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Weatherlys Cherishing Final Run Together
June 2, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
HOWELL – It’s not hard to pick out the Weatherly boys on a baseball field. Sam, the senior, is 6-foot-3. Ty, a junior, is an inch taller.
It’s a little tougher to realize Howell co-coach Mike Weatherly is their dad. He's shading just north of 6 foot.
But watch closely, and you’ll figure it out. Jason Ladd, the other half of the Highlanders’ varsity coaching pair, has seen it plenty of times.
“They’ve both got some of their dad’s athleticism for sure, seeing how he played four years at Central Michigan University and they won four MAC championships while he was there,” Ladd said. “He was a captain, and they get a lot of leadership quality from their dad.
“But it’s unique in the fact that they’re able to be so respectful. Sometimes when you get parents who are coaches, (the kids) aren’t respectful. But they’re both totally respectful to their dad, appreciative of what he does, and you can tell there’s a lot of love beyond being the son of the coach.”
It’s a lot of fun at the Weatherly house these days. But really, it’s been that kind of spring as Mike gets one final chance to coach both of his youngest sons on a team that could do some damage when Howell begins Division 1 District play today at Dexter.
Sam Weatherly is arguably the top high school baseball player in Michigan this season. A lefty, he hits 92 mph on the mound, and he’s signed to continue his career at Clemson University – which currently is playing in the NCAA Regionals.
Ty is finishing his first year of varsity ball, but coming on strong. A righty, he throws in the mid 80s and no-hit reigning Division 2 runner-up Linden a week ago.
They’re the youngest two of four athletic children Mike and Marybeth (Chappelle) Weatherly have raised. Bobby, 25, played baseball at Howell and Muskegon Community College, while Tess is three years older than Sam and plays basketball at Northern Michigan University.
It’s a question Mike can’t help but get asked – how do you go about raising such a talented bunch? There are some pointers to be offered there. But right now, the focus is just on enjoying every moment they can share.
Following Mom and Dad's lead
Mike Weatherly was a shortstop at Central Michigan University – and a really good one, in fact.
So it makes sense that when he describes how his wife-to-someday-be flipped through the air in front of him back then, he calls it an “Ozzie Smith” in reference to the acrobatic Hall of Fame shortstop of St. Louis Cardinals lore.
He also knew at that moment that she was the one – or at least one he was interested in knowing better.
According to a Detroit Free Press report when she was a track star at Sterling Heights Stevenson, Marybeth had grown up in gymnastics and also was a cheerleader. She got into track later, but some of her school records still stand, Mike said. And because of her genes, her boys stand tall – the height is from her side of the family, as is their speed and a dose of their toughness.
“My mom had three older brothers. She’s been raised with wolves, and with us, she treats us the same way,” Sam said. “Crybabies never really happened in our house. You have to have a hard nose in this family."
All four clearly have used those physical gifts to their advantage – Sam and Ty most recently in helping Howell to a 26-9-1 record.
Sam is hitting .500 with 15 doubles, three home runs and 29 RBI, and he’s stolen 16 bases. He’s also 5-1 on the mound with a 0.73 ERA and 61 strikeouts in just more than 38 innings pitched. He’s given up 19 hits and four runs total this spring.
Ty – who grew four inches just over the last year – is finishing up his first varsity season strongly. He has thrown 35 innings and is 5-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 30 strikeouts.
When Sam was 6, he asked his dad about college baseball. Ever since, Sam wanted to be a baseball player. He chose jersey number 6 because it was Mike’s; he’s worn it since.
Sam and Ty always were together as the two youngest kids, and played on the same teams for about five years with Mike as their coach.
“They were fortunate to be born with some coordination, and worked at it. And they had good youth experiences, playing Little League … we let them develop at their own pace, and I think that’s the key,” Mike said.
“There was no extra coaching going on. If you look at their innings pitched, they were really green; they didn’t throw a lot. Sam played freshman baseball (instead of varsity). I think this generation of people push too hard too early. If we did one thing right, that’s it, that’s really it. You have to go out and have fun and enjoy it. Because it can get ugly if you don’t.”
Sharing the fire
Ladd spun a bit of a phrase in describing Sam and Ty. He said they are nothing alike, but just like their dad. And, strange as that might sound, he’s right.
