Too tough to swallow: Comets' 3-run lead evaporates in final inning

[caption id="attachment_725" align="alignleft" width="450" caption="The Comets needed a few more insurance runs heading into the final inning Saturday."][/caption]

Just when the Jonesville softball team’s magic carpet ride was about to fly to new heights, the rug was pulled out from underneath them and a tough life lesson was served up.

The Comets blew a 3-0 seventh-inning lead and were just one out away from advancing to the regional finals, before Manchester stormed back and shocked Jonesville fans, players and coaches by scoring the game-winning run on an errant throw to first base.

After getting just one hit in the first six innings off Comet ace, senior Kelsey Aemisegger, the Flying Dutchmen came alive in a matter of minutes to put an end to a phenomenal few weeks that saw Jonesville go from an 11-18 team to a near-regional finals squad.

“I told them that unfortunately the lesson we learned was that you have to stay focused for seven full innings, that’s why we play seven innings,” Jonesville head coach Richard Alvarez said. “We lost our focus that last inning and they didn’t. They kept playing for seven innings and we didn’t.”

Alvarez said his girls were high on adrenaline heading to the final inning, but he was still cautiously nervous.

“I believe when you get a team that is that good you can’t let them stick around, you can’t let them think they have a chance,” he said. “I didn’t think three runs was enough and I was trying to motivate my girls to score more runs…but we let them believe they had a chance and they kept fighting and it worked for them.”

Manchester's comeback started with run-scoring doubles by Roxanne Rickert and Jordan Ridenour, but an Aemisegger strikeout left the Flying Dutchmen with two outs and fleeting hope.

That’s when Nicole Jackson hit a run-scoring single, and she scored the game-winning run not a minute later when the next batter hit a ground ball that was fielded well, but thrown past the first baseman.

An immediate silence engulfed the home team’s stands and Alvarez tried to find some purpose in the difficult defeat.

“We talked about using this as a building block. I (said) earlier that all year long we’ve been using these losses as building blocks for what’s coming down the road,” he said. “I talked in the dugout about those players returning — lets use this to take the next step. I’ve always believed that when you get in tournament play and playoffs it’s always a progression — you have to learn to win, then you have to learn to get in the playoffs, then you have to learn to play in the playoffs.”

Jonesville could not have asked for a better start to Saturday’s contest, as Brooke Nichols tripled, before scoring on a Kelly White single in the bottom of the first. The following inning, Jenna Kast got on base thanks to a dropped third strike and errant throw by the catcher, and she eventually scored on a wild pitch.

The Comets added an insurance run in the sixth when Megan Rowe singled, stole a pair of bases and scored on an error, but ultimately it wasn’t enough.

Aemisegger was still stellar in defeat, allowing just four hits and confusing Manchester players by effectively throwing pitches with three distinctively different speeds.

Alvarez called her his “horse down the stretch” and he said she would be difficult to replace next season.

“She’s a very dominant pitcher on the mound and she’s a very good team leader, so yeah it’s going to be tough to replace all four of my seniors. They know I look to them for that leadership, but we’ve got the program going where I’d like it to be and we’ve got younger players coming up and we want to reload, not rebuild.”

Clinton went on to win the regional title, with a 13-0 win over Manchester.

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Errors doom Camden-Frontier softball team as season comes to an end

By Bill Mullaly / Special to the Hillsdale Daily News

Camden-Frontier hung tough with Ottawa Lake-Whiteford for two innings but things changed in the third and the Bobcats went on to a 10-1 win in the Division 4 regional semifinals on Saturday.

Three runs in the third inning and four more in the fourth sent the Bobcats to the final game where they beat Petersburg-Summerfield 6-3.

Summerfield had beaten Homer 4-0 in the other semifinal.

The Redskins had just one hit in the first three innings as catcher Kara Bryner singled in the third inning.

And the Bobcats used three hits off of Redskins pitcher Morgan Warfield to take a 3-0 in the bottom of the third inning.

