Allen Park, Dakota Hold On for Close Semifinal Wins to Set Up High-Profile Decider
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 16, 2022
EAST LANSING - Things were not going according to plan for Allen Park early in Thursday morning’s Division 1 Semifinal at Secchia Stadium.
Mattawan, fresh off an upset of top-ranked South Lyon on Tuesday, came out in giant-killer mode again, jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead against the No. 2-ranked Jaguars.
“Those nerves, they got us early, but we came back to play,” said third-year Allen Park coach Michael Kish, whose team will try to take the final step Saturday after last year’s D1 runner-up finish.
Allen Park scratched back to tie the game with single runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings, setting the stage for junior Mia Hool’s two-run single in the bottom of the sixth to complete the come-from-behind, 4-2 victory.
“I knew that I was due,” said Mia Hool of her hit to right field, which scored Madilyn Ramey and Ashten Omodio. “It feels great to know that I had my team’s back. When we get behind, we know we have to stay up and keep the energy. Our bats will come around.”
Both of Thursday’s Division 1 Semifinals featured cross-state matchups, with the east side prevailing in both contests.
Allen Park, 37-4-1, will go for its first softball Finals championship at 10 a.m. Saturday against No. 3 Macomb Dakota, which hung on for a 2-1 victory over Hudsonville. The Final should be a classic between the strong hitting of Allen Park and the dominant pitching of Dakota junior Megan Nuechterlein, who struck out 15 in her team’s Semifinal win.
It took the Jaguars a couple of innings Thursday to adjust to Mattawan junior Madison Vrba, and it was a run-scoring single by freshman Kiley Carr in the bottom of the third inning which broke the ice and changed the momentum of the game.
Allen Park tied it in the fourth, as Avery Garden smacked a leadoff triple and was driven in on a single by junior pitcher Morgan Sizemore.
Sizemore, who improved to 21-4 with the victory, allowed seven hits during the first three innings, then pitched no-hit ball over the final four innings.
“I usually do better pitching once my team scores,” explained Sizemore, who pitched last year’s Final when Allen Park lost to South Lyon, 5-0. “I start thinking different on the mound when my team is hitting behind me. Once we started scoring, the energy changed.”
Sizemore and Carr both finished 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the Jaguars, who finished with seven hits.
Mattawan, which also finished with seven hits, came out aggressively and with no sign of nerves – although none of its players had advanced out of Districts before this spring.
Alyssa Bloomfield and Eliana Ruhrup both singled in the first inning, before freshman Audrey Ford brought them both home with a single to right field. Ford and Ruhrup both went 2-for-3 for Mattawan (24-16), which put it all together in the postseason for a memorable run to the Final Four.
“It was a great start, and we also had a lot of runners on base in the second and third innings, but we couldn’t get that key hit to keep it rolling,” said 22nd-year Mattawan coach Alicia Smith, whose team finished second in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference. “It’s a big environment and a big game, and I think the girls got just a little bit tight.”
Macomb Dakota 2, Hudsonville 1
Megan Nuechterlein was dominant on the mound – and at the plate – as Macomb Dakota won its 21st consecutive game.
The Cougars scored runs in the third and fourth innings to take a 2-0 lead and were cruising, until the young Hudsonville team made a charge in the seventh inning.
After a single by Jessica Dobias, sophomore leadoff hitter Megan Beemer lined a triple into the gap in right-center to score Dobias and put the tying run 60 feet away.
That set up a showdown between Nuechterlein, a junior who has a 0.84 ERA and has committed to Kent State University, and Hudsonville junior shortstop Ella Reifschneider, the Eagles’ leading hitter with a .536 batting average and 41 RBI.
Reifschneider got around a pitch but pulled it directly to Dakota first baseman Madison Franzoni, who grabbed the ball and touched her glove to the base to end the game.
“There were definitely some nerves there, but knowing that I have great defense behind me really helps,” said Nuechterlein, who improved to 17-2 on the season and added 15 strikeouts. “I try to spin the ball more and change up speed more as it gets later in the game.”
Jenna Higgins, a freshman outfielder, went 2-for-2 to lead Dakota at the plate. Alexis Olterdorf singled in Higgins in the third inning to open the scoring, and Nuechterlein had a long solo home run over the left-centerfield fence in the fourth inning.
Those two runs turned out to be all the Cougars needed, thanks to the overpowering pitching of Nuechterlein.
“I’ve been saying that she’s probably the best pitcher in the state of Michigan right now,” said third-year Dakota coach Dan Vitale, whose team won the Macomb Conference Red. “We know we are going to have our hands full (Saturday). We have to hit the ball better.”
Hudsonville, 34-7, finished with seven hits, compared to six for Dakota. Junior third baseman Ashley Sorrell finished 2-for-3 to lead the Eagles, who had just two senior starters.
“There is no quit at all in this team,” said 41st-year Hudsonville coach Tom Vruggink, who has won 1,124 games during his career. “That was a very good pitcher we faced, but we kept battling and hung in there and we were that close to tying it up.”
