By Jon Sicotte
Posted April 30, 2008

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Hey there,

Yup, it's been a long while, but I am back...finally.

I forget how hard it is to keep up with spring sports when you are a one-man band. Last season I had some help with updating track results, getting the Meet of Champs qualifiers, etc... Back to being a lonesome cowboy.

So, I have been a bit behind in updating the blog. I'll try to be better about it.

OK: So off to the tidbits.

1) SOFTBALL:

Reese is the best team in the area! Yup, the Rockets are 4-0 (15-1 overall) after starting the Greater Thumb West conference schedule off with sweeps D3 No. 2 USA last Thursday and D4 No. 1 BCAS Monday night.

Abbey Harrington is on fire, with 10 wins and six shutouts so far this season. Erika Squanda led charge Thursday against USA with her bat while Amy Kaufman, Jamie Humpert (.643, 13 RBI) and Kaitlyn Squanda (.435, 11 RBI) have all been the major batters for the team in this stretch. I figured they could be a major player in the GTW, but not THEE contender for the crown.

This sets up a killer matchup Thursday at Cass City (13-3) as the Red Hawks are also 4-0 after taking out Bad Axe with 29 runs in two games and scoring 27 last week against Laker. Offense vs. defense...should be some good matchups with Cass City batters like Lauren Dillon (18 hits), Maddie Dooley (.400, 15 RBI, 7 doubles), Amanda Langenburg (6 wins, 1.84 ERA, 49 Ks) and freshman McKensie Parrish (4 wins, 1.46 ERA, 26 Ks) vs. Harrington.

The USA (12-3) girls are no slouch...let's not count them out! Marissa LeMere is sharp again. The girls in the field seem to be able to play ANY position they want, as evident so far with All-State catcher Carly Trieber moving to first for a few games; outfielder Mercy Martinez taking over at third while there have been many other changes everytime I see them play. Yet, they get the job done. When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, the girls play their "normal" spots and put a whuppin on.

Marlette (10-4) dumped Mayville (11-6) in a pair on Monday to move into the TCA poll. The Red Raiders Caitlin King is 9-3 and loading up the strikeouts again as she has for the past two seasons (55 Ks so far this season). Mayville looks good, when they want to. After talking to coach Pennie Roehl after their County tourney loss to Vassar, she sees her team as one that can get down on themselves too often too quickly. For their sake, I hope that changes down the line.

Making their way to the "on the bubble" talk is Caro. After a poor start, the Tigers are making a comeback on the arm of junior Cortney Ellis (1.80 ERA, 62 Ks). The pitcher struck out 34 batters in 17 innings of pitching Monday as the Tigers beat county champ Vassar, 5-3 in 7. Then she pitched 10 more innnings in a 0-0 standstill before darkness (and the damn cold!) stopped the contest. It was windy and cold in Vassar Monday, I was there and was chattering through just two innings...how those girls warriored through 17 innings was beyond me. Vassar seems to be an up-and-down club with a good set of pitchers with Ali McClethan and Megan Case. New coach and former assist. Jeff Hoover thinks this team can break the school record for wins. The loss and tie to Caro slows that pace...but they could be a 20+ win team at season's end.

2) BASEBALL:

It's funny, when I look back at the preview sheets I have the coaches filled out, I always look for little clues on to how they really feel. Coach Leon 'not Westover' Graham (my fault on that mistake coach!) has the Caro Tigers enroute to a 30-win season, just as he predicted in his preview.

He told me they had a good stable of arms. Shane Kelley's 1-0 no-hitter showed that Monday against the Vulcans. He said they had some bats...eveident by the 11-4 thrashing in the nightcap.

This team is solid. Jarred and Jarrett Vinson, Kelley and Pat Bishop are the keys on the mound with Mike Daniel and Jimmy Tetil adding with the bats along with the pitchers who can all hit. Caro just has to make sure to have some solid gloves and we could be following them through the playoffs, much like we did the girls last season.

USA (13-2) is another team that I find interesting as the Pats have lost two games to Reese and no one else. Yet, they have been dominate otherwise. Heath Schmidt (5 wins, 0.74 ERA, 42 Ks) on the hill is their workhorse along with Shane Schmidt (4 wins, 3.11 ERA, 27 Ks) while Lance VanHoost (.463, 19 hits, 6 doubles, 12 RBI), the Schmidts and Ryan Zimmer (15 hits, 12 RBI) have been stroking the ball. I don't see many teams stopping the Pats as they look to get back (and maybe farther) to the state quarters.

Reese (10-5) is a mystery to me still. I have seen the reports come in from coach Dave Elliot and part-timer Chad Wingert, but I have only seen them in action once. But it was a good time when I was there are Josh Bierlein shutdown Ubly 1-0. I know that the Rockets have a solid duo with JB and JJ...that would be James Stockmeyer...on the hill. I'm looking forward to seeing these guys again at Dow Diamond against John Glenn again...but I'll make sure to see them before that May 16th game as well.

Mayville (11-4) came into the season with a bullseye painted on its back (stupid media and their sports writers) as the D3 No. 9 Preseason ranked team in the state. The Wildcats have lost just four games - with three of those coming at the hands of USA and one to Laker. The team is L-O-A-D-E-D with talent, including a possible All-Stater in Justin Lugowski who can pitch and hit.

Let's just break down his numbers to start the season...there's a lot of them: Batting: .607, 34 hits, 9 doubles, 3 triples, 32 RBI Pitching: 4-1, 1.94 ERA, 44 Ks

Brett (2 wins, 0.67 ERA; .488, 20 hits, 16 RBI) and Gage Beckett (2.26 ERA, 27 Ks) along with Ryan Baxter and Corey Travis have helped the 'Cats to an early season 3-0 mark in the GTE (they are tied 6-6 in a game with Harbor Beach and will play it out if it comes down to needing it to determine a conference champ at a later date). Once we get closer to the playoffs, we'll see what Lugowski can do to carry this team.

I'll talk track next time around (some records...they are a'fallin)

...chew on these bits for a while. Savor them...enjoy. In others words...don't yell at me if I don't update this for a while! :) I'm probably updating the Meet of Champs qualifiers! It's not as glamourous as it sounds.