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.)
Record-Setting Offense, Pitching Ace Drive Beal City Finals Run
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 13, 2023
On the way to finishing Division 4 runner-up last season, Beal City produced a record-breaking offensive performance while following one of the most consistently successful pitching aces in state history.
The Aggies set an MHSAA record by scoring 12.5 runs per game in finishing 30-3, also making the team record book with 413 runs total, 78 doubles, 22 triples (tied for third all-time), 345 RBI and a .442 team batting average that ranks second on that list.
Brendan Martin made the career consecutive pitching wins list with 19 over his junior and senior seasons, and senior teammate Brayden Haynes earned listings for two home runs and six RBI in one inning of a win over Lake City. Martin is pitching this spring at Mid Michigan College.
See below for more recent additions to the baseball record book:
Baseball
Over a five-game stretch during April 2021, Kalamazoo Hackett Prep’s Stephen Kwapis got a hit in 13 straight at bats – the fourth-longest such streak in MHSAA history. He began with a hit in his final at bat in the first game of two that April 16 against Watervliet, then went 2 for 2 in the second game, a combined 7 for 7 during a doubleheader against Galesburg-Augusta on April 22, and finished with hits in his first three at bats April 24, 2021, against Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern. He piled up five doubles, a triple and four home runs, along with three singles during the streak.
Portage Central’s run to the 2021 Division 1 championship game included record-book accomplishments by three individuals. Senior Luke Leto scored 73 runs over 37 games, good to tie for fifth-most runs in a season. Zach MacDonald was added for seven triples and 15 home runs, both over 40 games, and senior pitcher Gavin Brasosky posted a 0.84 ERA over 66 2/3 innings pitched. Leto is playing at Kansas after starting his college career at Louisiana State, and Brasosky is throwing at Kansas after playing a season at Tennessee. MacDonald is continuing at Miami (Ohio).
In 2016, Concord's Charlie Ropp became the second player from his family on the single-season stolen bases list, with his 63 over 35 games ranking for third-most in his family but sixth-most statewide.
Nearly 30 years later, Jason Knowlton has received his due for a performance April 29, 1994. On that day, he connected on back-to-back grand slams for Bridgman against Eau Claire, in consecutive innings. He’s one of seven to be listed for doing so in consecutive at bats.
Three of the oldest listings in this sport were added, all from Morrice. Jim Pavlica, a junior in 1946, was added for six stolen bases in a game that season against Byron. Pavlica would go on to play in the minors for the Chicago White Sox. He would have two more stolen bases when Morrice swiped 19 total against Byron in 1947, a performance that ranks fourth on the single-game steals list. Morrice also was added for 18 steals in a 1944 game against Byron.
Over the course of 11 days last spring, two Manistee hitters made the record book for steals in a game. Junior Ethan Edmondson tied for third on the list with seven against Bear Lake on April 30. Junior Jeff Huber made the list with six against Muskegon Orchard View on May 10.
Kingsley’s Owen Graves was added to the records for his seven triples as a senior in 2021. He now plays at Aquinas College.
Brighton Charyl Stockwell pitcher Aidan Liedeke was tough to hit last spring, as he struck out more than two batters per inning. He finished with 135 strikeouts over 61 1/3 innings pitching, for an average of 15.41 strikeouts per game – third-most on that record list. A senior this school year, he’s committed to continue at Kalamazoo College.
Jack Lamb brought plenty of speed to Perry’s offense last spring as a senior, making the record book twice. He reached the single-season list with 53 steals over 33 games, and also the single-game list with six steals on May 9, 2022, against Vermontville Maple Valley.
A performance more than four decades old from a school no longer open got its due. Orlando Villarreal hit a combined .451 over the 1979 and 1980 seasons to make the career batting average list for Wyoming Park. He went on to play at Central Michigan.
Jacob Morton became the first player on record since 2017 to hit two home runs in one inning when he did so in the first inning for Adrian Lenawee Christian against Britton Deerfield on May 16, 2022. Morton is a senior this school year.
PHOTO Beal City standout Cayden Smith drives a pitch during last season’s Division 4 Final against Riverview Gabriel Richard.