Liggett Outlasts Beal City in D4 Classic
June 15, 2013
By Andy Sneddon
Special to Second Half
BATTLE CREEK – An absolute gem of a high school baseball game, and a shame that one team had to come out on the losing end.
That’s sports, and that’s baseball.
Cole Zingas scored on a throwing error in the top of the eighth inning Saturday night, then Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett got a pair of standout defensive plays in the bottom of the inning while holding on to beat Beal City, 3-2, in an oh-so-memorable Division 4 championship game at C.O. Brown Stadium.
“If that’s not the greatest championship game at any level in a long time, I’d like to see one better,” said University Liggett coach Dan Cimini. “The back and forth on both sides, all of our kids fought, scratched and played their hearts out.
“That was the best baseball game I’ve ever been involved in. And I’m not just talking about the play, I’m talking about the hustle and the drive and the will to win and the will not to lose. It was unbelievable.”
It was University Liggett’s second MHSAA crown in three years. The Knights (31-4) were runners-up last season.
Beal City (35-3) was back in the title game after winning championships in 2008 and 2010. The Aggies fell to University Liggett in the Semifinals in 2011.
Beal City left the bases loaded four times through the first seven innings and stranded 14 runners on the day.
Aggies pitcher Ty Rollin took a perfect game into the fifth inning and a no-hitter into the sixth, when Patrick Broder ended his latter bid with a leadoff infield single.
The game was tied 1-1 in the top of the seventh when the Knights got a one-out single from Connor Fannon, a walk to Nathan Gaggin, and a single from Anthony Simon to load the bases. Kevin Allen’s sacrifice fly to center brought home the go-ahead run.
The Aggies tied it in the bottom of the seventh when No. 9 hitter Nicholas Hoogerhyde drew a bases-loaded walk.
Fannon, who had taken over on the mound for University Liggett to start the fifth inning, then struck out Rollin, the Aggies’ leadoff hitter, and they had left the bases loaded for the fourth time.
Still, Beal City had managed to tie the game, setting the stage for the dramatic eighth inning.
Zingas, University Liggett’s No. 9 hitter, led off the top of the eighth with an infield hit. He moved to second on an Adam Fiema bunt, and took third on yet another infield single, this one by Mark Auk.
With Auk on first base, a wild pickoff attempt skipped by first baseman Ryan Tilmann, and Zingas raced home with what turned out to be the winning run.
For the bottom of the eighth Fiema relieved Fannon, University Liggett’s workhorse who went the distance in the Knights’ 1-0 Semifinal win over New Lothrop on Friday.
Fiema struck out the Aggies’ leadoff hitter, and then induced popouts for the final two outs. Both were highlight reel-worthy catches, the first a sliding grab by Auk in shallow centerfield on a ball that looked certain to drop for a hit; the second by catcher Nathan Gaggin. He caught the final out falling backward in foul territory between home plate and the first-base on-deck circle.
Rollin went all eight innings on the mound for Beal City. He allowed six hits, struck out five and walked two. Fannon earned the victory, while Fiema picked up the save.
“I give it to my guys,” Cimini said. “I love those guys. They fight, scratch, claw – they never give up, and they will never give up and that’s how we won this baseball game.”
As proud, Cimini said, as he was of his own team, he was equally proud of – but also sympathetic toward – the Aggies.
“Their coach (Brad Antcliff), he’s one of my best friends in the coach world and I respect him and what he’s done with that program. And I told him neither team deserved to lose this ballgame, and I believe that with all my heart.
“They (Beal City) should be super proud, I’m super proud, and I’m super proud to be able to be able to play against a team and a coach like that.”
PHOTO: (Top) University Liggett pitcher Connor Fannon begins to celebrate after catcher Nathan Gaggin catches the final out of the Division 4 Final. (Middle) Knights shortstop Nicholas Azar dives over teammate Mark Evan Auk after Auk makes a grab during the eighth inning. (Click to see more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Frankfort Carries Perfect Start into May
May 12, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It’s no secret in the small town of Frankfort that longtime coach Mike Zimmerman plans to retire after the 2018 season.
In the meantime, his Panthers – most of them juniors who will finish up next spring as well – are off to an incredible start to what is shaping up as a long and successful farewell tour.
The MHSAA/Applebee’s Team of the Month for April, Frankfort’s baseball team is now 25-0 – its best start under Zimmerman, who took over the program in 1994 after six seasons as an assistant coach.
Included in its April victories were a pair over Maple City Glen Lake – a Northwest Conference rival which eliminated the Panthers in the District last spring. A 10-0 win over McBain three days later on April 21 gave Zimmerman the 500th win of a coaching career that’s seen him lead Frankfort to five Regional titles and four MHSAA Semifinal appearances.
He plans to be done after next season so he’ll be able to watch son Brett – one of those juniors – play at Wayne State University. But of course, that’s down the road a bit. For now, his Panthers are top-ranked in Division 4 and enjoying their time together that started when the current seniors got to high school and were joined the next spring by six current juniors who started as freshmen – but really, it all began much earlier than that.
“I’ve coached these kids since they were 5. I’ve always been their coach,” Zimmerman said. “I know their personalities. They know my personality. And that all helps.
“It’s not like I have one son on the team. These kids hang out at my house; it’s like I have a whole team of sons. And that makes it special too.”
Two seniors and seven juniors start, with a third senior working through an injury. From the outside, that might make this team seem young – but as Zimmerman points out, many of his players have 60 varsity games under their belts.
Junior Jack Morrow noted to the Traverse City Record-Eagle after the McBain sweep three weeks ago that he and his teammates had a feeling at the start of high school that they’d eventually put together this kind of success. The Panthers took a step with a solid 23-9 in 2016.
This spring Morrow and junior Kirk Myers together have combined to pitch for more than half that many wins already. Morrow is 6-0 with a 0.87 ERA and Myers, also the shortstop, is 7-0 with a 0.65 ERA.
They also hit .422 and .415, respectively, with Brett Zimmerman pacing the offense at .529 and junior Griffin Kelly at .439. Zimmerman, the catcher, also has thrown out an incredible 15 of 18 would-be base stealers.
Perhaps more importantly, at least to the players, the tall guys lead the homer contest 7-4. That’s just another way these guys are having fun – Panthers 6-foot and taller are trying to hold off the sub-6ers in a longball derby.
Frankfort has clinched a share of the Northwest Conference title – especially impressive again as Glen Lake also is ranked, at No. 7 in Division 4. The Panthers can claim the championship outright Tuesday against Mesick.
And then comes a tournament road with some notable obstacles – if Frankfort makes it through the District, No. 5 Muskegon Catholic Central is a possible Regional opponent while seeking its second Division 4 title in three seasons.
But Zimmerman said he players aren’t looking that far, focusing first on improving so they’ll be ready for whatever opportunities this postseason might hold.
“They’ve been together so long, they know each other well, they trust each other,” Mike Zimmerman said. “They don’t care about stats. They care about trying to win.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2016-17
March: Flushing girls basketball - Report
February: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central girls skiing - Report
January: Powers North Central boys basketball - Report
December: Dundee boys basketball - Report
November: Rockford girls swimming & diving - Report
October: Rochester girls golf - Report
September: Breckenridge football - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Frankort's Kirk Myers (5) watches a teammate cross the plate during a win this season over Suttons Bay. (Middle) The Panthers celebrate coach Mike Zimmerman's 500th win. (Photo courtesy of Frankfort baseball program.)