PHOTOS (Top) Allen Park’s Mia Hool lines up a powerful swing during Thursday’s opening Division 1 Semifinal. (Middle) Macomb Dakota’s Angela Petrovitch begins her sprint to first base. (Click for more Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Hudson's Horwaths Producing Chart-Topping Hits for Tigers' Diamond Teams
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
May 25, 2022
HUDSON – Let it be known that there is little debate in the Horwath household who has the sweetest swing on the diamond. Dinah does.
“I like my swing and I think it’s good but, honestly, I have to say she does,” said Ambrose Horwath, a junior three-sport athlete at Hudson High School in Lenawee County.
“I think mine is better,” said Dinah, laughing – but agreeing.
No matter whose swing is better, they both are swinging hot bats this spring.
Going into this week, Dinah Horwath, a sophomore, was batting .479 and has been at or around .500 all season. She is the Lenawee County leader in hits (46), runs (44) and RBI (36).
Ambrose is batting a healthy .466. He’s among the Lenawee County leaders in hits (41), runs (37), RBIs (34), pitching wins (8) and strikeouts (49).
The two have a sibling rivalry, but there’s no competition to who will have the highest average at the end of the season. That’s because they are both rooting for each other.
“A couple of weeks ago, Ambrose was in a two or three-day slump,” said Hudson athletic director and varsity baseball coach Jeremy Beal. “After our practice I walked back to our field and there was Ambrose and Dinah. She was throwing soft toss to him. They must have had two buckets of balls.
“I’ve seen that before among brothers, but never a brother and sister. It was awesome.”
Ambrose’s slump didn’t last long.
“They pull for each other, and both have really good attitudes,” Beal said.
The Horwaths are a sports-crazed family. Father Lance is a Waldron native who is a principal in the Hudson school district and the Tigers varsity boys basketball coach. He played college baseball at Defiance, where he met Jamie. They were later married and had two kids – Ambrose and Dinah.
“I played college baseball with her brothers,” he said. “That’s how we met.”
Horwath was a teacher at Camden-Frontier when he moved into the Hudson district a little more than two decades ago. Ambrose has been a varsity basketball player since his freshman season and will go into his senior campaign a few 3-pointers shy of 1,000 career points. He also was a starter on Hudson’s Division 8 championship football team in the fall.
Dinah has plenty of varsity experience herself, despite being just as sophomore. She was second on the team in scoring this past basketball season and one of the area's top 3-point shooters. She said she and Ambrose often play one-on-one in basketball.
“We’ve done that since we were little,” she said. “We’re competitive, but we get along very well. We don’t really fight.”
Lance Horwath said the two of them are often together working on either their shot in basketball or swing in baseball/softball.
“They are always playing something,” Lance said. “Sports is a big part of our family. They’ve both been playing since before they even started school. It’s cool to see them together. They are very supportive of one another.”
Dinah, who is considering pursuing a career in sports management, throws right-handed in softball but has been batting from the left side of the box since she picked up a bat.
“From Day 1, she’s batted lefthanded,” Lance Horwath said. “I put her on the left side of the plate because that’s how I batted, and I wanted to teach her. She makes good contact.
“I love how she’s carved out her own niche in softball. She played travel ball when she was younger. She just loves playing the sport.”
Hudson softball coach Amy Hill said Dinah is constantly trying to get better.
“Her secret is she works very hard,” Hill said. “She puts in the time to improve and takes practice time seriously. She spends a lot of time on the tee. She’s a coach’s dream, always looking for ways to improve.”
During Hudson’s baseball and softball games, Lance and Jamie try to find a location where they can stand and watch both games.
“In Hudson, we can stand along the leftfield line and see both games,” he said. “They are both fun to watch. We’re blessed.”
If one sibling’s game ends early, the other gets to the other field as quickly as possible.
“I like it when our games get done so I can get over and see him play,” Dinah said.
Ambrose is no different.
“It’s cool to get to watch her games,” he said. “Every time I look over there or go watch, she’s on base.”
Ambrose said sports came natural to them.
“We will go out and hit together two or three times a week,” he said. “We’ve always been very close. It helps, I think, that we are only one year apart.
Hudson’s baseball team is looking to make some history this spring. The football and wrestling teams have already captured state championships, as did the competitive cheer team. The baseball team is 23-5 and close to winning at least a share of its first Lenawee County Athletic Association championship since 1968.
The Tigers are 9-3 with a doubleheader remaining against Ida. Onsted leads the league at 8-2 but has doubleheaders remaining against Clinton and Dundee, both formidable opponents.
“We need some help for that to happen,” Ambrose said. “But we just have to take care of our games first.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Dinah, left, and brother Ambrose Horwath are among Lenawee County’s leading hitters in their respective sports. (Middle) Dinah prepares for the pitch from her spot in the infield. (Below) Ambrose makes his move toward the plate. (Photos by Rachel Stiverson.)