Ty might be the jokester, but Sam is the talker of the two, even if he’s a little more serious. Mike, meanwhile, recalled how his CMU teams were referred to as the “mouths of the Midwest,” but not him – he kept quiet and played, and Ty is much the same.
And yet, competitive fire, however the sons show it, reminds Ladd of their dad.
Ty indeed is more like Mike in that he keeps it under the surface. That’s not to mistake either as calm; it’s just the intensity doesn’t necessarily come with a voice.
Sam’s intensity, on the other hand, “is way out there.” Ty said this perhaps a little tongue-in-cheek – but he also knows that after a bad loss, his brother holes up in his room until morning.
“He gets really ticked off,” Ty said. “He hates it. He wants to win at everything.”
And Ty admires his brother’s work ethic in trying to attain that goal. So much so, he’d love to see his brother go out in a couple weeks as the last one standing on the mound at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium, putting the finishing touches on a championship.
“I know this season has meant a lot to him, and he really, really wants that state championship,” Ty Weatherly said. “I know if he went out there and got that W for us, it would be really special to him.”
Here and now
It would be easy for Sam to look ahead. He wouldn’t have to look far.
Whenever Howell’s season does end over the next three weekends, he’ll officially become a member of the Clemson baseball program.
In a little more than a week, on June 12, the Major League Baseball draft will begin. He has a legitimate shot of being selected the second day, sometime during rounds 3-10.
But that’s not where his head, or rather feet, are today – or will be until the Highlanders have done everything possible to win their first MHSAA baseball championship.
And that’s not just saying the right thing because Dad is the coach. It’s especially apparent in his relationship with Ty – with all of this going on in Sam’s life, he’s still watching his brother’s moves on the diamond, ready with a few words of wisdom when they can help. Sam has gotten a lot of coaching from great sources the last few years, and through him Ty has been a recipient as well.
“I really care. I care about the team first, and personal accolades follow that,” Sam said. “You should be where your feet are, and my feet right now are in high school with my high school team, and that’s my first priority.”
But …
“All of it kinda hits me off the field,” he added. “I use baseball and friends to get away from it. It’s fun, but I’m very anxious at the same time.”
Howell has eluded a state ranking despite recent wins over No. 5 Birmingham Brother Rice, No. 9 Sterling Heights Stevenson and ranked Division 2 teams Linden and Fowlerville.
With No. 10 Brighton being upset by Ann Arbor Skyline in a Pre-District game Tuesday, today’s possibilities got a lot more interesting. Not that anyone is looking ahead or expecting to win. But simply forecasting from the outside, there are opportunities to keep this thing together a little while longer – especially with a ranked rival no longer in the field.
Mike knows the way. He coached Hartland to the MHSAA Semifinals in 2000, and with Ladd led Howell to the final weekend in 2012 and 2013. Those runs had to be a little bit different, of course; now he's writing his sons into the lineup at this most exciting time of the season.
“We’re trying to enjoy every moment and slow it down because it’s going to be gone before we know it,” Mike Weatherly said. “It’s exciting, but I’ll admit it’s a little stressful too.
“There’s a lot riding on stuff, but at the end of the day things will work out the way they work out. We’ll keep plugging away. All we’re trying to do is win a championship, try to win their last game, and that’s been our focus.”
Geoff Kimmerly joined the MHSAA as its Media & Content Coordinator in Sept. 2011 after 12 years as Prep Sports Editor of the Lansing State Journal. He has served as Editor of Second Half since its creation in Jan. 2012. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Barry, Eaton, Ingham, Livingston, Ionia, Clinton, Shiawassee, Gratiot, Isabella, Clare and Montcalm counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Sam Weatherly, middle, stands with parents Mike (also his coach at Howell) and Marybeth. (Middle) Ty Weatherly shares a fist bump with his dad after reaching base. (Below) Sam Weatherly begins to unwind toward the plate during a game this season. (Photos by Andrea Leon.)
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Beal City Sets Tone, USA Enjoys Prime Time
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
June 15, 2018
EAST LANSING – The moment. The venue. It all got to Beal City’s Keegan Haynes as he took the mound to begin his team’s Division 4 Semifinal against Gaylord St. Mary on Saturday.
Haynes retired the first batter, gave up a base hit and proceeded to throw 10 straight balls walking the bases full before going 2-0 on the fifth batter, Alex Pudvan. Aggies coach Steve Pickens came out to talk to his junior pitcher, settle him down and hopefully instill some confidence.
