Flashback 1980: Thrilling Conclusions
June 2, 2020
By Ron Pesch
Special for Second Half
With all Spring sports canceled for 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been a season of recalling fond memories as we all sit and wait for the return of high school athletics in Michigan.
This time we’re diving 40 years deep to the Baseball and Softball Finals from 1980, which saw five of eight championship games decided by two runs or fewer and mostly on late-inning dramatics while played at various parks across the Lower Peninsula.
Here’s a flashback to the 1980 championship rounds:
BASEBALL
A strong argument could be made that Matt Costello’s ninth-inning heroics rank among the top moments in MHSAA tournament history.
In the days when the state Semifinals and Finals were played on the same day, and split across four separate sites spread across the state, an impressive 1,025 fans turned out for the Class A title game between Royal Oak Kimball and Grosse Pointe North, hosted at Wyandotte’s Memorial Park.
For Kimball, it was the fourth appearance in the state title game. The Knights, led by coach Frank Clouser, had appeared in the Class A title game for three straight years, 1971-1973, earning a championship in 1972 with a 3-1 win over Detroit Western.
It was the first appearance in the Finals for North and coach Frank Sumbera. Earlier in the year, the Norsemen had been the top-ranked team in the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Class A poll, but the squad hit a mid-May speedbump. Within five hours, North dropped two games, falling to St. Clair Shores Lakeview, 6-5, then 3-2 to Harper Woods, which was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in Class C. North rebounded, and finished the regular season as the top team in the Class A rankings with a 23-4 mark.
North opened the championship game scoring with three quick runs in the first inning. Kimball made it 3-1 in the bottom half of the inning, then grabbed a 4-3 lead in the third as 6-foot-4 senior Dave Kopf, (a 32nd-round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers one week earlier) crushed a three-run homer. North tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth when junior Bill Babcock led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice, then scored when the throw to first base on Keith Schatko’s suicide squeeze bunt went wild. Following a pop out, Costello picked up his first RBI on the day, on a double over the left fielder’s head that scored Schatko, giving North a 5-4 lead.
Babcock, who had tossed a 2-0 no-hitter earlier in the day in the Norsemen’s Semifinal against Wayne Memorial, replaced starter Tom Shook in the bottom of the sixth inning. Following a walk, Kimball’s Scott Sturley smashed a two-out triple to tie the game, 5-5.
Neither team could push across a run in the last inning of regulation play. Kimball threatened in the bottom of the eighth, notching a leadoff double. But the danger ended when North catcher Mike Seagram picked off the runner.
Sumbera told Wright Wilson of the Grosse Pointe News that the play was the “turning point of the game.”
Singles by Babcock and Scott Young and a walk by Al Lucido in the top of the ninth inning set the stage for Costello.
“I had Matt swinging away because they were charging their infielders all the time, so we were playing for the hit,” said Sumbera to the Detroit Free Press following the title contest.
“I was just trying to get the run in when I went up there,” stated Costello, who “cracked a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence, more than 365 feet away.”
“When I hit it I knew it was going to be a home run. That was the greatest.”
Costello finished with three hits and an MHSAA championship game-record five RBIs, a mark that stood alone until Jacob Holt from Muskegon Catholic Central tied the record 35 years later, in 2015.
Trailing 9-5, Kimball loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning and scored a run on a two-out wild pitch. But a pop-out to first ended the rally, and North grabbed a 9-6 win and its first diamond title.
Sumbera , who had taken the reins of the North program in 1973, would lead the Norsemen to a second title in 2006. Today, he ranks third in all-time baseball victories in Michigan after a 45-year coaching career.
Flint Powers downed Mount Pleasant 8-7 in a Class B thriller, played at Lansing’s Municipal Park. Mount Pleasant grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, before Powers’ Jim Morrissey popped a two-run homer to knot the game in the fourth. The Chargers added two more runs in the top of the fifth, but Mount Pleasant shortstop Bob Lee followed in the bottom of the inning with a two-run shot that tied the game at 4-4.
Powers took a 7-4 lead in the sixth inning and upped the lead to 8-4 on a Mike Morgan bases-loaded single in the seventh. With the game on the line, Mount Pleasant’s Scott Tuma blasted a two-out, three-run homer to cut the margin to 8-7. Morgan, who tossed a five-hit shutout complete game for Powers in its win over Farmington Hills Harrison earlier in the day, allowed two more runners before striking out pinch-hitter Todd Tuma to end the game.
Rain delayed the second Class C Semifinal game and postponed the championship contest until Monday, June 16. Leading 5-0 after three innings, Dundee finished off Lansing Catholic Central 7-2, then topped Parchment 3-1 for its first and only baseball crown. Norm Pentercs, who would later pitch at Grand Valley State, struck out 11 and allowed only four hits in the title game. Those games were played at Broome Park in Flint.
