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.)
Next Group Takes Place Among USA Greats
June 13, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — The softball coaches at Unionville-Sebewaing don't need to waste much time talking about tradition to their incoming players.
Nearly every athlete who comes into the program has already witnessed that tradition first-hand.
Many of the current players watched from the stands at Bailey Park in Battle Creek while the Patriots competed in MHSAA semifinal and championship games. As young girls, they idolized the teenagers who wore the red, white and blue of Unionville-Sebewaing.
Just as some young girls currently look up to junior Nicole Bauer, who pitched a one-hit shutout in a 5-0 victory over Kalamazoo Christian in the MHSAA Division 4 championship game Saturday at Michigan State University.
It was the fourth MHSAA title for the Patriots, who have played in seven Finals in the past 10 years. They won it all in 2006, 2007 and 2009 before losing three close Finals in 2011, 2013 and 2014. They have played in at least the quarterfinal round for 12 straight years, making the Semifinals 11 times.
"I was just so in awe of them and how great they were," Bauer recalls of her early impressions of Unionville-Sebewaing softball. "I just knew I wanted to be on that field some day."
Recalling their own childhoods, the Patriots (38-3) were mindful of the likelihood that future Unionville-Sebewaing stars were watching from the stands at Secchia Stadium on Saturday.
"Before the game, our speech was 'Play for that little girl that we were that was sitting in the stands just like the little girls are here today,'" Bauer said.
And, thus, tradition is handed down from one class to another.
"One of the things I'm proud of is all of these girls are homegrown USA kids," Patriots coach Steve Bohn said. "It's like the Yankees. Hey, we win championships. When you go there, you know that's the expectation. That's the expectation they have, because that's all they've seen. Everybody's worried about being the one team that doesn't get here. Nobody wants to be that team."
For all of the Patriots' success, none of the current players had won an MHSAA championship — until Saturday.
"I came down to Battle Creek to watch them play, watch them win and sometimes fall short," senior third baseman Madison Zimmer said. "I was really determined to get another state championship."
It was a title game that oozed with tradition, as the Patriots' opponent was a Kalamazoo Christian squad trying to match the record for MHSAA softball championships. The Comets have seven titles, one fewer than Waterford Our Lady.
Kalamazoo Christian (29-15) reached its third straight MHSAA Final, despite a roster comprised of eight sophomores, two freshmen, two juniors and only two seniors.
"These girls are JV kids playing varsity," Comets coach Terry Reynolds said. "Coming here and playing in the semifinals and state championship, it shows the girls what they can do. We got here. Now we've got to do something about it. We're already talking about next year. This group wants to be back next year. They'll be stronger and work harder."
The Comets couldn't solve Bauer, who allowed only one base runner. Aliyah Lemmer led off the fifth inning with a single after the first 12 batters were retired in order. After that, Bauer got the final nine batters in a row, striking out Lemmer to clinch the championship.
"I felt very confident," Bauer said. "I knew if I kept it in the field that my players would make outs for me."
The Patriots scored their five runs with a three-run fourth inning and a two-run fifth.
Zimmer lined the first pitch she saw for a two-run double to left-center field to open the scoring in the fourth. After going to third on a wild pitch, Zimmer scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Katie Engelhardt.
"It was huge, because we had runners on and we needed to get them in," Zimmer said of her double. "Nicky did a great job. She held them until we could hit; that really helped."
The Patriots built their lead to 5-0 when Bauer lined a two-run single to left with two outs in the fifth.
"We didn't have a lot of opportunities," Bohn said. "We didn't swing the bats real well. That hit Maddie Zimmer got, that first one you get across the plate, especially the way Nicky was throwing, that's huge. That's the one hit we had to get. That loosens everybody up, and the other ones start to happen."
PHOTOS: (Top) A Unionville-Sebewaing batter connects during Saturday’s championship game. (Middle) USA’s Sara Reinhardt beats a throw to second base.