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Coleman, Centreville Post Semis Shutouts
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 15, 2018
EAST LANSING – Autumn Tubbs swears that “darn it” was as profane as she allowed herself to get.
The Coleman senior shortstop was visibly frustrated with herself after turning out of the way of an inside pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning of a tie game. But one pitch later, none of that mattered.
Tubbs smacked a two-run single providing the only runs in Coleman’s 2-0 win Friday against Rogers City in a MHSAA Division 4 Softball Semifinal at Michigan State University’s Secchia Stadium.
“I should have let it hit me, but I didn’t, and it’s fine,” Tubbs said. “(I thought) this is an amazing opportunity for me to be able to hit the only two runs we got in, and get us hyped up to get three outs and end the game.”
Coleman (30-9) advanced to the Division 4 title game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday against Centreville. It’s the first trip to the title game since 2005 for the Comets, who won the championship that year.
“We got down to the semis last year, and every year has been another step, so hopefully we can get two steps in one,” Coleman coach Chad Klopf said. “It feels good.”
Coleman needed not just Tubbs’ heroics, but a gem from pitcher Faith Barden and the defense behind her to take this step. Barden struck out 11 batters while allowing three hits and two walks in front of a defense that committed just one error.
“We’ve always been a really good defensive team, and Faith knows that we’re always going to be behind her,” Tubbs said. “Faith’s played with us on travel ball leagues, and she’s always been our pitcher, we’ve always had to back her up. It’s just a nice opportunity to be able to have the opportunity to win a state championship with her on the mound.”
Rogers City (32-6) had just one runner advance to third base, and that came with two outs in the second inning and was immediately followed by a strikeout.
“That’s a good hitting team. That’s all we’ve been told, that they’ve been pounding the ball, scoring runs,” Klopf said. “(Barden) has been lights out for us the past couple weeks. She’s thrown all through the tournament; she’s done a great job. (Assistant coach Allison) McKibbin calling the pitchers for her and Kylie (Herkel) working behind the plate for her have done a great job, and she’s got a great defense that she can trust, and that makes it a lot easier to pitch when you’ve got a great defense.”
Barden had a strong day at the plate, too, with a pair of hits, including one to load the bases before Tubbs came to the plate in the sixth.
“Either way, I told (Tubbs) do what she wants to do,” Klopf said. “She knows this game in and out. She could easily be standing in that third base box someday and getting it done for her team, because she understands it. She knew with the bases loaded that there’s a run right there if she lets it hit her. She’s a solid ball player, she’s hit the ball for us and played well, so I had no problem with her not getting hit because I knew she was probably going to come through with a hit for us.”
Coleman didn’t get many chances to score, as the Rogers City defense made some spectacular plays to keep balls in the infield. The Comets did threaten to score in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Rogers City defense again came up big. Barden, who opened the inning with a single, had advanced to third on an error and a passed ball. She was thrown out at home, however, when Rogers City perfectly covered a sacrifice bunt attempt. Amanda Wirgau fielded the bunt, threw the runner out at first, then covered the plate and tagged out Barden to keep the game scoreless.
“I thought our defense played outstanding today. We really made some nice plays,” Rogers City coach Karl Grambau said. “We made defensive plays good enough to win the game, but we just couldn’t get the bats going today. You have to credit their pitcher; their pitcher kept us off guard.”
Rogers City sophomore pitcher Kyrsten Altman had a strong game, allowing six hits and striking out one over six innings.
VIDEO: Coleman's Autumn Tubbs had this two-run single in the sixth inning to give the Comets a 2-0 lead.
Centreville 4, Unionville-Sebewaing 0
For the first time in school history, Centreville (35-6) will play for an MHSAA softball championship.
A marvelous pitching performance from sophomore Hannah Duchene and some heads-up base running keyed the Bulldogs, who were playing in just the second Semifinal in school history.
“It was what we expected – they’re a tough ball club and they’ve been here before and are much more familiar with this atmosphere,” Centreville coach Scott Logan said. “It hasn’t sunk in yet, I guess. They just keep playing, they keep playing hard and they play relaxed. They want to be here, and that’s a good thing.”
Centreville scored its first two runs on wild pitches, and blew open a tight game in the top of the seventh inning, scoring three insurance runs. The big hit in the inning was an RBI single from Joanna Larsen. Centreville scored one more run on a throwing error on the play.
The Bulldogs also had some defensive brilliance in a key spot. With a runner on second and one out, Centreville second baseman McKenzie Sheteron back-tracked to catch a fly ball in right field, then threw the tagging runner out at third to end the sixth-inning threat.
Duchene held the Patriots hitless through 3 2/3 innings and finished with eight strikeouts while allowing four hits and four walks. USA pitcher Katelyn Engelhardt had two of those four hits. Just one of the runs USA (31-9) allowed was earned.