A seventh-inning walk-off bases-loaded single by Scott Trudell broke a 1-1 deadlock to give Grass Lake a 2-1 win over Muskegon Western Michigan Christian in Class D, hosted at Marshall High School. David Knoll allowed just three hits and struck out 13 for the win. It was the second appearance in a Final on the year for WMC, which fell to Detroit East Catholic in an MHSAA basketball championship game in March.
SOFTBALL
Veronica Miller’s single with two outs in the fifth inning drove home Julie Guerra, snapping a 1-1 tie and propelling Flint Carman to a 2-1 victory over East Detroit and all-state pitcher Roxanne ‘Rocky’ Szczesniak in the Class A championship game. Linda Allen picked up her second win on the day. Earlier she tossed a shutout in Carman’s 14-0 victory over Holland West Ottawa. Szczesniak, who would later star at Wayne State, allowed only three hits in the contest after delivering a one-hitter in East Detroit’s 11-3 victory over Ann Arbor Huron in the Semifinal.
“Everything worked great for me today,” Deanne Moore told the Lansing State Journal after tossing a two-hit, 6-0 shutout in Fenton’s Class B Final victory over Grand Rapids Northview. “I knew I had to pitch strikes and my fastball was moving around. I threw a couple of changeups to keep them guessing.”
In the title game, Moore opened the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning. It was followed by a triple by Sandy Thornton, who scored when Theresa Flynn singled up the middle. Moore scored again in the fourth inning following sacrifices by Sue Mora and Flynn, for a 3-0 lead. Northview’s fate was sealed in the fifth as Fenton tallied three more on Thornton’s two-run single and a fielder’s choice by Lori Glass.
It was the third-consecutive Class B title for the Tigers. Moore, a senior righthander, finished with a 24-2 record and would go on to an All-American career at Michigan State, earning entry into MSU’s Hall of Fame in 1996.
Rhonda Thran added her name to the MHSAA Championship Game Record Book, knocking in five runs as Berrien Springs routed Lakeview 11-4 in the Class C title game. Thran matched the RBI record set by DeWitt’s Cindy White in the Panthers’ Class C title victory over Center Line St. Clement in 1977. The sophomore centerfielder, along with second baseman Jan Dowell, was one of two regulars who were also starters on the Shamrocks’ volleyball team that won the Class C championship during the 1979-80 winter sports season.
Junior Cindy DeFay fired a three-hitter in the championship. “The whole team really wanted this one. I had a good feeling that we were going to win so I was ready to play. It’s the best game I’ve pitched all year,” she told Jack Walkden of the Benton Harbor Herald-Palladium following the game. DeFay had “missed much of the first half of the season with a severely sprained ankle.”
In the Semifinal, Berrien Springs downed Leroy Pine River 10-8 and banged out 21 hits across the day’s two games, highlighted by five hits by both Rachel Roots and Sheila Duffel, followed with four by Thran.
A police escort guided the team and its retiring coach, Roy Rennhack, back into town after the games played across the state in Oak Park near Detroit – “More than 150 cars joined the caravan, which paraded the team through town atop firetrucks.”
“It was a perfect going away present,” said Rennhack.
It was truly an amazing sports year for the Shamrocks girls, who also won Regional titles in track and basketball. Between 1979 and 1985, Berrien Springs volleyball teams won five Finals volleyball titles. (Those squads were honored in the second year of the MHSAA’s Legends of the Game program in 1999).
In Class D, Central Lake scored a dramatic 2-1 win over Vestaburg. In the top of the seventh inning, Vestaburg had knotted the game at 1-1 before relinquishing a walk to Pam Ellison in the bottom of the inning that set things in motion for the Trojans. Ellison stole second, then advanced to third on a sacrifice by Wendy Johnson. Following a walk to Wendy Baker, catcher Mary Hopp singled Ellison home for the win. Central Lake had finished as state runner-up to Laingsburg in 1978, then fell to Morenci 6-5 in the Semifinals in 1979.
“We were a pretty close-knit team,” said Ellison., recapping the rally.
“I had fantastic kids,” recalled coach Gary Johnson 40 years later. “We played a lot of big-time schools. I never had a second pitcher when I coached. Back then, if you had a girl who could throw a fastball you were at the top of the world. We had Judy Koens.“
Koens allowed just four-hits in the title game and along with Hopp was named to The Associated Press Class D all-state team as Central Lake finished 33-4. Koens would pitch at Central Michigan, posting stellar ERAs during her four seasons and earning all-Mid-American Conference honors in 1984 as a senior.