Megan Schwartzengraber came in for the final three innings, but things didn’t improve.

Two walks and two more Bobcat hits in the fourth plated four more runs and the game was all but over against a very good Bobcat pitcher. Only a solo home run by Erika Poikey in the fifth kept the Redskins from being shut out.

The only other Redskin hit in the game was a sixth inning single by Kim Bennett.

The Bobcats added a single run in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth to put the game away. The Redskins suffered 10 strikeouts and went down in order in the second, fourth and seventh innings.

Warfield gave up four hits, didn’t walk a batter and did record three strikeouts in taking the loss in the circle. Schwartzengraber allowed six hits, struck out four and walked two.

“We only allowed one earn run the entire game but we didn’t make the plays on defense,” said Redskin head coach Melissa Warfield. “We need to hit the ball well to be successful and Whiteford made the plays on our hits and we didn’t make the plays on their hits."

Camden-Frontier finishes at 22-7 after going 22-9 the year before with both seasons ending in the regional semifinal game.

“The story of this season was pretty much the same thing that being if we didn’t score enough runs and made  one or two errors then things would go downhill. We had a real good year overall but I was hoping we would play better in the regional game,” said Warfield, who returns her two top pitchers who are both sophomores.

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Comets' magical run takes its show to regionals

[caption id="attachment_706" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Jonesville Comets will need to get girls on base any way possible this weekend."][/caption]

In its first regionals appearance in school history, Richard Alvarez expects his Jonesville softball team to do more than just show up and enjoy the scenery.

Despite owning just a 14-18 record heading into a Clinton regional full of squads with 23 or more wins, Alvarez believes a precedent for surprising postseason success has been set in the area, and he’d like to continue the tradition.

“We talked about what happened in districts. Nobody gave us a shot at districts and look what happened. If it can happen at districts, it can happen anywhere at any level,” he said. “I also used Hillsdale’s (state championship) baseball team from two years as an example. They had a (sub-.500) record, so I told the girls once you get into the tournament anything can happen.”

Anything, such as an upset of district host Hanover-Horton (20-14), did happen just last week, but they will have to beat Manchester (23-14) in a 12:30 p.m. contest on Saturday to keep the feel-good story alive.

The Flying Dutchmen are a team that has no trouble piling up runs, evident by the 13 games in which they scored double-digit runs this season, and last weekend they demonstrated their explosiveness.

Manchester had 15 hits in a 14-0 beat-down of Grass Lake in the district championship game and it should be noted that during the Cascades Conference season, Manchester scored 15 runs against Napoleon, a team gave up a total of three runs to the rest of the conference.

With that in mind, Alvarez said it is essential that senior pitching ace Kelsey Aemisegger gets off to a good start.

“Kelsey is the kind of pitcher, where she has to have that good start, she has to believe that her team is going to play well behind her defensively,” he said. “If she gets the feeling like what’s the sense in pitching the ball if I don’t have a defense behind me, that’s when she falls apart and she tends to lose her focus and her confidence.”

Last weekend Aemisegger had a good start coupled with a great finish in the Comets’  semifinals victory over Hillsdale.

She struck out 14 Hornet batters and allowed just two hits in a 5-1 win.

Alvarez said he needs more of the same production and leadership from Aemisegger for his girls to have their best shot at advancing.

“Kelsey’s probably going to be our horse the rest of the way out. Our team knows that Kelsey is the horse on the team,” he said. “I’ve used that to try to get Kelsey’s mind in the right place — I tell her all the time that she is the senior and this is what she wants. I tell her however she responds the team responds, so I need her to step up and be a leader.”

