D2 Semis: Confident Contenders Roll On
June 12, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Rozlyn Price’s gutsy performance Thursday afternoon at Secchia Stadium had less to do with how far she’s come in the last year as it was about how far she’s come over the last month.
A year ago, the then-freshman Price pitched the Blazers back to the MHSAA Division 2 Semifinals. But this spring hardly began the way she and Ladywood expected – the Blazers started 8-8, and as recently as May 17, Price walked 17 batters over just more than five innings in the Detroit Catholic League championship game.
Coach Scott Combs said there was a stretch when he didn’t feel he could put his ace in the pitching circle. But he never gave up on her.
“I was struggling a lot in the beginning of the season. My confidence was not there,” Price said. “I’m so thankful having my team behind me, cheering me up after every pitch. Whenever I get down, they always try to pick me up.
“Coach Scott worked with me a lot. He said, ‘Just calm down; just stay focused on the batter, and you’ll be fine.’”
Confident again, Price made a number of gutsy pitches Thursday to lead Ladywood back to the Division 2 Final with a 4-3, 10-inning win over top-ranked Wayland at Secchia Stadium. The No. 7 Blazers (29-13) will face No. 4 Stevensville Lakeshore in Saturday’s championship game at 9 a.m.
Price walked only two batters in the Semifinal and struck out six, including Wayland’s leadoff hitter with bases loaded and her team up 2-1 in the sixth inning. She also stranded a Wildcats runner on third base in the bottom of the ninth.
It was a far cry from her early-season struggles and 12 losses that became more forgettable with Thursday’s win.
“She could not throw a strike, and we worked and worked psychologically to get her to relax,” Combs said. “She was trying to muscle everything, trying to blow it by everybody. … She’s got all the ability in the world, and she’s a great hitter too, but she just needed to learn to focus and relax, and she did.”
Price did hit as well, doubling in her team’s first two runs. Sophomore rightfielder Rachel Hendrickson, batting ninth, tripled in junior Morgan Larkin in the seventh inning and then scored the game-winner in the 10th on senior shortstop Haley Lawrence’s single.
All three were in the lineup last season when Ladywood fell 8-0 to Tecumseh in a Semifinal. Tecumseh went on to win the championship.
This was Ladywood’s fourth straight trip to the Semifinals, and Saturday’s championship game will give the Blazers the opportunity to win their second title in three seasons – although the lineup is almost completely different than the one that won two years ago.
“It’s just crazy, the difference in the team last year to the team this year,” Price said. “I myself, I feel like I had a lot more confidence in this game than I did last year, or even in the games at the beginning of this season.”
Junior centerfielder Christina Meyer and Lawrence joined Hendrickson with a pair of hits. Every one of Wayland’s starters hit safely, led by senior catcher Britt McLain, senior rightfielder Elyssa Oostdyk, junior pitcher Mallory Teunissen and junior first baseman Morgan Teunissen with two hits apiece.
The Wildcats finished 42-2. Click for the full box score.
Stevensville Lakeshore 7, Croswell-Lexington 4
A couple things annually are expected from the Stevensville Lakeshore softball team: The Lancers will win at least 30 games and contend for the Division 2 title.
They won their 30th game this season in the District Final. And they’re back in an MHSAA championship game – even if they didn’t feel the same outside expectations this spring after a rough start.
“Our first game we lost to Edwardsburg, and we’re like, ‘Oh man.’ Portage Central beat us five out of six times,” Lakeshore senior pitcher Haley Thibeault said. “We didn’t start at the top like we have been. We started at the bottom and literally just shot up. We peaked exactly at the right time.”
The Lancers (35-9) kept the tournament momentum rolling with five runs in the first inning against Croswell-Lexington. They pushed the score to 6-0 in the fifth inning.
Croswell-Lexington (30-2) showed plenty of sparks scoring a pair of runs in both the sixth and seventh innings – but was a hit or two short in both of turning the tide completely.
Junior pitcher Megan Guitar had two hits and scored a run for the Pioneers. Senior shortstop Kylee Barrett drilled a home run in the seventh inning.
Sophomore leftfielder Rachel Riedel had three hits including two triples and drove in three runs. Freshman second baseman Hunter Thibeault and sophomore rightfielder Sidney Weaver both had two hits.
Lakeshore’s return to the championship game is its first since winning back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011.
