Richmond Follows Freshman into History
June 18, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — The pitching circle is Erin Shuboy's comfort zone.
It doesn't matter if it's an MHSAA championship game against a team with a .433 batting average and a full set of bleachers on either side of her.
Pitching is easy for Shuboy.
Talking about it? That's when the nerves start to show.
"I'm so overwhelmed," the freshman pitcher told a group of reporters after throwing a no-hitter in Richmond's 2-0 victory over Vicksburg in the MHSAA Division 2 championship game on Saturday at Michigan State University.
When one more reporter joined the scrum around Shuboy, she exclaimed, "Oh, my gosh! There's more!"
She'd better get used to the attention, because she has three more years of dealing with interview requests in high school, and possibly beyond that in college.
"She feels like she doesn't have anything to say," said freshman catcher Kennedy Caperton, who has been playing softball with Shuboy since elementary school. "Once you get to know her, she opens up. I think she's just in shock about it."
Shuboy pitched the 14th no-hitter in an MHSAA Final, the first since Mattawan's Lauren Gevaart had one in the 2011 Division 1 title game. Shuboy struck out seven, facing the minimum of 21 batters.
The only runner she allowed was pitching counterpart Avery Slancik, who walked with one out in the second inning. A grounder by Olivia Holmes forced out Slancik's courtesy runner, Lauren Goertler, at second base. Holmes was then caught stealing by Caperton to end the inning.
"As soon as I let go of it, I was like, 'I hope this is good,'" Caperton said.
Shuboy retired the last 16 batters she faced. Even though the scoreboard told the story, she had no clue she'd thrown a no-hitter until a reporter told her while walking from the field to the awards area.
"We had to slow her down several times," Richmond coach Howard Stuart said. "Even the officials were telling us to slow her down. She was in such a hurry to get the ball and throw it. There was no mention of a no-hitter; not one word was said. Even at the end of the game, she didn't know. She was so focused. The team was not allowed to say anything to her."
Richmond's two runs came in the top of the fourth inning. Lindsay Schweiger led off with a single to left, then moved to third when the throw to first went into the outfield on a bunt by Allison Swantek.
Shuboy delivered the first run with a slow groundout to second base.
"I just wanted to make contact with it," Shuboy said. "That's all we had to do, get the RBI."
Swantek made it 2-0 when she raced home on a wild pitch.
"We made a couple of mistakes," Vicksburg coach Paul Gephart said. "Those couple of mistakes all happened together, and that led to the couple of runs."
Vicksburg went down in order in the final five innings, striking out six times, but putting three balls in the outfield. The final out came on a foul ball down the right field line.
"The few solid hits we had went right at them," Gephart said. "One of our quicker girls, they were playing way up to take away the bunt option we've used in the past. You have to give them all the credit. They're a good team. They wouldn't be here if they weren't."
It was Richmond's first MHSAA softball championship after losing in the Finals in 1985, 1998 and 1999. The Blue Devils (32-9) had reached the Semifinals seven times prior to this season under Stuart, who is 954-288 in 38 years at the helm.
Shuboy broke down when asked what it meant to help deliver a title to Richmond's six seniors.
"I just wanted to help them out," she said. "I'm gonna cry. I just wanted them to have a good end of their senior year, and a state championship would be a perfect way."
One of those seniors, Schweiger, knows that the program is in good hands with Shuboy and Caperton returning for three more years as the team's battery.
"Erin handled it so well," Schweiger said. "She could be put in tough situations and play fantastic. Kennedy can throw people out like it's nothing. She's amazing at catching. They work so well together, because they've been playing with each other since they were little; all of us have, basically. They'll be good next year, too."
Slancik allowed six hits, struck out eight and didn't give up a walk for Vicksburg (36-9). She kept the game close by getting out of jams in the fifth and seventh innings after Richmond moved runners to third base.
PHOTOS: (Top) Richmond players rush to celebrate their MHSAA Final win with pitcher Erin Shuboy (19). (Middle) Shuboy prepares to unload a pitch during Saturday’s championship game.
USA Follows in Champions' Footsteps
June 14, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BATTLE CREEK — Tradition perpetuates itself in small kids who looked up to the big kids as heroes.
