St Mary's Wins Again to Cap Ace's Career
June 17, 2017
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – Something had to give in Saturday’s Division 3 Final between Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central and Napoleon.
All-state pitcher Meghan Beaubien, in 33 innings at Michigan State in Semifinal and Finals action over the last three seasons before Saturday, had allowed just four hits and no runs. Her resume included a no-hitter and a perfect game in last year’s run to the championship. As a sophomore, she threw a no-hitter on the way to the team’s first of two straight titles.
The Pirates entered this championship game after scoring 16 runs in a Semifinal victory over perennial power Gladstone. No matter what happened, they would go down swinging against Beaubien, who is University of Michigan-bound.
So what would give?
Napoleon’s defense.
The Pirates threw the ball all over the place with seven errors, and Beaubien and the Kestrels were never in trouble after the third inning in a 13-1 clincher of their third straight Division 3 title.
Beaubien finished her high school career with 16 strikeouts against the Pirates.
“I didn’t really have a lot of goals when I first got here,’’ she said. “The bar has definitely been lifted. Each state title was different, and this one was definitely our largest margin of victory.’’
The Kestrels finished 27-3 and left lasting memories for coach John Morningstar.
“To have done it three times is amazing,’’ said Morningstar. “Every one is special in its own unique way.’’
Things started strangely in the bottom of the first inning. After a strikeout, senior Dylan Wiley beat out an infield single. So no no-hitter.
Rachel Griffin hit a grounder that Brooklyn Barton fielded. She tagged Griffin on the first base line, but the ball popped loose. The umpired ruled Griffin safe and the Pirates had runners at first and third with just one out.
“I thought that was important because you don’t want to fall behind early,’’ said Beaubien.
Pitching prevailed as Beaubien struck out the next two hitters to end the threat.
Taking advantage of two walks by teammates batting in front of her during the third inning, Beaubien sent a shot that got past the center fielder for a triple, giving herself a 2-0 lead.
An error led to Beaubien scoring from third, and the two-time reigning champs had a comfortable 3-0 lead for a pitcher who hadn’t given up a run in two previous championship game appearances.
Grace Mikesell’s two-run double blew the game open as the Kestrels built a commanding a 5-0 lead. Samantha Michael added a run-scoring single to make it 6-0 to end the scoring in the frame.
Napoleon’s lone run came in the bottom of the third inning when Dylan Wiley singled down the leftfield line and scored on a three-base error as senior catcher Kenna Garst was unable to track down a throw because she’d suffered a knee injury. It was the first run Beaubien had allowed in three appearances at MSU, and Brooke Angerer then replaced Garst behind the plate.
More errors by Napoleon led to a run in the fourth inning with Abbey Johnson scoring on a wild pitch to make it 7-1. Kelsey Barron’s triple brought in Beaubien from second base and made it 8-1, and another fielding error increased the lead to 9-1.
“I don’t know where all the errors came from,’’ said Napoleon coach Douglas Richardson. “Meghan’s a great pitcher. She throws hard. We had 19 hits yesterday and just two today.’’
Regardless, it was an incredible run for a large Pirates senior class that led the team to a 37-5 finish this season and played especially significant roles in last season’s run to the Quarterfinals and this first championship game appearance.
Wiley had both hits for Napoleon. Mikesell and Danielle Michael both had two hits and two RBI for St. Mary, following up Beaubien’s 3 for 3, three run, two RBI performance.
PHOTOS: (Top) Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central celebrates its third straight Division 3 title at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) Meghan Beaubien unloads one of her final pitches as a high schooler.
1st-Time Title Winner On Deck in D3
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 15, 2018
EAST LANSING – Gabbie Sherman never flinched Friday.
The Millington junior pitched her way out of three tight spots, including a tense bottom of the seventh inning, to lead the Cardinals to a 5-3 win against Sanford Meridian in an MHSAA Division 3 Softball Semifinal at Michigan State University’s Secchia Stadium.
“Everyone has enough confidence in each other,” said Sherman, who struck out 11 while walking one and allowing seven hits and one earned run over seven innings. “If I make a bad pitch, I have enough confidence that one of my teammates is going to be there to pick me up. So, in a jam, that’s kind of nice. In a jam, I know that I have to buckle down and I can’t miss a pitch.”