“Everyone has been saying we’re not as good as last year’s team, or our team is young. (You don’t like) to hear that because we want to go as far as we can,” Haley Thibeault said. “I’m so proud because we’re defying all the odds to come this far. Maybe it doesn’t seem like that to other people, but it’s internal victories to us, moral victories.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Livonia Ladywood’s Rozlyn Price fires a pitch during her team’s 10-inning Division 2 Semifinal win over Wayland. (Middle) Lakeshore shortstop Alex Forsythe throws to first during her team’s Semifinal win.
USA Standout Skilled for Every Season
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
December 28, 2018
Rylee Zimmer lightened her winter workload during her sophomore year, taking the basketball season off to focus more on volleyball.
It turned out to be a short-term move.
“I could make it to some of the games still, because I wasn’t quite as busy,” the Unionville-Sebewaing senior said. “But when I watched them play, I missed it, so I came back to play.”
Zimmer has finished her high school volleyball career and signed to continue playing the sport at Saginaw Valley State University. But her days as a Patriot are not over, as she is currently playing basketball, and in the spring will come back to her familiar spot on the softball diamond, where she is a returning all-state selection as a shortstop.
“I actually think (playing three sports) does help me,” Zimmer said. “Like in basketball, we’re working on jumping and we run a lot. It keeps me more in shape.”
It’s no secret, however, that volleyball is No. 1 for Zimmer. She plays for the Five:1 club during the winter and spring, and is currently balancing school, the club and basketball season. Sub out softball for basketball, and you have her spring schedule.
“Actually, it works out pretty good, because for girls basketball, we play on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I have practice on Monday and Wednesday,” she said. “After basketball and softball practices, I drive to Clio and practice until 9 at night. I don’t have much downtime.”
Zimmer was a four-year starter for the Patriots volleyball team, and this fall she led the team to its first MHSAA Finals appearance – where it fell to four-time reigning champion Bronson in the Division 3 title match.
“When we were in eighth grade, when Erica Treiber (a volleyball All-American at Tennessee) was on the team, we went to Battle Creek with my family (for the Semifinals), and I never thought I’d be able to make it there,” Zimmer said. “This year, my senior year, when we started playing I thought, ‘This team is pretty good and can make it pretty far.’ It was so exciting to be able to make it to the last game of the season.”
On the season, Zimmer finished with 828 kills, 630 service receptions, 537 digs, 132 total blocks and 41 aces. It was her second straight season with more than 800 kills, and she finished her career with 2,332. Her career kill percentage was .374.
“Rylee is just an athletic player,” USA coach Teresa Rose said. “Last year, she was a captain, but this year she was a little more of a vocal captain. She never wanted to step on the seniors’ toes when she was only a junior. She’s very knowledgeable. She plays club at Five:1, she plays basketball, she plays softball – she's constantly doing something. Girls that only play one sport, they’re playing club, too, but they’re not using those other muscles you do while doing those other things. I think that really helps her be strong.”
Zimmer committed to Saginaw Valley late in her junior year, and signed during the early signing period in November. She said that playing at the next level was something she had dreamed of and thought could be a reality since she was moved up to varsity for volleyball as a freshman.
While playing three sports through high school has helped make her a better all-around athlete, she is looking forward to focusing on a single sport in college.
Rose also is excited to see what Zimmer can do at the next level.
“I’ve seen her play at this level, and she’s a standout,” Rose said. “To see her at the next level when she’s playing with everybody that’s that good, I can’t wait to watch her. Seeing her play with girls at the college level that are all volleyball players – that's all they’re doing – I think you’re going to see her be even more explosive than what she was this year.”
Before she moves on, however, Zimmer has more to do at USA. While the Patriots are 2-3 to start this season on the court, last winter Zimmer averaged 13.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game to lead the team to the Class C Regional Final.
The USA softball team was a Division 4 semifinalist a year ago, with Zimmer playing a big part. She hit .445 in 38 games, with 27 extra-base hits (14 doubles, 11 triples, two home runs), 41 RBI and 53 runs scored. She has a career batting average of .429.
“I’m just excited to have fun and have one last year with the people I’ve always played with,” she said. “I’m excited to have one last season with them.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Clockwise from left, USA’s Rylee Zimmer spikes during this fall’s Division 3 Volleyball Final, Zimmer throws to first during last spring’s Division 4 Softball Semifinals and works for position in the post during a Class C Basketball District game. (Middle) Zimmer (4) celebrates her team’s Volleyball Semifinal win with her teammates. (Volleyball and softball photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos; basketball photo by Varsity Monthly.)