Homer, Liggett Set Up Saturday Meeting
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 14, 2019
EAST LANSING – Jacob Wilson just wanted to start jumping up and down Friday after his game-winning single sent Homer to the MHSAA Division 3 Baseball Final.
But before he could fully celebrate, he had to make it to first base, something he admitted he had to be reminded to do.
“The coach told me to (run to first),” Wilson said.
He made it without issue and was mobbed by his teammates as Homer defeated Pewamo-Westphalia 2-1 in nine innings at McLane Baseball Stadium on the campus of Michigan State University. The Trojans advanced to Saturday’s Final against Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, which defeated Gladstone 5-0 in the other Semifinal.
“What an unbelievable setting, and to have a 2-1 walkoff in the bottom of the ninth at Michigan State, that’s stuff you dream of at the beginning of the season,” Homer coach Scott Salow said. “It was an unbelievable ballgame. Two great teams.”
Wilson’s hit down the third-base line ended a game dominated by pitching and defense, as he and Pewamo-Westphalia starter Brendan Thelen kept hitters off balance for the majority.
In the ninth inning, however, Homer was able to load the bases with no outs, and Wilson drove in Zach Butters for the walk-off win.
“I was up to bat and I was looking at my teammates while they were on base, and they were just looking at me smiling, giving me a thumbs up,” Wilson said. “I just had faith in myself that I could get it down.”
Butters’ run was the first since the second inning, and ended one of the few Homer threats. Thelen threw 7 2/3 innings prior to reaching his pitch-count maximum, striking out five and allowing three walks, two hits and one run. He allowed just one Homer runner to get to third base.
“Their coach, Scott Salow, has a great program, and he said that’s the best pitcher they’ve seen all year,” Pewamo-Westphalia coach Mark Rademacher said. “They only got two hits on him, and he said that’s the best pitcher they’ve seen. Brendan rose up to the occasion. He kept us in the game when we were leaving guys stranded on base, and our defense was helping him out. It was just a great performance on his part.”
Wilson put together a gem of his own, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out five in 6 2/3 innings, also leaving the game because of his pitch count. He pitched out of a jam in the sixth inning, as Pewamo-Westphalia had a runner at third with one out. Wilson was able to get a strikeout and a popout to end the threat.
“Just survive,” Salow said of Wilson. “I don’t know how many chances they had with leadoff guys on. It seemed like we were fighting fires most of the game, especially in the middle innings.”
Pewamo-Westphalia opened the scoring in the second inning, as Aaron Bearss drove in Ethan Thelen with a single.
Homer responded in the bottom of the second, as Kyle Compton stole home on a designed play. Wilson, who was on first, purposefully fell on a steal attempt, forcing a throw to first and allowing Compton to head home.
“We spend a lot of time on our first-and-third offense, trying to put balls in play without the aid of a bat,” Salow said. “It’s a play that we practice all the time, and it worked out almost to perfection.”
Compton finished with two hits and two walks for Homer (32-3). Butters picked up the win in relief, striking out one and allowing two hits in 2 1/3 innings.
Tanner Wirth and Ethan Thelen each had two hits for the Pirates (31-3).
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett 5, Gladstone 0
Alec Azar had all the run support he needed before he stepped on the mound.
The Liggett senior pitcher threw his first pitch with a 2-0 lead, which was more than enough as he put together a dominant outing to lead the Knights into the Division 3 Final, their first since 2016.
“That’s what I like about being away,” Azar said. “You get ahead, and then I can come out on the mound and get really comfortable and throw my game.”
Azar carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and finished the game with 12 strikeouts and two hits allowed.
“He was lights out,” Liggett coach Dan Cimini said. “I told him this was going to be his last start as a senior at Liggett and I need his best, and he gave us his best. He almost had a no-hitter, threw the ball really well, had his best stuff, great slider, fastball. He just did everything he could for our team today to get us a W.”
Logan King hit a two-run home run with two outs in the top of the first inning, which Gladstone coach Kelly Shea said stunned his team. The Braves remained stunned as Azar struck out the first four batters he faced.
“Our pitcher got them with two ground balls to start the first inning, and I thought we’re going to get out of the inning,” Shea said. “Then they had a kind of so-so base hit, then he hangs that next pitch and they pounded it over the fence. It kind of took the wind out of our sails, and we never got back.”
Azar added two hits at the plate, while Nick Post had two hits, including an RBI double for the Knights. King finished with three RBI on the day.
Carson Shea, who started on the mound for Gladstone, broke up Azar’s no-hitter with two outs in the sixth inning. Jared Crow added a double for the Braves in the seventh.
PHOTOS: (Top) Homer’s Zach Butters heads home for the game-winning run in Friday’s first Semifinal against Pewamo-Westphalia. (Middle) Liggett's Alec Azar makes his move toward the plate.