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Division 4 baseball and softball regional previews and picks

Here is a look at the Division 4 baseball and softball regional action that will take place at Homer this Saturday. A rundown of all of the matchups is followed by my picks:

Softball
Ottawa Lake Whiteford (22-8) vs. Camden-Frontier (16-6), 10 a.m.; Homer (20-10) vs. Petersburg-Summerfield (23-4), noon.; Championship 2 p.m.
Other media outlets continue to talk about Homer as the team to beat following a run all the way to last year's Division 4 state title game, where they came up short, but people need to remember they surprised plenty of "favorites" in 2008 and they could be upset themselves this year.
Ace Paige Winchell is nearly un-hittable on the mound at times and she mowed right through the opposing lineups in districts, but their hitting attack has been a bit hot-and-cold this season.
Winchell is hitting nearly .460 while Vickie VanWert checks in at .412, but the bottom of the lineup is not always a tough out.
Petersburg-Summerfield (23-4) is certainly a worthy opponent  in the semifinals, one from the extremely competitive Tri-County Conference, so they're battle tested to say the least.
Summerfield actually beat Homer 10-0 in the regional final two years ago, but many of the Trojan's top players were only sophomores.
Summerfield had it easy last weekend though, with a bye in the semifinals, and a 16-0 championship game win over Britton-Deerfield.
Ottawa Lake Whiteford is also at TCC team, one who has a 22-8 record and is led by top pitcher Kesley Hutchison. She pitched a one-hitter (against Waldron) and five-hitter last weekend to guide her team to the regional round.
Hutchinson, along with Kelsie Barron, Kim Lambert and Caitlin Granata of Whiteford were all named to the All-Tri-County Conference Softball Team recently.
Whoever starts on the mound for Camden-Frontier, Megan Schwartzengraber or Morgan Warfield, should create the opportunity for a fantastic pitchers dual with Hutchison.
This is the Redskins third regional since 2000, and second in a row, after they lost to Homer last season.
Editor's pick: One thing that makes this an extremely difficult regional to pick is the fact that all four of these teams have outstanding pitchers that can carry them through the entire afternoon. That said, I think Homer does get the job done against Summerfield because of how they've been playing and because Winchell has proven to be a big-game player, especially on her home-turf. I don't think things will go quite as well for C-F fans unfortunately. I'm concerned that their defense could hurt them if the game stays tight and they showed a bit of vulnerability against Reading in the district semifinals last Friday. I know they'll play their hearts out, but I think depth becomes a factor at this point. Ultimately it's almost a toss-up in the finals, but I'm going to go with Summerfield just because I'm tired of hearing Homer fans say how great their team is, when they couldn't even win a Big Eight crown.

Baseball
Homer (21-13) vs. Petersburg-Summerfield (13-10), 10 a.m.; Reading (19-9) vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford, 12:30.; Championship 3 p.m.

The Rangers are playing the poised, championship style of baseball that people have come to expect of Rick Bailey's teams in June, but the competition will be stiff at the Homer regional Saturday.
They will face a veteran Ottawa Lake Whiteford team who starts seven seniors in the regional semifinals, after the Bobcats crushed Waldron 20-0 and beat Lenawee Christian 8-0 in district play last weekend.
Whiteford can put up some runs, like the 28 it put on Madison earlier this season, but most of their wins come via strong pitching and mistake-free defense.
On Wednesday the Bobcats played one of Division 3's best teams in Blissfield and lost just 7-6 at Adrian College.
Starting pitcher John Morrison pitched a three-hit shutout in Whiteford's district championship victory.
On the other side of the bracket, Homer faces Petersburg-Summerfield.
Homer is 20-10, but finished just fourth in the Big Eight and had a pair of easy 10-0 wins over Tekonsha and North Adams-Jerome in district play.
Summerfield is an interesting case because they are only 13-10, but they come from a strong TCC conference and are coming off an impressive showing in districts.
Jake Gilstorff pitched a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts in s semifinals bout with Saline Washtenaw Christian, before Tyler Glass hurled a no-hitter with five strikeouts in the championship game against Ypsilanti Calvary Christian.
Gilstorff also hit two homers and drove in six runs in the semifinals.
The competition was far from the best, but they dominated the field nonetheless, making them a tough read.
Editor's pick: I mulled over this one from sunrise to sunset Thursday, just because I try and give you my honest, well-thought out opinion, instead of what my heart's telling me. I came up with this: Reading's intangibles give them the slight edge over a fairly even field, but Homer has the home-field advantage. Thus, those two make the semifinals, setting up an all Big Eight final. I say if Reading can beat Camden-Frontier's Kurtis Tyler, like they did last week, they can hang with any pitcher as long as their own pitching and defense holds up. Part of me hopes Bailey thinks he can make it to the finals without putting Ryan Dillon out to the mound, so the Rangers can save him for the championship game. If this indeed happens it's just the edge Reading needs. Hopefully this savvy group of youngsters can make me look smart come Saturday.