Junior Katie Gremel watched from the stands as an elementary school student as older sister Dani helped Unionville-Sebewaing win three MHSAA Division 3 softball championships. Dani Gremel played on championship teams in 2006, 2007 and 2009, scoring the winning run in the 2007 Final.
"I wanted to be just like her and get to my state championship," said Katie, a second-year varsity player. "I was here every year. I knew that one day I wanted to be here. That was my dream."
The Patriots are going to their fifth MHSAA championship game in the last eight years, in part, because of a tie-breaking single by Gremel in the sixth inning of a 4-3 victory over Holton on Friday at Bailey Park. They will play first-time finalist Dundee at 10 a.m. Saturday at Bailey Park.
With the game tied 2-2, Gremel hit a sharp single up the middle that hit the glove of pitcher Rachel Younts and just eluded the grasp of second baseman Katie Wildfong. Breanna Dinsmore, who singled and was bunted to second by pitcher Erica Treiber, scored on the play. Gremel scored an insurance run on an error. That run proved to be critical when Holton's Cassidy Van Blargan scored on an error in the top of the seventh.
"I was really nervous, but I knew my team had confidence in me," Gremel said. "It happens all the time when I have pressure on me. I usually get it down. That's what the coaches expect."
And that's why coach Steve Bohn had Treiber bunt to give Gremel an opportunity with one out and a runner on second.
"If anybody's going to get a hit, it's Katie," Bohn said. "She's been swinging the bat really well the last two weeks. I thought we'd give her a chance, and she came through."
This is Unionville-Sebewaing's eighth straight trip to Battle Creek. Holton, playing six sophomores regularly, had never won a Regional until this year.
"As many times as you've been here, it's still this team's first time," Bohn said. "It might be Chelsey Bitzer's fourth time, but it's still this team's first time. Until you actually get to that game, there's still a lot of pressure on these girls. There are a lot of expectations for this team. They've been here, they're expected to be here and they're expected to win state titles. That all adds up to a lot of pressure on 16-, 17-, 18-year-old girls."
Perhaps the pressure of the semifinals led to an uncharacteristic five errors by the Patriots (37-3) and three walks by Treiber.
Bitzer gave Unionville-Sebewaing a 2-0 lead with run-scoring singles in the first and third innings. The Patriots outscored their first five postseason opponents 59-0, but finally surrendered two runs in the fourth inning as Holton benefited from a walk, a hit batter and an error.
Holton (27-10), which finished third in its league, lost the game by surrendering two runs in the sixth, but had a postseason run that will always be remembered in a town that showed up in large numbers to support the softball team.
"It was unbelievable," sophomore Jackie Stone said. "There are no words to describe how proud everybody is. The whole town, everybody came. It brings us all together, because this doesn't happen very much in a small town. It was great; I appreciate it."
Dundee 11, Allen Park Cabrini 6
While the Patriots are expected to make the championship game every year, Dundee has come out of nowhere to play on the final day of the season.
The Vikings (44-1) had never won a Regional before this season. However, they never played a game with Shaunna Musial or Kayle Phillips in their lineup until this season.
Musial and Phillips are freshmen who made key contributions in an 11-6 victory over perennial power Allen Park Cabrini in the other Semifinal.
With the game tied 4-4 and the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, Phillips singled home Brittani Rojem with the go-ahead run. A two-run single by Khali Burd made it 7-4. Hannah Rachor and Haleigh Kimble had run-scoring singles to make it 9-4.
After Cabrini (29-6) scored a run in the bottom of the sixth, Musial put the game away with a two-run homer in the seventh.
Dundee built a 4-0 lead with a four-run third before Cabrini came back to tie the game, the key blow being a three-run homer in the third by Sydney Lankford.
Dundee coach Mickey Moody pulled starting pitcher Vanessa Ewing after 3 2/3 innings, but said she would get the start against Unionville-Sebewaing.
"She's going to be mad," Moody said. "I expect her to throw a nice game."
Rachor, who replaced Ewing in the circle, was 3-for-4 with two RBI. Haleigh Kimble was 3-for-4 with three RBI.
PHOTOS: (Top) A Unionville-Sebewaing hitter connects during USA's Semifinal win over Holton on Friday. (Middle) Dundee pitcher Vanessa Ewing winds up during her team's Semifinal against Allen Park Cabrini. (Click to see more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)