St. Mary's Tops Off Tourney Run with Title, Record-Tying Win
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
June 19, 2021
EAST LANSING – Orchard Lake St. Mary’s senior Tommy Allman stole the show on the mound in Saturday’s Division 2 Final.
His talented teammates did the same on the base paths.
Allman pitched six solid innings, and the Eaglets set a new Finals record for stolen bases in a decisive 9-0 win over Stevensville Lakeshore at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium.
Top-ranked St. Mary’s (43-1) won its second Division 2 championship in a row and the program’s fifth Finals title overall. The 43 wins tied for the MHSAA record with four other teams: 2010 Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard, 1997 Midland Dow, 1995 Stevensville Lakeshore and 1985 Harper Woods Bishop Gallagher.
“It was a good outing, and I was dialed in,” said Allman, who’s headed next to Jacksonville University. “I trusted my team behind me, and everything was working; the off-speed, curveball and slider.
“This is the best way to end it, with a state championship. The whole year we battled, and we pulled it off. I’m proud of my team.”
Allman surrendered only two hits in 6 1/3 innings of work. He struck out seven and didn’t allow a walk.
Relief pitcher Jake Keaser recorded the final two outs.
“It was a heck of a performance from Tommy; that was awesome,” St. Mary’s coach Matt Petry said. “The plan was to split the game among three guys, but Tommy was throwing so well that we didn’t do that. I made the decision to take him out (in the seventh), and he got a great ovation.”
The Eaglets finished with 12 stolen bases. The total eclipsed the previous Finals record of nine, set by Colon in the 1989 Class D Final against Gaylord St. Mary’s.
Alex Mooney and Ryan Mooney both tied the Finals individual record with three steals each.
“We work out all year trying to stay athletic, and I feel like it really helps,” said Alex Mooney, who scored twice and had two RBI.
“From the first inning we knew we were getting good jumps and their pitchers were not doing the best job of keeping us on. We got our timing down, and we knew we could swipe bags and we did.”
Nolan Schubart broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with a two-RBI double.
“Nolan is a stud, and I had all the confidence in the world that he was going to get a hit there,” Alex Mooney said. “It was a huge hit for us, and it really got us going and started that big inning for us.”
Ryan McKay followed with another double to drive in a pair and make it 4-0.
The Eaglets finished with six runs in the inning, then added another three in the sixth.
“This was the ultimate goal,” said Petry, whose starting lineup was loaded with Division I college talent.
“We have three goals each season: Win the Catholic League regular season, the Catholic League tournament championship and the state championship. We always had this day in the back of our mind, and we were able to close it out.”
Freshman Noah Chase started on the mound and went 3 ⅔ innings for the Lancers.
Lakeshore, which committed three errors and had only two hits, finished the season at 28-12 overall. The loss was its first in a Final after winning back-to-back Division 2 titles in 2017 and 2018 and a Class B crown in 1990.
“Going into the fourth, we felt really good about ourselves and the game plan was working,” Lancers coach Mark Nate said. “I’m proud of our kids for the way they fought early, and then their true talent came out and that's the bottom line.
“That team is a very, very good baseball team, and they’re deserving of winning it all.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Orchard Lake St. Mary's Alex Mooney (2) hones in on a pitch during Saturday's Division 2 Final. (Middle) Lakeshore's Andrew Lies (2) stretches for first base as St. Mary's Ike Irish takes a throw.
Like Old Times But Also New, Beal City Closes Baseball Finals as Champion
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 17, 2023
EAST LANSING – The 2023 season felt like old times and the definition of turning back the clock for Brad Antcliff.
The Beal City baseball head coach from 2007-16, Antcliff returned before the start of this season, and it felt like he never left.
“It did,” Antcliff said. “But I talked to my players about what I needed to do different. It’s their team, and I’m following them.”
Also like old times, Antcliff followed his team to a state championship.
Beal City captured its fifth with a 2-1 win over Plymouth Christian Academy in the Division 4 Final at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium, which also finished the MHSAA's 2022-23 school sports year.
It was the third title as coach for Antcliff, who also guided Beal City to crowns in 2009 and 2010.
“The expectations they met today, it’s hard,” Antcliff said. “It’s hard to get here, and it’s really hard to win it. They met every expectation that we put in front of them this year.”
In what was a well-pitched game between Beal City junior Cayden Smith and Plymouth Christian sophomore Tyler Scott, it was a couple of defensive miscues by PCA in the bottom of the sixth inning that were the difference.
Following a flyout and a single by Beal City junior Jake Gauthier, freshman Blake Walcutt singled. A throwing error put runners on first and second base with one out, and then another throwing error plated Walcutt to give Beal City a 2-1 lead.
The Aggies had the bases loaded with one out, but couldn’t tack on any insurance runs. That didn’t matter, as Beal City (31-8) finished off Plymouth Christian with a 1-2-3 seventh.
Smith got the first out of the seventh inning on a strikeout, but had to be pulled after reaching the 105-pitch limit. Walcutt came in and got the final two outs to preserve the win.
Smith struck out 11, walked none and allowed just three hits in 6 1/3 innings of work.
“My fastball was really there,” Smith said. “My curveball was there. My slider was kind of off. It was down and away and sometimes high. I couldn’t find it. But the curve ball was working, and the fastball was there too.”
Similar to Grand Rapids Christian in the Division 2 title game, Beal City avenged a loss in last year’s Final.
“Since we lost that game, it was our new goal to come and get this one,” Smith said.
After three scoreless innings, Plymouth Christian broke through in the top of the fourth, taking a 1-0 lead on a 2-out RBI single by Scott.
Beal City answered in the bottom half of the fourth inning, tying the game at 1-1 when a run scored on a 2-out error that would have ended the inning.
The Aggies had a golden opportunity in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases with two outs, but a groundout ended the threat.
Scott allowed just four hits, struck out four and walked one in six innings of work for Plymouth Christian (34-8).
While disappointed with the result, Eagles head coach Joe Bottorff is excited for the future of his program despite graduating eight seniors.
“I think everyone knows now that we belong here,” Bottorff said. “We had a JV team loaded with freshman travel players, so we have some guys coming through that are going to be really good. We have a pipeline built where we are going to reload rather than rebuild.”
PHOTOS (Top) Beal City’s players raise their championship trophy Saturday at McLane Stadium. (Middle) Jake Gauthier slides into second for a stolen base just ahead of the tag by PCA’s Jordan Scott (6). (Below) Cayden Smith begins to unload a pitch during his winning performance. (Photos by John Castine/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)