Ron Pesch has taken an active role in researching the history of MHSAA events since 1985 and began writing for MHSAA Finals programs in 1986, adding additional features and "flashbacks" in 1992. He inherited the title of MHSAA historian from the late Dick Kishpaugh following the 1993-94 school year, and resides in Muskegon. Contact him at [email protected] with ideas for historical articles.
PHOTOS: (Top) Berrien Springs celebrates its 1980 Class C softball championship. (Middle) Grosse Pointe North claims the Class A baseball title in its first Finals under coach Frank Sumbera. (Below) Central Lake improves from Class D softball runner-up in 1978 to champion two years later. (Photos gathered by Ron Pesch.)
West Rides Hot Start after Record Finish
April 21, 2017
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
TRAVERSE CITY – Traverse City West has the blueprint.
Now the Titans are hoping to build off their success from last spring when they won a school-record 41 games and reached the MHSAA Division 1 Baseball Semifinals.
So far, so good. The Titans are off to a 6-1 start.
“We always keep the same goals, the same expectations,” coach Matt Bocian said. “Winning the conference, winning the District, those are the expectations. And then you set your goals a little higher (after that). Once you get a little taste of something (like a Semifinal appearance), maybe you want a little more. We try to keep them hungry.”
West returns just two everyday starters from a year ago – centerfielder Gavin Garmhausen and pitcher-third baseman Ryan Hayes – but several other underclassmen saw significant action.
“We feel good with the team we have – and where we’re at,” senior catcher-first baseman Carson Rosa said. “We have good talent. We just have to come to practice every day wanting to get better. Without that attitude, we’re going to flat line and we’re not going to be as good as we want to be.”
Rosa provided the biggest hit in the first couple weeks when he singled in Garmhausen in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Flushing 4-3 in the opener of a doubleheader Monday at Central Michigan University. West won the nightcap 14-1.
Earlier, the Titans beat Coldwater 4-2, Hamilton 7-1, White Cloud 12-2 and Morley-Stanwood 12-1. The lone loss came in the Coldwater tournament to Fremont, Ind., 9-6.
“We’re not where we need to be, but we’re going to get better and better,” Hayes said.
Hayes was one of the standouts last season. He was 10-1 with a 0.90 ERA on the mound. At the plate, Hayes hit .418, one of four players to bat over .400.
As a team, the Titans scored 427 runs in 44 games, which is 10th on the MHSAA’s all-time runs list. West also pounded out 431 hits, also 10th all-time. The 41 wins rank sixth in MHSAA history.
“It was crazy,” Garmhausen said of last season’s offensive fireworks.
The centerfielder did his part, hitting .368 with 41 RBI, 44 hits and 47 runs.
The run to the Semifinals, where the Titans lost to eventual champion Warren DeLaSalle 3-1, was the longest in school history.
“We came from behind in every (tournament) game,” Garmhausen said. “It proved to us that we could do big things up here.”
Garmhausen has picked up where he left off. He’s currently hitting near .500.
Hayes, meanwhile, has pitched in two games. He went five innings, allowing no earned runs, three hits and striking out 10 in the win over Hamilton. He also went the first six innings in Monday’s triumph over Flushing, surrendering two earned runs and striking out nine.
Sophomore Brendan Pierce earned the win in the nightcap to improve to 2-0. Mike Laracey, Dan Ayling and Colin Campbell are all 1-0.
“I always tell my teams pitching and defense will win you games,” Bocian said. “Then you see if you can scrape across a few runs. That was our motto last year. It just so happened we had some kids (explode at the plate), and others followed.”
Garmhausen, Hayes, Laracey, Rosa, Ayling, A.J. Ruskowski, Sam DeKuiper and Tristan Reeves have wielded the hots bats this season.
Three of those players – Garmhausen, Hayes and Rosa – have particularly interesting backstories.
Garmhausen’s father, Brad, was a three-sport star at Frankfort in the early 1980s, earning all-state recognition in football, basketball and baseball. He coached Gavin in Little League.
His advice to his son?
“Keep working, keep a positive attitude and things will go your way,” Gavin said.
Gavin, 18, plays two sports. He was on the West varsity hockey team four years and was named to the Traverse City Record-Eagle Dream Team for his play this past winter.
Garmhausen is in his third year on the varsity baseball team. He bats leadoff and plays centerfield.
He describes himself as “a hard worker, a leader, a guy that wants to win, a guy that wants to set an example for his teammates.”
His coach agrees with that assessment.
“He loves the sport,” Bocian said. “He wants to succeed as much as anybody. He has a lot of tools. He’s put a lot of time into getting where he’s at – and it shows.”
Garmhausen plans to play baseball at Bradenton Inspiration Academy in Florida next school year before enrolling in college.
