Pitchers Provide Offensive Sparks Too as Algonac, Bridgman Advance
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 15, 2023
EAST LANSING – For Algonac junior pitcher Josh Kasner, his bat proved to be the perfect medicine for what was ailing him on the mound during a Division 3 Semifinal against Lansing Catholic on Thursday.
Kasner labored through the first three innings of his start, but then new adrenaline on the mound came after what he did at the plate in the bottom of the third inning at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium.
With two outs, two strikes and two men on base, Kasner launched a 3-run home run just to the right of the foul pole.
Kasner settled down on the mound after that, with the home run and his pitching being the difference for Algonac in a 4-1 win over the Cougars that earned the Muskrats their first appearance in a Final at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
“It was a fastball inside,” Kasner said. “To be honest, I was sitting on fastball and adjusting to off-speed. It was my pitch, and I got it inside the foul pole. I knew that once I got that home run, we were up 3-1, I settled in and I was going to be fine.”
Indeed, as Kasner didn’t allow Lansing Catholic much of a threat after he threw 55 pitches, walked three and hit two batters through the first three innings.
Over the last four innings, Kasner didn’t walk anybody and allowed only one Lansing Catholic batter to reach second base.
“I think he was stressed a little bit,” Algonac head coach Scott Thaler said. “You get to this point, I think the zone is where it should be as opposed to sometimes where it is during the season. He got the idea of what a college zone is like, which should help him out in a couple of years.”
After Kasner’s blast, Algonac added another in the fifth inning when junior Matt Rix reached on a bunt single, stole second, took third on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on a passed ball to give the Muskrats a 4-1 lead.
Lansing Catholic scored first in the top of the third inning, grabbing a 1-0 lead on an RBI single to right with two outs by senior Drew Burlingame. The Cougars later loaded the bases with two outs in the third, but Kasner got out of the jam with a strikeout.
Sophomore Drew Tolfre allowed just four hits in a complete-game effort for Lansing Catholic (23-6.)
“He had two strikes on (Kasner), but he kind of missed his spot a little bit,” Lansing Catholic head coach Randy Farlin said. “But you can’t fault him. He pitched a helluva game. We just didn’t have the bats. One run is not going to do it for us. We just didn’t put it all together today.”
Bridgman 3, Standish-Sterling 2
Bridgman didn’t get a hit until the seventh inning of its Semifinal against Standish-Sterling.
But all Bees (32-9) needed were two hits during that set of at-bats to move on to their first Final since 2011.
With the score tied 2-2 and a runner on second base, freshman Cooper Allwood delivered the game-winning single to left with one out, scoring junior Alec MacMartin to give Bridgman the victory.
MacMartin started the inning with the first hit of the day off of Standish-Sterling sophomore starter Sam Briggs, and then was sacrificed over to second.
“We were just having fun and getting comfortable in the situation,” Allwood said. “Just never giving up. We’ve been in games like this before. Nothing new.”
After neither team collected a hit through the first three innings, Standish-Sterling got something going in the top of the fourth.
Junior Cooper Prout led off with a double, and then sophomore pinch runner Brecken Stokoszynski scored on an RBI single by senior Brayden Schabel.
In the bottom of the fourth, Bridgman put runners on second and third with two outs after an error and a hit batter, but a flyout ended the threat.
In the fifth, Standish-Sterling took a 2-0 lead when a fly ball by Briggs just eluded the Bridgman left fielder down the line, scoring sophomore Brock Bartlett.
The Bees answered in the bottom half of the fifth, tying the game at 2-2 without registering a hit thanks in large part to three infield errors by Standish-Sterling.
An RBI groundout by Allwood made it 2-1, and then Bridgman tied the game at 2-2 following another error with a runner on third and two outs.
The score remained that way until Allwood’s single in the seventh.
“We were just missing that timely hit,” Bridgman head coach Justin Hahaj said. “We finally got it.”
MacMartin got the win on the mound for Bridgman, allowing four hits, walking one and striking out six in a complete-game effort.
Briggs lost for the first time this year, striking out eight for Standish-Sterling (29-15), which fell in the Semifinals for the second-straight season.
Standish-Sterling head coach Ryan Raymond said it was more than just four errors that cost his team.
“We didn’t hit in the right spots either,” Raymond said. “We had some opportunities to get some hits and knock some more runs. It’s a team effort.”
PHOTOS (Top) Algonac’s Josh Kasner rounds third base during his home run in Thursday’s Semifinal win over Lansing Catholic. (Middle) Kasner makes his move toward the plate. (Below) Bridgman’s Alec MacMartin delivers a pitch during the day’s last Semifinal. (Photos by John Castine/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Longtime Chelsea High School Administrator, Coach Bush to Join MHSAA Staff as Assistant Director
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 21, 2022
Brad Bush, a highly-respected educator, administrator and coach over the last three decades, has been selected to serve in the position of assistant director for the Michigan High School Athletic Association, beginning Jan. 17.
Bush, 52, taught and coached at East Kentwood High School for four years before beginning a tenure at Chelsea High School in 1997 that has included teaching, then serving as athletic director and later also assistant principal and leading the football program as varsity coach from 1997-2002 and again from 2004-18.
He also has served as a statewide delegate on the MHSAA Representative Council during the last year and provided leadership in multiple roles, including president, for the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA) since 2005.
Bush will serve as the MHSAA’s lead administrator for baseball and also among lead administrators for the officials program, which includes more than 8,000 registered officials in all sports. Bush also will be assigned additional duties in other sports based on his vast experiences. He was selected from a pool of 34 applicants.
“I’m incredibly excited to have Brad join our team,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. "He’s been an outstanding athletic director and coach who is highly-respected by those who know him.”
As Chelsea athletic director, Bush annually has supervised a staff of 110 coaches across 31 programs, with nearly 70 percent of the high school’s 800 students participating in athletics. As a teacher and assistant principal, he has served on Chelsea’s School Improvement Team and on multiple committees that provided instructional leadership including in the development of the district’s new trimester schedule. In his roles with the MHSFCA, Bush helped direct an organization with more than 2,200 members and also served as the association’s treasurer and liaison to the MHSAA.
Bush is perhaps best known, however, for his coaching success. Over 22 seasons, he led Chelsea’s varsity football team to a 169-60 record, 13 league championships, 18 playoff appearances, seven District titles and a Division 3 runner-up finish in 2015. During his break in tenure as Chelsea coach, Bush served as an assistant football coach and recruiting coordinator for Eastern Michigan University during the 2003-04 school year, and he has served as an assistant coach at Albion College the last four seasons contributing to the team’s two league titles and appearance in the 2021 NCAA Division III Playoffs.
“I feel like joining the team at the MHSAA is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Bush said. “The 26 years I spent at Chelsea were some of the best times of my life. It’s a professional transition that in the back of my mind, if this opportunity came, was something I needed to do.
“Over time, I’ve grown to care about the bigger picture of athletics and appreciate the role of the MHSAA in protecting high school athletics in Michigan.”
Bush is a 1988 graduate of Ypsilanti High School. He studied and played quarterback at Cornell University before returning and graduating from EMU after majoring in history and minoring in social studies. He earned his physical education endorsement from EMU in 2000 and his master’s in physical education and sports management from EMU in 2002. He has earned continuing education credits in sports management from Drake University and completed the Path to Leadership program from the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP).
Bush was inducted into MHSFCA Hall of Fame and Ypsilanti High School Hall of Fame both in 2019. He and his wife Laura have three adult children, two daughters and a son.
PHOTO Chelsea coach Brad Bush directs his team during the 2015 Division 3 Final at Ford Field.