Regional Tournament Recap

Today the Scots traveled up the Beltine to Rockford High School for the regional round of the Division 1 MHSAA Baseball playoffs. The Scots were starting Caleb Sleeman, who pitched in game one of the district round. Sleeman today had an incredible outing. In just over 105 pitches, Sleeman went 8 innings and allowed only 3 hits and one run. It was by far the greatest outing pitching wise the Scots had all season long yet the offense was stagnant and couldn't produce the support to win the game. The Scots scored one run on an RBI single by Chris Clark to give them the 1-0 lead. The Knights resiliently got a run off of a hit, a walk and some very devious base running. In a little league style play, the Knights baited the Scots into making a throw to the trailing runner, and the runner scored from gird to tie it up. Sleeman along with Kenowa starter Zach Zobro were in a duel all game long. The Scots had quite a few opportunities including one inning with runners on second and third with nobody out, yet runners were never plated. Zobro went the distance for Kenowa pitching all 10 innings and allowing 9 hits. In the bottom of the tenth, the Knights got a single up the middle past the diving middle infielders into centerfield and the trow was just a hair late and Kenowa prevailed victorious 2-1 after 10 innings to advance to the regional finals against the Jenison Wildcats. The Scots end the year 16-11 and overachieved in the eyes of many. Predicted to finish last in the OK White, the Scots finished second. The Scots earned the school's first district title since 2007 and next year is filled with optimism. The Scots return 15 of 17 players and will be looking to earn the schools first regional title ever and a lot of other lofty expectations that are definitely within reach. This is the last post of the season and I wanna give a shoutout to all of the people who read this along with the support from all of the fans throughout the entire season. Until next year, GO SCOTS!

District Tournament Recap

Today the Scots headed across town to East Kentwood for the district rounds of the MHSAA Tournament. The Scots in the first game took on the host East Kentwood Falcons. The Scots sent Caleb Sleeman to the hill in game one. In the first inning, the Scots got on the board to take an early 1-0 lead. Mitch Horgan's RBI single scored Keegan Mulvey to give the Scots the advantage. Sleeman worked out of multiple jams in his 5 innings and only allowed one run that came on a base hit to left field in the 3rd inning. Nobody would score again until the bottom of the 8th inning. Joe Stegehuis reached on a single with one out in the inning. He promptly stole second base and then a groundout brought him over to third with two down and Chris Clark at the plate. It should be noted that when Stegehuis was on second there was an apparent balk on the pitcher that was not called. So with one strike on Clark, Stegehuis broke off toward the plate trying to steal the victory. Stegehuis slid in under the tag and the Scots were victorious and headed to the finals with a 2-1 win.
In the second game the Scots would play OK White foe Forest Hills Central for the district title. Dan Zeman was on the bump facing Mitch Ashcraft. Each team scored 3 in the first inning setting an apparent pace for a shoutout. The Rangers bats however went silent. While the Scots paced out 11 runs over 15 hits, the Rangers would not score again until the seventh. The Scots scored in every inning except one, and finally showed the full offensive potential everybody longed for the entire season. The Rangers got 2 runs in the 7th to make the game appear closer, however it was not a contest past the 3rd. The Scots handily took an 11-5 victory to win the schools first district title since 2006. The Scots advance to next Saturdays regional at Rockford High School where in the first round they will meet the Kenowa Hills Knights. If the Scots can get that win, they would play either Jenison or Lowell (both OK White opponents) in the regional final for a shot to play in the quarter finals at Central Michigan University. The game Saturday appears to be set for 10:00 AM but stay tuned and keep in contact with players for further changes. Hopefully the Scots will be able to draw a huge crowd in their pursuit for history.