![Monroe Jefferson celebrates its invitational championship Saturday.](/sites/default/files/2023-04/230425_Jefferson_2H4.png)
'Impactful' Improvements Generating Quick Success for Rebuilding Jefferson
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
April 25, 2023
MONROE – It’s less than a full month into the prep softball season, and the Monroe Jefferson Bears are still in the Huron League title hunt.
What’s so unusual about that?
Anyone who has studied the history of Jefferson softball knows that’s not always been the case. Chad Liptow, however, came to Jefferson with a blueprint in hand to turn the Bears program into a winner.
“I’m trying to do what I did in 17 years at Gibraltar Carlson in 17 months,” he said. “It was a matter of getting people to buy in, to get the community behind us. I said, ‘Let’s do it and do it faster.’”
Liptow is resurrecting a program that made a trip to the 1994 Class B championship game but, outside of that, has few highlights. He took over a program that had endured 12 straight losing seasons, and won 26 games last year. The Bears are off to a 12-2 start this season, defeated perennial state powerhouse Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central and captured the first of four home softball tournaments by winning three games Saturday.
Playing at home is something the Bears want to do as much as they can.
“We spent all of this time and effort to upgrade our field and stadium – we are going to play there,” Liptow said.
The Bears are starting to turn heads. They lost 2-1 to Milan on Monday.
“They mercy ruled us twice last year,” said Emmi Liptow, a senior and daughter of the head coach. “Things are definitely clicking for us this year.”
Chad Liptow can take a little more pride in engineering the turnaround, especially since he is a Jefferson graduate. He played prep baseball for the Bears and head coach Dave Sontag and probably would have played college baseball if not for an injury suffered while sliding into third base. With his playing days over, he picked up coaching almost right out of high school, coaching the Jefferson freshman.
Eventually he got a job at Gibraltar Carlson and became the head coach. He finished just shy of 300 victories in 16 seasons. Throughout his time there, he helped oversee upgrades to the Marauders’ facilities, researched a complete history for Carlson softball and posted it online and created a buzz around the program.
He stepped down because he wanted to be more involved in his daughters’ softball careers at Jefferson.
“I got a text from a buddy that said, ‘Hey, your daughter just made a great play,’ and I knew what I needed to do,” he said.
In 2021, he sat on the sidelines, keeping the scorebook for the Bears softball team, watching two daughters play.
“I was a fan,” he said. “I kept score on Game Changer. That was my role.”
As luck would have it, the Bears’ head coach stepped down. Liptow came home and had a family discussion about coaching the Jefferson softball team.
“I had been coaching some summer softball, but I didn’t know if I was going to dive back in. Then, the opportunity presented itself,” he said. “I received a lot of support from people in the community all the way around.”
Once hired, Liptow immediately went to work, calling on area businesses, other parents and friends to begin upgrading the fields, building new dugouts and installing stadium seating. He commissioned a record book and made plans to honor former players with a new Ring of Honor.
“We wanted to immediately do some impactful things,” he said. “You want the community to buy in and be involved. We want them to be a part of it. That’s what it’s been about.”
He overhauled the Bears’ schedule, which already was loaded with a tough Huron League slate.
“You have to be smart,” he said. “You must put your kids in position to be successful. Winning 20-0 or losing 20-0 is no fun. You want a competitive schedule. You have to find the right mix where you can see improvement. Then you can get to the point where you are in those close games. You have to build some confidence.”
After going 26-13 last season – an improvement from nine wins in 2021 – the Bears are off to a solid start this year. They welcomed back 12 players from 2022 and added three freshmen.
Emmi Liptow, the leadoff hitter who batted .438 last season, is rising up the career record charts in several offensive categories, and pitcher Julia Perry has 26 career wins and 265 strikeouts to date. Emmi calls all the pitches from her catcher’s position, something her father has had her do for two years.
“If I’m struggling, I ask for help or suggestions,” Emmi said. “It’s a lot easier with Julia in the circle. I’ve played with her forever, since we were 11 or 12. I know what pitches are working.”
The team chemistry is clicking. Lindsey Gennoe, Rylee Dunn and Cameran Carter also are having sold seasons.
Coach Liptow said he hopes Jefferson’s softball program is earning respect.
“We know we are not on top yet,” he said. “The kids know that. We just have to keep working and get more kids involved. Hopefully, people respect you. When you see an opponent have respect for you, that’s when you will feel like you are there. We believe we are opening some eyes now. We have some people’s attention.”
Emmi Liptow said the atmosphere around Jefferson softball has changed since her freshman year.
“It’s changed so much in the last two years,” she said. “Our whole field has been re-done, and the energy is different. It’s a different vibe. Everybody wants to see us be successful. Even the crowd is bigger. People want to see us play.”