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Redskins roll to district title after close call

[caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Back-to-back district titles for the Lady Redskins."][/caption]

The Camden-Frontier softball team nearly panicked, down a run in the fifth inning of the district semifinals, but ultimately their bats heated up and several unsung heroes came through as the Redskins won their second consecutive district title.

The Redskins eked out a 6-5 eight-inning win over Reading in the semifinals before downing Pittsford 10-2 in the finals to win the program's third district crown since 2000.

What makes this title special for head coach Melissa Warfield and her girls is how they got as much out of the talent they had as they possibly could.

"We've talked about before how Megan (Schwartzengraber) and Morgan (Warfield) are the only two girls who play year round. Most of these girls...the game doesn't come easy to them and it's a sport they take up in March and are done with in June," she said. "I'm so proud of how hard they worked every day in practice and it is rewarding as a coach to see your team progress the way we have."

One of those girls who has been working ever so diligently lately is Kim Bennett and her sweat paid dividends Friday.

After picking up a single in the semifinals, she went 4-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBI in the championship game, much to the delight of her coach.

"She's been an up-and-down player who would have a hit one game and then go hitless for maybe the next three games," Melissa Warfield said. "But she's been working so hard in practice, on her stance and swing, and it was special to seeher have a big day."

Helping her out in the championship game was the ever so consistent trio of Kara Bryner, Warfield and Schwartzengraber.

Bryner had two hits and two RBI, while Warfield had three hits and drove in two runs.
Schwartzengraber pitched a complete game three-hitter and struck out seven and walked four, while driving in two runs at the plate.

C-F had just a 2-0 lead after three innings of the finals, but a four-run fourth gave them a comfortable cushion they never relinquished.

Nicole Culbert pitched well in defeat, striking out seven and walking five in seven innings.

"I don't know what it is, but for some reason it takes three or four innings almost every game for us to get our hitting and timing down," Melissa Warfield said.

Luckily for Warfield and her girls their bats came through just in time in the semis.

Behind a pair of RBI from Kasie Owens, Reading jumped out to a 3-1 lead on the host Redskins before C-F took advantage of a pair of walks and several key hits in the fifth.

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Hillsdale County district diamond preview

District 81-3
Location: Hanover-Horton
Saturday (starting at 10 a.m.)
Teams: Albion, Concord, Jonesville, Hillsdale

BASEBALL
Synopsis: The first-round showdown between Jonesville and Hillsdale is the game local baseball fans have been waiting all year to see. The Hornets are 21-9 overall and co-SMAA champs, while Jonesville is 22-6 and are the outright Big Eight champions. Both teams have strong pitching and the ability to put up a lot of runs, so it should be a contest fans remember for years to come. The winner will play the winner of the Albion-Concord contest. The Hornets beat Albion 17-2 and 13-3 less than a month ago and for being a pretty good sports school, this Wildcat team just doesn't have enough talented baseball players. Concord is an interesting case, as they are 12-14-2 overall, but are 8-2-1 over their last 11 games and scored 60 runs in their final 60 contests. Jonesville beat Concord twice this season, 6-1 and 12-1.
Editor's pick: This is one of two really hard districts to pick because I love what both Hillsdale County teams have brought to the table this season and I would be shocked if either the Comets or Hornets didn't bring home the district trophy. But, when push comes to shove I have to pick one of the two schools and all I keep thinking about is pitching ace Scott Lantis. The Hornet senior is no stranger to big games and more often than not he comes through as expected. He's had a few hiccups this season, but if he has a good first inning and finds his rhythm I don't think Ben Stemen or John Sigler can silence the Hornet bats enough for the Comets to end Hillsdale's season. Ultimately I see Hillsdale beating Concord in a close championship game to finish out a momentous afternoon.

