Parkway Runs Away for 1st Championship
June 18, 2016
By Andy Sneddon
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – Sterling Heights Parkway Christian baseball coach Rich Koch worried heading into the MHSAA tournament about run production.
His concerns were clearly unfounded.
The Eagles collected 13 hits Saturday in rolling past Portland St. Patrick, 10-3, in the Division 4 championship game at Michigan State University’s McLane Stadium.
It was the first MHSAA title for the Eagles (23-11-1), who outscored their opponents, 64-9, in seven tournament games. In five of those victories, Parkway scored at least 10 runs.
“One-through-nine, you don’t get any relief in our lineup, and that’s been a huge part of our success the last couple of weeks,” Koch said. “Looking at the last seven games, and it sounds kind of foolish, but offense was our biggest question mark.
“We knew pitching was going to be there, and we’re comfortable with our defense, but these guys, to their credit, they’ve taken an aggressive approach and they’ve hit some pretty good pitching. We got hot at the right time, and that’s our goal every year, peak at the right time and we did that.”
St. Patrick, playing in its first title game since 1993, finished 23-8. Parkway's only other championship game appearance came when it finished Division 4 runner-up in 2009.
The top seven hitters in Parkway’s lineup had at least one hit each. Pierce Banks, Andrew Manier, Austin Fuller, Alex Julio and Jacob Bambrick had two apiece.
Parkway jumped to a 5-0 lead with a five-run second inning and was never seriously threatened, though St. Patrick scored a run and left the bases loaded in the top of the third.
Banks came on to get the final out of the inning on a strikeout. Parkway starter Riley McManus walked six over 2 2/3 innings. He forced in St. Patrick’s third-inning run with a walk.
“Riley didn’t have his best stuff, but he still worked hard, grinded it out, and I guess I just did what Coach needed me to do and that was throw strikes and get outs,” said Banks, who surrendered two runs on six hits while striking out three over 4 1/3 innings for the victory.
Banks threw a complete game in Parkway’s 10-1 Quarterfinal victory over Unionville-Sebewaing on Tuesday. The Eagles’ top three pitchers, Manier (Spring Arbor), McManus (Eastern Michigan), and Banks (Adrian College) are all seniors who will play in college next year.
“Pitching is always huge in the playoffs,” Koch said. “If you have pitching, you have a chance to win no matter what. We have three guys who are pitching at the next level next year. You don’t get that very often at any school, let alone a Division 4 school.
“Having three guys this week was huge … we have three dominant pitchers.”
Brendan Schrauben had two hits for St. Patrick.
PHOTOS: (Top) Montana Essian (9) greets Parkway Christian teammate Andrew Manier at the plate Saturday. (Middle) Portland St. Patrick’s Graham Smith beats a throw to first as Manier stretches for the throw.
Historic Marsh Field Showcasing Muskegon-Area Baseball Under 'Friday Night Lights'
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
May 3, 2023
Fruitport’s Ryan Bosch took advantage of his moment underneath the “Friday Night Lights.”
Bosch, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, lined a two-out, bases-loaded single up the middle in the seventh inning Friday night to drive in two runs and the tie the score, 5-5. The Trojans didn’t let up, eventually scoring 10 runs in the top of the seventh for a 10-5 win over rival Muskegon Reeths-Puffer at historic Marsh Field in downtown Muskegon.
“It doesn’t get much better than that,” said Bosch, a dominating pitcher who verbally committed to the University of Michigan last month.
“It makes it more special doing it here at this field where so many pros and college players have come through.”
Fruitport’s thrilling comeback was just the latest in thousands of baseball games played at Marsh Field over the past 107 years, dating to 1916.
Marsh Field, the current home of the Muskegon Clippers of the Great Lakes Summer College League, has been the home of two minor league teams (the original Clippers and the Reds), the Muskegon Lassies of the All-American Girls Professional League and a “who’s who” of baseball greats from Harry Heilman to Grover Cleveland Alexander to Satchel Paige.
The seven-week “Friday Night Lights” – featuring two West Michigan high school teams each spring Friday – was the brainchild of Clippers general manager Walt Gawkowski as a way to share the refurbished stadium with the community and provide a bigger stage for local high school baseball.
“High school baseball flies under the radar and doesn’t get near the attention of basketball or football,” said Gawkowski, a longtime Muskegon-area prep baseball coach who, along with his brother Pete, founded the new Clippers organization six years ago.
“We have the facility, and this is a way to promote baseball. It has been very well-received, and the crowds have been outstanding.”
Fruitport topped Ludington 15-0 in this year’s first edition of Friday Night Lights on April 14, followed by Central Montcalm’s 7-5 win over Greenville on April 21.
Remaining games in the series are Fremont vs. Hesperia (May 5), Muskegon Catholic Central vs. Muskegon Western Michigan Christian (May 12), North Muskegon vs. Muskegon Oakridge (May 19) and Muskegon Mona Shores vs. Grandville (May 26).
The latest edition of the series, played on a mild and calm Friday night, featured a crowd of about 400 who were treated to a pitchers’ duel between Reeths-Puffer’s Brayden Mitchelson and Fruitport’s Trevor Rusnak.
Puffer held a slim 1-0 lead for much of the game, before seemingly putting it away with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. First baseman David Wilhelm had the big hit with a two-run single.
A comeback seemed highly unlikely, with the bottom of Fruitport’s lineup leading off in the top of the seventh. But the Trojans loaded the bases on a hit batter, a single and a walk, then plated runs on a pair of walks and a sacrifice fly by Braxton Ward.
That set the stage for Bosch’s game-tying single, which ignited the Trojans’ dugout and crowd. Bosch, a physically intimidating left-hander who throws close to 90 mph, did not pitch in Friday’s game.
Fruitport pulled away on a run-scoring single by Andrew Spyke and a two-run triple by Jax Flynn.
The Marsh Field crowd was then treated to a local Michael Jackson impersonator doing a dance to “Billie Jean,” after which Fruitport coach Nick Reed received a surprise ice bath following the comeback – two things you don’t often see at a regular-season high school baseball game.
“We just tried to keep the energy up and stay positive,” said Bosch as he and his teammates celebrated on the field after the game.
“Once we got the bats going a little bit and got some guys on base, you could feel things turning. It was a lot of fun.”
Fruitport and Puffer, former rivals in the Seaway Conference who now compete in different divisions of the Ottawa-Kent Conference, could meet again in this weekend’s Greater Muskegon Athletic Association county tournament. Mona Shores is the defending GMAA champion.
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Fruitport 6-foot-8 sophomore Ryan Bosch, who recently committed to the University of Michigan as a pitcher, warms up at Muskegon's historic Marsh Field before a game in the "Friday Night Lights" series April 28. (Middle) Reeths-Puffer third baseman Trent Reichert goes for the ball as a Fruitport baserunner closes in during Fruitport's seventh-inning rally in the 10-5 victory. (Below, clockwise from top left) Reeths-Puffer's dugout keeps a close eye on the action, Bosch heads back to his team’s dugout, and a good-sized crowd stands for the national anthem. (Photos by Joe Lane.)