We’ve seen games like that before,” he said. “We try not to hit doubles and home runs. We want to hit singles. We play small ball. We’re good at it. Apparently, they are, too.”
USA (30-8-1) batted around in the third inning and scored four runs to take a 7-3 lead. Scheurer came on in relief in that inning, and though he gave up three of the four runs, he settled down and allowed just two hits and no runs over the final three innings to receive credit for the victory.
Scheurer had four hits, and four of his teammates had two including Brendan Schrauben, Lehnert and Fedewa, all of whom had two RBI.
St. Patrick had 15 hits to nine for USA. Cooper Kauffold had three hits and three RBI for the Patriots.
“That was a heck of a game when you think about all of the back-and-forth play,” USA coach Tyler Bader said. “I told our players you’ve got to use this as a springboard. Not having experience here can add up.”
USA was playing to reach an MHSAA Final for the first time.
Hudson 6, Gaylord St. Mary 4
Jesse Hesistan went the first six innings for Hudson before filling the bases with no outs in the seventh. Coach Jeremy Beal brought in Garrett Gamble from third base and switched Hesistan to third.
The move worked. Drew Koenig hit a grounder to Hesistan, who stepped on the bag and threw to first to complete the double play. Though a run scored, Hudson got what it wanted.
“I was nervous,” Gamble said. “Pitching in relief is never easy. You just have to get it done. You prep for this.”
Brady Hunter singled in St. Mary’s fourth run, but Gamble got the last out on a fly out to center.
“(Hesistan) had enough pitches left to finish,” Beal said. “He was staring at getting us to the Final. That double play was just like we drew it up.”
Hudson’s three runs in the sixth inning proved valuable. Black Borck singled home the fourth run and Gamble, who went 4-4 with four RBI, followed with a two-out, two-run triple.
“We needed to score some runs,” St. Mary coach Matt Nowicki said. “When you get in a hole like that, it’s tough. It would have been nice to take that next step.”
Nick Torsky went the distance for St. Mary (29-8), and Joseph Moeggenberg went 3-3 at the plate.
“We don’t have experience in games like these,” Beal said. “But our athletic department has had success. Wrestling for one. We coach kids in the fall, and it carries over to the winter. We coach kids in the winter and it carries over to the spring.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Portland St. Patrick second baseman Dan Mackowiak throws to first during Friday’s Division 4 Semifinal. (Middle) Hudson puts a tag on Gaylord St. Mary’s Nick Torsky.
Standout Dunn Does it All for Saugatuck
April 22, 2016
By Dave Sontag
Reprinted from Prep Baseball Report
At times, he wears a uniform under his uniform.
The attire that rests inside his baseball jersey has an “S” on the chest. The “S” should stand for Superman. For Saugatuck multi-athlete Blake Dunn, he doesn’t think playing four varsity sports each school year is newsworthy.
“Personally, I have never wanted to give up on any sports. I have the support from all of the coaches. I never wanted to close the door to any of the sports,” Dunn said.
The talented junior is currently competing on his school’s baseball and track & field teams. He hopes to end his high school career earning 16 varsity letters, an unprecedented feat in Saugatuck history.
Dunn has been the starting quarterback for three years and starred on the basketball court for three winters. In an age when many high school athletes prefer to specialize in one sport, Dunn has a different attitude.
“High school only happens once,” Dunn said. “My parents are behind me and my coaches all support me.”
So how does Dunn prepare for each of his spring sports?
Track coach Rick Bauer allows Dunn to conduct his workouts in the morning – before school. Baseball coach Dave Gawlak then works with Dunn after school on the diamond. Game and meet conflicts are minimal during the spring sports season.
It helps that Saugatuck’s athletic director is Bill Dunn, Blake’s dad. The veteran AD has not scheduled many events when baseball and track are competing on the same day. However, Blake did have to make a decision his freshman year when both the track and baseball teams traveled to Bloomingdale High School on the same day.