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) Monroe Jefferson celebrates its invitational championship Saturday. (Middle) Catcher Emmi Liptow is among Marauders setting the pace this spring. (Below) Jefferson’s softball stadium has become a point of pride for the resurgent program. (Photos courtesy of Drew Grassley.)
![Richmond softball](/sites/default/files/2021-06/210618_D3s_2H.jpg)
Richmond Earns Finals Return, Buchanan 1st Trip to Title Game
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 18, 2021
EAST LANSING – When Richmond senior pitcher Shea VanScoter opened the bottom of the first inning of Friday’s Division 3 Semifinal against Clinton with a leadoff home run to left field, it figured to be enough run support for the way she has been pitching of late.
It wasn’t quite all the support VanScoter needed, but it was close.
Once again getting it done at the plate and the circle, VanScoter homered and tossed a five-hitter to lead Richmond to a 5-1 win.
The Blue Devils (30-5) advanced to meet Buchanan in Saturday’s Division 3 Final in what will be Richmond’s first title game appearance since it made back-to-back appearances in the Division 2 championship games in 2016 and 2017, winning the first and finishing runner-up the second.
It was actually noteworthy that Clinton scored Friday, given Richmond entered the game having yielded only five runs during the entire MHSAA Tournament and just one over its previous three games.
“We’ve had several shutouts on our road to get here,” Richmond head coach Howard Stuart said. “We pitch well, we play solid defense and we hit well.”
After striking out 12 in a Regional championship win over Millington and 14 more in a Quarterfinal win over Shepherd, VanScoter didn’t quite rack up the strikeout total against Clinton, only fanning four.
But VanScoter didn’t walk anyone, nor did she allow Clinton to string hits together, trusting her defense to make plays behind her.
“They were probably some of the best hitters I’ve faced all year,” VanScoter said. “They hit everything. They got their bat on everything. None of them really swung and missed.”
Two batters after VanScoter’s first-inning homer, Richmond sophomore Piper Clark hit a solo home run of her own to left to give the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead.
The score remained that way until the bottom of the fifth, when Richmond took a 4-0 lead on a clutch two-run single with two outs by Makayla Revord. Lauren Ziza then followed with an RBI single to make it 5-0 Richmond.
Clinton cut the lead to 5-1 in the sixth inning on a two-out single by Ava Ormsby, who brought home Liberti Fair after Fair had doubled.
But that would be all the offense for Clinton, which finished its season 34-8.
“Our goal was to put the ball in play,” Clinton head coach Kim Phillip said. “VanScoter averages anywhere from 12 to 15 strikeouts a game, and we didn’t want to do that. We really put in the work offensively. I’m proud of my girls for putting the ball in play. That was our goal.”
Buchanan 9, Standish-Sterling 4
After making its first Semifinal appearance since 2006, Buchanan will now return to Secchia Stadium to play in its first championship game.
The Bucks rode a 15-hit attack to a 9-4 win over Standish-Sterling.
“Our baseball team was here (playing in Thursday’s Semifinals), so some of our kids came up here and I think that was helpful,” Buchanan head coach Rachel Carlson said. “We got up here early enough, and that calmed our nerves. We got to watch a little ball and settle in. They believe in what they are doing right now.”
Buchanan (36-4) opened the scoring with a big second inning, sending nine hitters to the plate and scoring four runs on five hits to take a 4-0 lead.
Hannah Tompkins and Hannah Herman each had RBI singles, while Kamille Lemon and Brooke Atkinson each brought in runs on fielder’s choice groundouts.
After Buchanan scored an unearned run in the third inning, Standish-Sterling got on the board in the fourth on an RBI sacrifice fly to right by Many Ahleman to make it 5-1. Buchanan got that run back though in its half of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Hailee Kara that made it 6-1.
The Bucks added three more runs in the fifth inning on an RBI double by Lemon, an RBI single by Sage Pruett and an RBI sacrifice fly by Atkinson to take a 9-1 lead, but Standish-Sterling answered in the sixth.
The Panthers plated three of their own to cut Buchanan’s lead to 9-4, with the big hit a two-run single by Kylie Wendel.
However, Buchanan pitcher Sophia Lozmack pitched a scoreless seventh inning to end any hopes of a Panthers rally.
Kara, Alea Fisher and Camille Lozmack each had three hits to lead Buchanan.
Standish-Sterling (32-12) was potent offensively as well, with 12 hits, but the Panthers couldn’t generate runs like Buchanan did.
Karasyn Kraska went 3-for-3 with two runs to lead Standish-Sterling.
“We don’t give up,” Standish-Sterling head coach Rich Sullivan said. “We were down 9-1 and a lot of teams would’ve quit, but we didn’t. About a month ago, I named them the cardiac kids because they don’t quit. You saw that with how they fought, and I told them I was proud of them.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Richmond’s Shea VanScoter fires a pitch during her team’s Division 3 Semifinal win on Friday. (Middle) Buchanan’s Hailee Kara follows her drive during the Bucks’ victory.