SOFTBALL
Synopsis: The Comets and Hornets also meet on the softball diamond in round one, but the buildup for this contest is not quite as big. Jonesville did win the Addison Tournament recently and finished out the season 12-18, but Hillsdale has struggled to put together an entire consistent week of play all season. Concord and Albion haven't had years to remember either though. Albion has been at the bottom of the SMAA all year and Concord is 4-28 on the season, but surprisingly chalked up one of its wins at the expense of Jonesville.
Editor's pick: The best team on paper in this district was actually Hanover-Horton, but Jonesville upset the 20-13 Komets 3-2 Tuesday and now have a straight path to a trophy if all plays out as I expect. The Hornets have made strides under new coach Lottie LoPresto and Jenna Crawford is a solid top pitcher, but Jonesville has too many bats and senior pitcher Kelsey Aemisegger has thrown well the past few weeks. Unless the Comets shoot themselves in the foot with too many errors, which has happened a few times this season, I see them taking care of business. The Comets should win the championship game over either opposing squad, unless a major upset takes place.

District 118-4
Location: Camden-Frontier
Friday (starting at 1:30 p.m.)
Teams: Camden-Frontier, Reading, Pittsford

BASEBALL
Synopsis: With Will Carleton Academy dropping out Pittsford is a shoe-in for the championship game, but the lone semifinal contest should be a doozie. Under head coach Nate Gust the host Redskins have experienced a resurgence of sorts with an SCAA East title and 16-10 record. Kurtis Tyler is arguably one of the top pitchers in the county and Jake Jividens has some pop, and Brady Nusbaum can be counted on to get on base. The Rangers are one of the area's hottest teams, finishing in a tie for second place in the Big Eight after struggling out of the gate. Senior Ryan "Bulldog" Dillon has the leadership, a solid bat and great glove at the catcher's position and several Ranger pitchers have shown the ability to leave opposing hitters confused whenever they're accuracy is on. Pittsford is a 10-12 team that has beaten the teams they expected to, but seems to lack a dominant pitcher. On the flip side, they've had at least a half-dozen hitters come through in big spots throughout the season.
Editor's pick: This is the other toughy. Rick Bailey is a championship coach who has a red-hot team right now, but Tyler can be a dominant pitcher at times, and he has the home-field advantage. I'm going to say the only thing that holds the Redskins back Friday is the "big-game experience" that almost every Ranger player has. Reading also beat Quincy and Jonesville in the regular season, proof they can beat anyone. The "feel-good" story here would be for Gust's team to win the title, but I think Bailey is going to add another banner to his high school full of them by beating C-F first and then toppling Pittsford, in what could be a closer contest than some people think.

SOFTBALL
Synopsis: As in the baseball bracket, the Wildcats have a free-pass to the title game. That leaves another Reading, Camden-Frontier bout. The Rangers have been a middle-of-the-road Big Eight team that pulled some upsets along the way, and Kasie Owens can be tough to hit when she's on. The Redskins are the SCAA East champs, mainly behind the pitching of Megan Schwartzengraber and Morgan Warfield and leadership of catcher Kara Bryner. They stumbled a bit in the middle of the season, but recovered nicely, albeit against some of the weaker teams in the SCAA. Pittsford is an 8-20 team that struggles with errors at times, but seems to do well in low-scoring pitching duals when their defense is solid.
Editor's pick: I have no doubt in my mind that the Redskins pitching is just too good for the competition it will see. Even though the C-F bats went cold for a few weeks in early May I don't think it will matter. On their home field, with arguably one of the states best 1-2 pitching punches in Division 4 I think it's a no-brainer. Pittsford did actually beat C-F once earlier this year, but I think the Redskins learned from that surprising defeat.

