EAST LANSING — The Charlevoix Rayders have nothing to be ashamed of, no matter the gut-wrenching outcome of Thursday’s Division 2 varsity baseball state semifinal.
“It’s a great learning opportunity,” first-year Charlevoix head coach Stephen Speigl said. “They’ll have to figure out how to get through these emotions and respond properly.”
The 10th-ranked Rayders (27-11) haven’t made it to the state semifinals since 1980, and unfortunately they’ll have to wait until next season to make even more history after losing 3-2 to No. 15 Jackson Lumen Christi (30-10) on Thursday. A two-out, walkoff single from freshman Benny Gaston broke the hearts of the Rayders in the Division 3 state semifinals at McLane Baseball Stadium at Michigan State University.
The Titans face eighth-ranked Watervliet (30-7) on Saturday, who defeated Detroit Edison, 7-2.
The Titans stayed poised after giving up several scoring opportunities and on-base errors.
“We had a couple of mistakes on the bases that hurt us, but these are the big moments. You’re in a state semifinals game, and there’s going to be mistakes that happen,” 14-year Jackson Lumen Christi head coach Phil Clifford said.
Bryce Johnson pitched a flawless game for Charlevoix up until the bottom of the seventh inning. The Titans started the inning with junior Timmy Crowley getting a head start after getting hit by a pitch, and sophom*ore Jack Fitzpatrick followed that with a single to right field with no outs.
The senior pitcher entered the state semifinal bout with a 7-1 record on the season with 91 strikeouts and 22 walks with a 0.75 ERA.
Johnson kept his poise by inducing a popout from Paul Sattler and then striking out pitcher Gabe King on four pitches. With the momentum swinging in the Rayders’ direction with two outs, the Titans didn’t give up.
The Rayders entered the final inning with zero errors as their defense played top-tier baseball, but they committed two costly mistakes when they couldn’t afford it.
Junior Brodie Gregory, on a 1-2 count, sent a bullet to second base that wasn’t collected in time, allowing Crowley to score. Junior Kash Kalahar followed that with a line drive to third base, but junior infielder Ryan Pearl mistimed the ball and watched it sail past him.
Johnson’s evening was over after throwing for 6.1 innings while allowing four hits, walking three and striking out seven.
“I will never look at it as a problem,” Speigl said on leaving Johnson to pitch the seventh inning. “Always use it as a learning opportunity. It’s one of our sayings,’ we never lose. We either win or we learn’”
Junior Hunter Lemerand came in to relieve, but Gaston on a 0-1 count was the Titans’ hero with a walk-off single to right field — leaving every Rayders’ player to fall to the grass in disbelief.
“I went to bed last night running through every scenario in my head to find a way to help my team win. I’ll do anything for my team to win that game,” Gaston said.
The Rayders started the game on a positive note with Lemerand hitting it deep to center field for an RBI single to take an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Johnson sent a bloop to right field for an RBI single to extend the lead to 2-0 in the third. Charlevoix finished with seven hits.
Before the Rayders’ defense had two fielding errors, Pearl was responsible for three double plays; and the defense helped Johnson get out of several tricky situations, including a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the bottom of the third.
After the game, the junior third basem*n was embraced by family with tears flowing. Pearl made it known that no one believed that Charlevoix could make it to the state semifinals, and he is glad they were able to prove the doubters wrong.
“It would’ve been amazing to make it to the next game, but what’s amazing is to prove everyone wrong,” Pearl said wiping the tears from his eyes. “Everyone who was doubting us, we just stuck together as a family and worked hard.”
Pearl got a chance to soak in the moment of playing at McLane Baseball Stadium, taking the advice he was given the day before by his baseball coach from when he was 8 years old. He explained to Pearl that when he was in the state semifinals and lost, he didn’t take a chance to appreciate where he was.
“He didn’t soak it in. He wanted me to, so that’s what I did,” Pearl said. “When I first stepped on the field, I took a breath and thanked the Lord for where I’m at. During the national anthem, I said, ‘Thank you, Jesus, and thank you for helping me to get to this point.’”
“I’m just happy that I was able to do it with this group of guys. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else,” he added.
The Rayders close out a memorable season with their second consecutive Lake Michigan Conference title and a district title as well as their first regional championship in ages.
Charlevoix has nine returners next season and will be graduating three seniors. Johnson and catcher Troy Nickel are heading to Alma College for baseball.
Despite a gut-wrenching loss, the Rayders know they put together a season that’ll be remembered forever.