PHOTOS: (Top) Coleman pitcher Faith Barden unwinds toward the plate during her team’s Division 4 Semifinal win Friday. (Middle) Centerville’s Hannah Duchene prepares to fire a pitch in the Bulldogs’ victory.
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Fear Not; Caledonia Continues Record Run
June 11, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Everything about Thursday afternoon should have been at least a little intimidating for Caledonia and pitcher Samantha Gehrls.
The Fighting Scots were playing in their first MHSAA Semifinal. They were facing a Farmington Hills Mercy team that had hit 27 home runs.
Did you know Gehrls is only a freshman?
Could’ve fooled everyone at Michigan State University’s Secchia Stadium. Gehrls threw pitches that showed she was downright fearless, holding the Marlins’ big bats at bay in leading Caledonia to a 5-2 win and its first appearance in an MHSAA softball championship game.
The Scots will take on Warren Regina at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
“I went in with the mentality that we’re here right now. The farther you get in the tournament, the better the hitters are going to be,” said Gehrls, who struck out eight and walked one. “I just have to face the fact and know that I can’t be intimidated because my team needs me. Obviously, it’s definitely in back of my head, ‘I can’t hang this over the plate.’ (I was) just trying to stay concentrated on each and every pitch.”
Mercy did get nine hits as both teams drove balls all over the park. Marlins sophomore Nicole Belans hit a home run that stayed inside the fence; Caledonia senior McKenzie Butgereit drove her homer over it and also had a double as her team tallied nine hits as well.
Butgereit scored the first run of the game off that double in the second inning, when senior Danielle Oracz doubled her home. Caledonia (34-4) scored two more runs in the fifth inning when senior Ashley Miller tripled in a run and then scored on an error, and then one more each in the sixth and seventh – on Butgereit’s home run and then Miller singling and scoring, respectively.
That set the most daunting scene Gehrls would face all day.
Mercy (27-4) had gotten its two runs on Belans’ drive in the sixth inning, and the score stood 5-2 with Caledonia needing three outs to advance. Gehrls struck out the first of the seventh inning, but Marlins senior Alex Sobczak and sophomore Sophia VanAcker followed with singles. The tying run came to the plate – junior Abby Krzywiecki, she of a .594 average, 12 home runs and 56 RBI this spring heading into the week.
“I’m thinking ‘Oh my gosh, we have to get this girl out.’ I don’t even really know,” Gehrls said of the thoughts spinning through her mind at that moment. “I focused on every single pitch. … And I knew that once we get this batter, we’ve got to focus on the next. If we get this girl, we’re one step closer to getting that win.”
The titanic matchup could be repeated on this field a year from now. But round one went to Gehrls, who kept the ball on the outside of the plate to draw a fly out to third base. The next batter flew out to second base to end the game.
“She’s well beyond her years as a freshman,” Caledonia coach Tom Kaechele said of Gehrls. “She’s strong. She lives in the weight room. She’s just a great basketball player. She’s just a great athlete, and I’m fortunate to have her on my team.
“Her older sister (Alexa) went on to play at Saginaw Valley (State University), and she leans on her too. But I think one of the neatest things is my junior pitcher who is out in centerfield has been a great mentor to her. Taylor (VanZytveld) has pitched in some big games. … Sami asks her for advice all the time. There’s no competition, no jealousy, nothing like that, and that is so huge on a team when you have two kids, an older one and a younger one, that depend on each other.”
Miller, Butgereit, Oracz and junior Lexi Lieske all had multiple hits for Caledonia. Belans, Sobczak and VanAcker did the same for Mercy.
Warren Regina 7, Mattawan 1
Regina’s players chanted, “We’re still hungry,” after leaving the field at Secchia Stadium. They have room left for one more highlight from a season quickly filling up with them after an empty start.
The Saddlelites will play for an MHSAA title for the first time since 2007, and despite opening this season 3-11.
Regina unloaded seven runs during the fifth and sixth innings to stay alive for one more game after Mattawan scored its only run in the fourth inning.
The Saddlelites had 12 hits – with nine came over the final three innings.
“We’ve been really working on our bunts and working on the little things, because in the beginning we weren’t doing the little things, which really is helping us now,” said Regina senior Riley Hison, who singled in the go-ahead run. “We’ve been working on our hitting too. We’ve been doing a lot more drills and more fundamentals than what we usually do.”
Hison had two hits and three RBI total, and seniors Gina Munson, Marissa Tiano and junior Kristina Carlson all also had two hits apiece.
Tiano was near-flawless from the pitching circle, giving up only four hits without walking a batter. Junior Amber Mazahem had one of those hits for Mattawan (30-13) and drove in the lone run.
Regina moved to 26-16, with 11 wins over its last 14 games.
“We might as well win states now,” Hison said. “We’ve come this far.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Caledonia's Samantha Gehrls unwinds toward the plate during her team's Division 1 Semifinal win Thursday. (Middle) A Regina hitter connects for one of the team's 12 hits.