Haynes threw a strike and then got a bouncer to start a double play, pitcher to home to first. Just like that, the Aggies escaped the top of the first inning unscathed – and that changed everything.
Beal City scored twice in the bottom of the inning and tacked on four more runs in the second on the way to defeating St. Mary 7-3 at McLane Stadium to advance to Saturday’s championship game, which will be its first since 2014.
Beal City (22-8), winners of three previous MHSAA baseball titles, will play first-time finalist Unionville-Sebewaing (22-15) at 2:30 p.m. USA scored four in the first inning and went on to defeat St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic, 5-1, in the second Semifinal.
“That pretty much defined the game for us,” St. Mary coach Matt Nowicki said. “That first (inning) could have been promising for us.”
Instead of scoring a run or more, and perhaps knocking Haynes out of the game, St. Mary was deflated.
Conversely, Beal City got pumped up. Run-scoring singles by Haynes and catcher Cameron Lynch staked Haynes to a 2-0 lead. When the Aggies added four the next inning, keyed by Kollion Sharrar’s two-run triple, Haynes and Beal City were in command.
“I told (Haynes) to trust his defense,” Pickens said. “With that double play, we were only one pitch away from getting out of the inning.
“Hey, that’s a good team over there. We scored a number of runs today with two outs. We’re getting some timely hitting. We were moving the ball. We didn’t strike out much (four times) today.”
St. Mary (26-6) scored all of its runs in the fifth inning, stringing together five consecutive singles to knock Haynes out of the game. That was good and bad news for the Snowbirds. They finally got on the board, but the run also prompted Pickens to bring in his ace. Senior Brett Upton, 11-2 on the season, fanned the first two batters he faced, then got a pop out to shortstop that stranded two runners.
Upton, who threw 23 pitches in retiring all five batters he faced, will be ready to start on the mound in the title game.
“I had all the confidence in the world in (Haynes),” Upton said. “I wasn’t coming in at that time anyway. We had all the confidence in the world in our offense and that we’d come back and score. That double play was a big momentum swing. That was huge for us. The plan for me today was to come in for an inning or so and get used to the mound. I’m ready.”
Aaron Schafer relieved Upton in the sixth and got the final four outs.
Haynes got credit for the win and he also went 3 for 3 with two RBI.
“The nerves got the best of me in that first inning,” Haynes said. “(Pickens) said to me to throw strikes and calm down. Giving up no runs in the first, that was the best-case scenario. This is the biggest game I’ve ever pitched in.”
For St. Mary, Drew Long went all six innings and pitched well after the first two. Joseph Moeggenberg had two hits and an RBI.
Unionville-Sebewaing 5, St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic 1
Brendan Prime went the first 5 1/3 innings for USA to earn the victory. He survived a shaky start, and when his pitch count ran out, Devin Riskey came to his rescue. Riskey, likely Saturday’s starting pitcher, allowed one hit and struck out two in his 1 2/3 innings of work.
Prime allowed three hits and one run in the first inning, and allowed just one hit after.
“I don’t think I was in a groove yet,” Prime said. “After those four runs, when they got that one, I didn’t think about it much.”
Last season USA scored a bunch of runs early in a Division 4 Semifinal but failed to close out Portland St. Patrick. USA led 7-3 after three innings in that one before St. Patrick came back to win, 12-8, and go on to claim the championship.
“I thought back to St. Patrick last year,” USA coach Tyler Bader said. “We talk about getting to teams early. We wanted to stay on top. Stay on top. Stay on top.
“I felt we were going to do well in the tournament in the Districts. We’re not done yet.”
USA batted around in the first inning; the big hit was Braden Carter’s two-run single.
For Lake Michigan Catholic (27-4), starting pitcher Matthew Defay had a triple and scored on Jacob Kissane’s sacrifice fly. Defay gave up all five runs, but only two were earned.
VIDEO: Unionville-Sebewaing's four-run first inning was highlighted by this two-run single by Braden Carter.
PHOTOS: (Top) A Beal City runner tries to beat a throw to third base during his team’s Semifinal win over Gaylord St. Mary. (Middle) Unionville-Sebewaing’s Brendan Prime delivers a pitch as the Patriots earned a trip to Saturday’s championship game.