Hayes, a 6-foot-7 junior, is a bona fide three-sport star. He’s one of the state’s top football recruits in the 2018 class. Hayes holds 11 scholarship offers, including from University of Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame. A tight end-defensive end for the Titans, Hayes is being recruited as an offensive tackle.
The junior was the most valuable player in the Big North Conference in basketball. He led the Titans to the Class A Regional Finals – the best boys basketball tournament run in school history.
He also comes from an athletic family. His older brother Connor, also a lineman, signed with University of Pittsburgh out of high school. His father, Mike, was an offensive lineman at Central Michigan University. His mother Sue (Nissen) Arthur starred in basketball at CMU. She’s the school’s second all-time leading scorer and was a freshman All-American and a three-time first-team Mid-American Conference honoree. Arthur was inducted into CMU’s Hall of Fame in 2001.
(Incidentally, at CMU, Arthur played with Traverse City’s Suzy Merchant, Molly (Piche’) Russell and Wendy (Merriman) Sherwin and Gaylord St. Mary’s Lori (McCluskey) Phillips. While Merchant is now the women’s basketball coach at MSU, Arthur, Sherwin and Phillips all reside in Traverse City and their children have gone on to success at three different schools.
Sherwin’s three sons – Ben, Sam and Jack – were linemen on Traverse City Central’s 9-2 football team last fall that won a second consecutive Big North Conference title. Their offensive line position coach? Their father, Greg, a former lineman at CMU. Ben, a senior, signed with Ferris State.
Phillips’ son, Noah, plays basketball at Grand Valley State. The 6-8 Phillips averaged 19.8 points and 7.2 rebounds his senior season at St. Francis. Juliana, a current senior at St. Francis, just earned all-state laurels in basketball, to go with similar honors in volleyball. She’ll attend St. Louis University on a volleyball scholarship in the fall.)
In another year, Ryan Hayes will be gearing up for college. He planned to make a decision where – and notify college football coaches – late this summer, but that timetable has been moved up.
For now, he’s enjoying baseball. And when asked if there’s a sport he doesn’t like, he laughs.
“Not really,” he said. “I like them all.”
Hayes has a fastball that’s been clocked at 89 miles per hour, he said, although he hasn’t thrown that hard in this cold, spring weather. Still, he has 19 strikeouts in 11 innings.,
“Ryan came in last year as a sophomore, not projected to be our No. 2 starter, and he ended up 10-1,” Bocian said. “When you look at his athleticism, and the opportunities he has as a player in all three of his sports, it’s mindboggling.”
Like Ben Sherwin, Carson Rosa signed to play football at Ferris State.
It’s where Rosa’s father, Mark, played baseball after a standout career at Clare High School. Mark Rosa was inducted into the Clare Hall of Fame in 2013.
Carson Rosa’s senior football season was interrupted by injury. The 6-5, 220-pound senior quarterback had led the Titans to impressive wins over Midland and Grand Haven to start what looked like a promising season. Then, in a week three showdown with Traverse City Central, he dislocated his right ankle and broke his fibula when he was hit attempting a pass and his cleat caught in the artificial turf.
Incredibly, he returned after six weeks to start West’s playoff game, also against Central.
“My doctor, Dr. (Tom) O’Hagan, planted the seed in my mind that it was going to be at least a six-week recovery,” Rosa said. “That meant I was going to strive for that six weeks. All I was focused on was school and rehab.”
Rosa wondered if college coaches would back off. Not all did.
“I got a couple texts,” he said. “They were like, ‘Sorry to hear about your injury. We’d still like to have you as part of our team in the future.’ That was nice to know because I wasn’t going to get a senior year to prove (myself).”
Ferris was one of the schools that kept in touch.
“They see me as an athlete who has the potential to play multiple positions, not just quarterback,” Rosa said. “I could be an H-back.”
Rosa also played three sports until this season. He gave up basketball since his ankle was still sore.
“I wanted to be 100 percent ready for baseball,” he said. “I love baseball. It was my sport until I started playing football in eighth grade. But I still love it and I did not want to sacrifice the season that we’re going to have because I knew we were returning some good talent – and I was going to get to play with my best friends.”
Rosa is off to a hot start. He belted a two-run homer in the Morley Stanwood tournament.
“He’s got all the tools to be successful,” Bocian said. “He’s a gamer. When it’s game time, that’s when Carson is at his best.”
Now, if the weather would just improve. West might still be a couple weeks away from hosting its first twinbill. In the meantime, the Titans are hitting the road. Their travels will take them to Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern on Saturday.
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Traverse City West pitcher Ryan Hayes works on a hitter during last season’s Division 1 Semifinal loss to Warren DeLaSalle. (Middle) Gavin Garmhausen, also here against DeLaSalle, joins Hayes among returning starters this spring.