Blake said that day at Bloomingdale was the most memorable he has had during his high school career.
“I started off playing baseball that day and singled in my first at bat,” Dunn said. “I then changed into my track uniform and won three straight events.”
Dunn won the 110-meter hurdles, the 300 hurdles and as part of the 800 relay before changing back into his baseball uniform.
With the “S” etched on his chest, how did Dunn cap his full day of competition?
“I went back to the baseball field and hit a home run in my next at bat,” Dunn said.
Dunn not only intends to earn 16 varsity letters in his high school career, he also has earned all-state recognition in all four sports. He’s also recently been added to the MHSAA football record book for his accomplishments this past season.
Which sport does he like the best?
“I love them all so much. I really don’t know which one is my favorite,” Dunn said.
As an elementary student, Blake grew up on the gridiron with his dad, who is also Saugatuck’s football coach. Being a coach’s son, Blake serves as another coach on the field.
“He’s always hung around the field,” Bill Dunn said. “Ever since second or third grade, Blake has been around me on the football field.”
The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder said there is nothing like “the Friday night lights in football and the Friday night crowds in basketball.”
“I have limited opportunities to play sports. I don’t want to miss out on any of them,” Blake Dunn said.
Demonstrating talent on the basketball court, Dunn scored 51 points against Lawton this winter. He finished his junior year with more than 1,000 career points.
Dunn’s offseason schedule consists of playing travel baseball and working out with the school’s basketball and football teams.
“I don’t wear myself out playing one sport and possibly getting hurt,” Dunn said.
Dunn does realize that college coaches encourage athletes to play multiple sports. In fact, statistics have proven that high school athletes who specialize in one sport are at an increased risk of injuries – especially knee and hip injuries.
David Bell, a professor of kinesiology and orthopedics and rehabilitation at University of Wisconsin, said after his school completed its recent study “Prevalence of Sport Specialization in High School Athletics” that parents need to be more cognizant of their children specializing in one sport.
Athletes who trained in one sport for more than eight months during the study were more likely to have a history of knee and hip injuries, Bell reported.
The MHSAA also is currently spearheading a task force to promote multi-sport participation.
“For years it seemed educators were alone in promoting the multi-sport experience as the best for young people,” Executive Director Jack Roberts said. “Major college football coaches, members of the USA Women’s World Cup Soccer championship team, Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz, PGA golfer Jordan Spieth and others demonstrate to us that the multi-sport experience is the healthiest and happiest way to participate in youth sports.”
While playing four sports has kept Dunn busy athletically, he has been able to keep his grades solid. He holds a 3.95 grade-point average with a rigorous schedule.
The two-way baseball player has made a verbal commitment to play at Western Michigan University after high school. He is not sure if he will continue at WMU on the mound or as a catcher – or both.
“They have talked to me about maybe catching and then closing on the mound,” Dunn said.
Staying close to home does not surprise his dad.
“He’s really a down-home kid,” Bill Dunn said of his son. “The relationship with Billy (Gernon, WMU’s coach) is awesome.
The elder Dunn is proud of his son’s work ethic.
“He has God-given skills, but he works at it.” Bill said. “I remember him coming off of a basketball game on a Friday night and heading to Kalamazoo the next morning at 6:30 to work out for three hours.”
The talented junior has been clocked pitching at 90 mph and ran a 6.7-second 60-yard dash.
The script for Dunn has been storybook-like. Peeling off one uniform only to compete in another sport, he has carved quite an athletic career.
But while Western Michigan is waiting for the multi-talented athlete to finish high school, Blake will continue doing what he does best – performing at the highest level on his way to 16 varsity letters.
PHOTOS: (Top) Dunn has starred in football, basketball and baseball during the 2016-17 school year. (Middle) Dunn also was a Lower Peninsula Division 4 champion last spring in the 300 hurdles and as part of the 1,600 relay. (Top photos courtesy of the Dunn family, middle photo by RunMichigan.com.)