Northville, Brother Rice Set Up Power-Packed Finale with Powerful Swings
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 13, 2024
EAST LANSING — For the first three years of his varsity career at Northville, Joey Broughton was one of the best two-way baseball forces in the state, excelling both on the mound and at the plate.
Unfortunately this year, Broughton has simply been reduced to a one-way force.
An all-state pitcher the last couple of years who has signed with Pittsburgh, Broughton hasn’t pitched this season due to a flexor pronator strain in his arm, so he has focused on hitting more than he ever has — and possibly will again — in his baseball career.
“I’ve never considered myself to be an amazing hitter,” Broughton said. “But to come out here and work my tail off when I can’t pitch means a ton. Just getting pitches I love and smacking them.”
Broughton certainly did that better than anyone in the first Division 1 Semifinal on Thursday, collecting two hits and four RBI to lead Northville to a 9-2 win over Bay City Western at McLane Stadium.
The biggest blow came with two outs in the fourth inning.
With the score tied and two outs, senior and No. 7 hitter Luke Dieringer gave the Mustangs a 3-2 lead with an RBI single that scored Connor Vissotski, who reached on a two-base throwing error.
Northville then got hits from its No. 8 and 9 hitters — junior Carson Eaton and pinch-hitter Justin Brown, respectively — to load the bases for senior Dante Nori.
On the first pitch, Nori was hit to force in a run and make it 4-2. That set the stage for Broughton, who hit a bases-clearing double just over the right fielder’s head to make it 7-2.
In the sixth inning, Broughton and senior Carter Jurcisin each added an RBI single to make it 9-2 Mustangs. Overall, Northville scored eight runs in the game with two outs.
“We practice that every single practice,” said Northville head coach Dan Cimini, who is in his first year with the program after building a powerhouse at Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett. “We load the bases, put two outs and see what these guys can do. They practice it probably more than anybody. It’s a strength, and it has to be a strength in these playoff games.”
Bay City Western (35-7-1) made it back to the Semifinals for the first time since winning the second of back-to-back championships in 2014.
“There is a lot of legacy in the teams in front of them, but they certainly left their legacy,” Western head coach Tim McDonald said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys in that dugout. I think every practice is going to pay off, and the experience (of getting here).”
Northville opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning when senior Vissotski walked, went to second on a sacrifice bunt, took third on a groundout and then scored on a passed ball to make it 1-0.
Western responded in the third, going up 2-1 on a pair of two-out extra-base hits. First, junior Mikey Deluca laced an RBI double to the gap in right center, and then senior Bryce Neitzel hit an RBI double down the left-field line.
Northville answered in the third inning, tying the game on a titanic home run to right by Nori. The ball went through the trees beyond the right-field fence and likely landed in the Red Cedar River.
Northville senior Caden Besco came on in relief in the fourth inning with runners on first and third base, two outs and the game tied 2-2. He ended Western’s threat with a strikeout.
Besco threw just 41 pitches in 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, so he will be available for Saturday’s title game.
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 5, Grosse Pointe North 2
Brother Rice had all it needed against Grosse Pointe North after just three batters.
The Warriors wasted no time jumping on North senior ace Brennan Hill, putting the first two men on in the bottom of the first inning and then taking a 3-0 lead on a towering home run to left by senior Owen Turner.
That proved to be the difference and propelled the Brother Rice (44-1) to its first state title game since 2013.
“I have not faced him, but I’ve caught him,” Turner said of facing Hill. “He played on my summer team. I was his catcher all summer, so I kind of knew what he throws and what his velocity was.”
Those runs were all Brother Rice’s pitching tandem of junior Blake Ilitch and senior Chase Van Ameyde needed. The two combined to limit the Norsemen to one hit and no earned runs.
Grosse Pointe North loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth inning and scored two runs on an error to cut the Brother Rice lead to 3-2. But the Warriors answered in the bottom of the fourth, taking a 4-2 lead on an RBI double with two outs to the gap in left-center by junior Cole Van Ameyde.
GPN put runners on first and second with one out in the fifth inning, but Chase Van Ameyde relieved Ilitch and got out of the jam with two strikeouts. Van Ameyde didn’t allow a hit in 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Brother Rice got an insurance run in the seventh inning on a two-out single to left by Cole Van Ameyde that made it 5-2.
The Warriors will now try and win their first title since 2008.
“I’ve got 10 seniors, and seven have played for four straight years,” Brother Rice head coach Bob Riker said. “They kind of know what’s expected and when they were freshman, they came here and lost in the final four. I’m not going to say they were using that as fuel or anything like that, but they’ve really matured over the last four years.”
PHOTOS (Top) Northville celebrates during its Semifinal win over Bay City Western on Thursday. (Middle) Owen Turner sends a pitch over the leftfield fence in Brother Rice’s victory.