The Cardinals (39-2) advanced to the Division 3 title game against Coloma at 3 p.m. Saturday, which will be their first trip to an MHSAA Final in this sport.
“It is such a great feeling to know that we are the first team in school history to ever get this far,” Sherman said. “That is huge, and I wouldn’t want to do it with any other girls.”
Sanford Meridian (27-15) had a chance to prevent that first title game trip, however, scoring a pair of runs on an error and bringing the winning run to the plate twice in the bottom of the seventh inning. A strikeout and a pop out ended the game, however.
“We didn’t give up,” Sanford Meridian coach Jamie Smith said. “Unfortunately we had a few innings where we had some poor at-bats, but they didn’t give up at all. They battled, and I think we even had a little fear in that team at the end. My kids don’t quit. They never have, and they’re not going to start now.”
The Cardinals showed veteran mettle when they had to, however, despite not having a single senior on the roster.
“Not having a senior – you wouldn’t be able to tell if you came into a practice or watched one of our games,” Millington coach Greg Hudie said. “There’s leadership throughout, not just one or two people leading the team. This team does everything together, and they lead together. That’s what makes them special.”
Millington built an early lead, getting an RBI single from Sydney Bishop in the first inning and an RBI double from Elizabeth Bees in the second.
Sanford Meridian was able to get one run back in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI bloop single from Audrey Kielpinski. But Sherman mitigated the damage from what could have been a huge inning for the Mustangs, who had the bases loaded with no outs following the run. She struck out two and forced a pop out to end the threat and preserve the lead.
From there, Sherman was dominant, retiring 10 straight Sanford Meridian batters. After facing another bases-loaded jam, this one with one out in the sixth inning, Sherman again left three Mustangs stranded, this time with a groundout to first and a strikeout.
As Sherman was keeping Sanford Meridian hitters at bay, the Cardinals were slowly building their lead. A Sabrina Gates sacrifice fly scored a run in the top of the fifth inning, and a throwing error allowed Hannah Rabideau to score from third to give her team a 4-1 lead.
Bishop struck again in the top of the sixth inning with an RBI single that put her team up 5-1. She finished the game with three hits, while Rabideau, Darrien Roberts and Gates each had two.
Peyton Grice led Sanford Meridian with three hits, while Baleigh Hill had an RBI. Grice took the loss, allowing four earned runs and striking out one over seven innings.
VIDEO: Millington takes a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a double by Elizabeth Bees.
Coloma 5, Clinton 1
Coloma also will be making its first appearance in an MHSAA Softball Final after controlling its Semifinal against third-ranked Clinton.
The No. 2 Comets (37-3) jumped out to an early lead and rode a strong pitching performance from Jaidyn Hutsell and stellar defense to claim the victory.
“It’s exciting; these girls have worked hard,” Coloma coach Wendy Goodline said. “I have seven seniors, four of them were my managers as eighth graders and they so deserve it. They just deserve it.”
Megan Koeningshof set the tone early for Coloma, drawing a walk on 12 pitches in the game’s first at-bat, then scoring the opening run on a sacrifice bunt from Morgan Wagner. Koeningshof would score the second run of the game in the third inning on an RBI single from Wagner.
In the top of the sixth, Clinton attempted to pitch around Koeningshof, intentionally walking her to load the bases. Kayla Yore responded with a bases-clearing double to put Coloma up 5-0.
“They walked Megan, which I thought was a great strategy,” Goodline said. “I just told Kayla, ‘Hey, you can hit this,’ and she came through. I’m excited for her.”
Clinton (37-2) would get one run back in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single from Peyton Rodriguez, but that was all the Redskins could muster against Hutsell, who allowed four hits and one walk while striking out four to pick up the win.
VIDEO: Kayla Yore's bases-loaded double for Coloma in the sixth inning broke its game with Clinton open.
PHOTOS: (Top) Millington’s Gabbie Sherman makes her move toward the plate during the Cardinals’ Division 3 Semifinal win. (Middle) Coloma leftfielder Megan Neubecker pulls in a fly ball during her team’s victory.