Teams deal with impact of canceled 2020
Baseball teams work through impact of canceled 2020 season
Seniors are seniors in name only this high school baseball season.
When the 2020 campaign was cancelled because of COVID-19, players who were juniors lost the opportunity to gain experience that can set the stage for a strong final season.
Travel ball was an option for some, but even that was limited last summer.
“A lot of us are in the same boat across the state; we don’t know what we’ve got,” Chippewa Valley coach Gregg Sadowski said.
So it was that Sadowski substituted liberally during a 7-4 MAC crossover loss to visiting Ford on Tuesday.
The Big Reds staff is evaluating players as games unfold, hoping to find combinations that will give the team its best chance of winning when the MAC Red Division schedule starts next week.
“We’re just trying to practice hard, teach a lot, coach as much as we can coach now to set these guys up for the rest of the season,” Sadowski said.
“I’m happy with how things have gone. We just can’t shoot for the moon right now.”
Ford has 10 seniors on its roster, and coach Dan Tallant has noticed a heightened eagerness for the 2021 season.
“You get that junior year taken away from you and it just eats at you,” Tallant said. “I’ve seen their love for the game go to another level.
“They’re super excited to be
playing baseball again.”
Ford improved to 4-0 with the victory over Chippewa Valley, which fell to 1-3.
Immediately after the game, coaches from both teams dissected the contest during onfield meetings with their players.
Topics discussed included some of the finer points of the game: the importance of pregame stretching, first-pitch strikes, retiring leadoff hitters, communication afield and body language.
On the Ford side, Tallant anticipated a lively practice Wednesday to help the Falcons prepare for Thursday’s home opener against the Big Reds.
“These guys have that itch to get better each day,” Tallant said. “They answered a lot of questions for me in the winter
by how excited they were to be with each other.
“Once they knew the season was actually going to happen, the buy-in has been awesome.”
Brendan Seman was the winning pitcher against Chippewa Valley.
The right-hander who had 10 strikeouts in five innings is overjoyed to be playing again.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “Coming from a last-minute shutdown last year, and now coming out with the guys, all of our younger guys and the upperclassmen, it’s great.
“As a team we’ve bonded together, we’re having good times in the dugout. It’s nice to see. Doing little things like that will lead to success.”
Ford starts its White Division schedule next week with games against L’Anse Creuse on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Chippewa Valley opens Red play against Eisenhower on the same days.
ST. CLAIR 9, EISENHOWER 5 (8 INNINGS)
Caleb Achatz lined a two-run single to center field to highlight a fourrun eighth that carried St. Clair to the victory in the Saints’ season opener. Matt Buslepp pitched the eighth and earned the victory. First baseman Kalvin Heid snared a line drive to start an unassisted double play for the first two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Eisenhower scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie it 5-5. St. Clair scored three times in the first and twice in the second for a 5-1 lead. Eisenhower is 1-1.
LAKE SHORE 3, MARYSVILLE 2
Anthony Ciamillo pitched five innings and Joe Pizzo had three hits to lead Lake Shore.
CENTER LINE 10, NEW HAVEN 3
Dylan Matthews doubled and drove in two runs and Josh Rieser struck out 11 in six innings to lead Center Line. Jacob Strong’s diving catch with the bases loaded ended the fifth inning.
DAKOTA 9, UTICA 0
Utica’s Gavin Zybtowski had two hits in the MAC crossover game.
Softball
L’ANSE CREUSE 11, LAKEVIEW 7
Sydney Simon and Avery Powell had two hits apiece and Miranda Lounsbery had a double and drove in a run to back the five-strikeout pitching of Jenny Diener for L’Anse Creuse. L’Anse Creuse hosts Lake Shore on Thursday.
LAKE SHORE 16, STERLING HEIGHTS 0
Ally Senish struck out 11 and didn’t allow a hit in four innings to lead Lake Shore.
REGINA 1, ANN ARBOR RICHARD 0
Mia Monyvka pitched a two-hit shutout and struck out 17 and Megan Maiuri drove in the only run of the game. The Saddlelites completed a sweep as Konyvka hit a grand slam and Maiuri and Ella Dankanics drove in two runs apiece. Adriana James struck out 13 and allowed two hits.
Boys lacrosse
ROMEO 13, L’ANSE CREUSE NORTH 0
Seth VonHiltmayer scored six goals, while Alex Hill and Mike Lukowski added two each to pace the Bulldogs (2-1). Henry Johnson, Jake Wilde and Ryan Meldrum also scored. LCN falls to 0-2.