Cardinals and Warriors among those headed to state playoffs
UNIVERSITY CENTER -- The Davison baseball and B.C. Western softball teams have had their sights set all season long on making it to Battle Creek to compete for state titles. They are both one big step closer to reaching that goal after some very hard-fought victories Saturday in the Division One Regional championships.
On the baseball diamond, the Cardinals overcame deficits of 3-1 and 4-2 against Traverse City Central to defeat the Trojans in extra innings, by a 9-5 final. After battling all game long to take their first lead of the day in the sixth inning, 5-4, Davison yielded a two-strike, two-out bloop RBI single to plate the tying run, which eventually forced extras.
But the Cardinal bats exploded in the eighth inning, courtesy of their heavy hitters. With two men aboard, University of Michigan-bound Mike Dolloff drilled a two-run triple to the gap in right-centerfield to put the Cardinals ahead for good. The very next batter, sophomore Maverick Prine, blasted a mammoth, two-run homer to pad the lead to four runs, as Dolloff then worked a perfect bottom half of the frame to clinch the regional trophy.
"I'm thrilled for them," said Davison head coach Timm Rye of his players. "They worked hard all season long, they played great defense all season long. It just came to a head today, they hit the ball a little bit. We got good pitching, it was a great day for them, no question."
"It means a lot to us," added sophomore pitcher Maverick Prine. "We're all excited and we can't wait. We just work hard and keep going, and hopefully we can get it home."
"It feels great, we're definitely a close team," said senior shortstop/pitcher Mike Dolloff. "And to have a team victory like we did today, you know, every single kid contributed in a way. "It wasn't just a few guys...everyone came out today and played good."
There was also plenty of late-inning drama on the softball fields, but of a much different variety.
After B.C. Western's Mackenzie Rousse led off the Warriors' regional title game against Flushing with a solo home run, things remained relatively uneventful for the next six innings...until the bottom of the seventh. An umpire's initial call temporarily put runners at first and second with no outs for the Raiders, until a lengthy discussion ensued between the umpiring crew and the coaching staffs for both teams.
Eventually, Flushing's lead runner was correctly ruled out, after it was determined that the play at the bag was a force, and did not require a tag. From there, starting pitcher Maddison Sebald put the finishing touches on a two-hit shutout, and the Warriors took home their third consecutive regional crown.
Western head coach Rick Garlinghouse recalled his conversation with the umpires during the seventh-inning fiasco.
"I kept saying that we've been working hard since February, and I need you guys to get this right," said Garlinghouse. "And I know I had the right call, that it was a force play. She couldn't go back to first base, she had to go to second. So she's forced to second, that's what I continually said over and over."
"We have such a young team," added Mackenzie Rousse, whose leadoff home run proved to be the difference in the game. "We have three seniors and everybody else is new to all this. We've had a couple of people on here who have sat on the bench while we were sophomores and juniors, who have been here. But this one, we're definitely young and we took advantage of everything, and our chemistry compared to every other year is just amazing on this team. So we're able to go so far."