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Undiscovered Champs

[caption id="attachment_621" align="alignleft" width="450" caption="The Camden-Frontier softball team practices earlier this month — with only 11 girls and a barn in the background."][/caption]

Sorry about absolutely NO posts as of late, but 12-14 hour days at the sports desk and tournaments, championship meets and the conclusion of the regular season is wearing me out, and I don't need to get carpal tunnel from blogging!

Anyways, one quick note, then a full-length feature to indulge yourself in if you've got a little time and consider yourself a Hillsdale County high school sports fan.

First, the note: The last four days is precisely why I've always liked the NBA way more than college basketball. The personalities are bigger, the stakes are higher and as LBJ proved last night, the players are exponentially more talented. Hands in the face are no matter, time is no object and sorry to plug it, in a very non-journalistic fashion, but the NBA IS "Where Amazing Happens...". Wow.

Anyways, onto the local stuff. This feature took several weeks, many phone calls, and me attending a C-F softball practice and I hope it provides a worthwhile glimpse of what it's like trying to build a successful program at a Class D school with a whole lot of variables involved. Enjoy.

Undiscovered Champs

An inside look at the success of the Camden-Frontier girls’ athletic program, what it tries to stand for and what types of challenges stand in its way.

Gale-force winds rip through the country side, where cows and horses outnumber cars and houses.

A hint of manure melds with the smell of fresh grass with the wide blue yonder as the backdrop.

An out-of-place Powerade ad takes up space on an already tiny scoreboard not far from a gaggle of evergreens that ever so slightly blocks the view of your run-of-the-mill red barn.

This is where 11 girls practice in anonymity this May, hoping to stay healthy so their championship hopes don't hit the injured reserve.

This is the softball diamond for a team that holds no tryouts and has no room for errors, yet expects to uphold its lofty definitions of success.

This is the venue Dawn Follis and Melissa Warfield have turned into a beacon for getting the most out of young girls, all skill levels, as long as they possess strong hearts and commendable work ethics.

Sometimes it seems like no one cares, especially college scouts and on occasion even their own fans — but if they cared what everyone else thought, they may never have built programs with such strong winning traditions in the first place.

A winning tradition that includes five straight SCAA volleyball titles from 2003-07, six district championships in girls hoops since the turn of the century and district titles in softball in 2003 and 2008.

Being a bit off the beaten path, and one of 11 high schools in the county, it is relatively easy to remain anonymous though.

If only people understood what takes place at 4971 West Montgomery Rd.

FOLLOW THE LEADER
Players come and go, so sometimes the face of a high school program is its unchanging leader.

Follis is fiery, but gentle, all at once, urging her volleyball teams to conference championships each fall, but once basketball rolls around in November the Redskin girls are all Warfield's, until the end of June.

For the last 16 seasons she has called the shots for C-F basketball, and in 2001 she took over as the varsity softball coach.

Coaching was never part of Warfield's plan, until a school board member gave her the heads up on the JV basketball job opening in 1994. Now Warfield can't imagine life without it.

[caption id="attachment_623" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Head coach Melissa Warfield does it all at C-F, including trying to catch flyballs with a bucket."][/caption]

She pitches to her girls in batting practice, runs around the outfield shagging fly-balls, and tries to interweave solid principles with explanatory demonstrations. In her mind not much has changed over the years, other than her body is starting to feel the wear-and-tear and she likes to think she's learned a trick or two.

Warfield said she gleans philosophical ideas from books written by historically successful coaches like Pat Summit, John Wooden and Mike Krzyzewski, but ultimately she feels like she's done her job if she is instilling valuable life principles.

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