State Champs celebrate VICTORY!
Cougars Win, Cougars Win
Defensive Standoff Decides State Championship
All Saints Cougars take top spot in Division 4 over Lutheran Westland
June 22, 2008
3 Comments
By: Kevin Kula
For the Varsity Cougar Boys, their journey to the State Finals has been the ride of a lifetime. Arriving at the district level with a shaky 15-16 record, most thought that their chances were slim to none of winning even the district title.
But the Cougars proved everyone wrong when they blasted Merrill 25-0. From there they went on to crush Michigan Lutheran Seminary 10-0 to win their District Title. But the Cougars weren't done yet; for them it was on to the Regional showdowns.
First the Cougars trumped Hale 11-0 and then hung on to defeat Kinde North Huron 3-1 to gain their Regional title. The Cougars had surpassed everyone's expectations except their own; for they now had their sights set on being the first Cougar Boys team to bring the State Title back to All Saints since the new Millennium.
After narrowly defeating Waterford our Lady of the Lakes 4-2 in the Quarter Finals, the Cougars encountered their first real threat in the State Semi-Finals. In the first four innings things didn't go well for the Cougars. North Muskegon racked up five runs and successfully suppressed the Cougar's offense.
Things looked bleak until #3 Aaron Janer stepped up to the plate for the Cougars in the bottom of the fifth inning. Janer managed to pull off the feat all the Cougar fans had been hoping for. Janer slammed an inside-the-park home run deep into right field and ran for his life around the bases.
Sparked by Janer's homerun, the Cougars were driven into a frenzy that resulted in seven more runs to make the score 8-4. Letting only one more run in, the Cougars secured their place in the State Finals with a solid 8-5 win.
The Cougars defense proved to be an invaluable asset in the State Championship game. With the pressure mounting around them, it was a shock when the Cougars quickly scored two runs while their adversary Lutheran Westland only managed one.
From the fifth inning (when Westland scored) till the last fateful pitch, the game became a defensive struggle. Ironically both teams defense held and neither were able to score another run.
Lutheran Westland had last ups. Fueled by desperation, Westland's tactics changed to bunts and sacrifices to try to score a tying run. However with runners on first and second base, and two outs, sophomore #6 Adam Pijaszek would deliver what could perhaps be the best pitch young career. The fast ball left the mound and was caught by catcher #11 Marc Kwapiszewski and the Cougar's were State Champions!
Below:(Left) Sophomore Pitcher Adam Pijaszek celebrates his 1st State Championship. (Right) Marc Kwapiszewski relishes victory in his senior year.
All Saints Cougars Div.4 State Champions!
Aaron Janer,Josh Sutton, Matt Mikolajczak(back), Justin Gielda and Drew Bauer pose with Trophy and T-Shirt that declare them State Champs!
Taylor Jakubczak, Marc Kwapiszewski, and Kevin Klapish put in hard work to get that hardware!
The record holding teams of All Saints - The only boys' and girls teams' from the same school to win both baseball and softball State Trophies in one year!
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jetskier Says:
On July 05, 2008
at 04:55 PM
The thing Bay City is forgetting is that this little school also won the State Bowling Championship this year.
THREE State Championships in 1 year, from our school in ole BC! WOW!
I was Assistant coach to Mike Regulski for 6 years. We made it to Battle Creek twice. 1 State runner up and 1 3rd place. It figures the year I take off for a break we win it all! LOL
I love the heart in that little school. And very proud they did it with the support of Bay City.
Believe me, everybody in Battle Creek kbows Bay City VERY WELL!
Thanks for the great write up.
Coach Davidson
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