COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – It was a banner day in Branch County high school sports Saturday with MHSAA District baseball and softball titles captured by Coldwater and Quincy along with a district softball championship for Bronson as well as Logan Targgart of Coldwater and Aaron Watson of Union City winning state titles in track and field.
Coldwater’s baseball and softball wins came at the Harper Creek Division Two District. In baseball, the Cardinals took the championship game over Pennfield 4-3 in a rain shortened contest that was called with one out with Coldwater at bat in the top of the seventh. The victory sends Coldwater on to the Edwardsburg Regional coming up Saturday and a semifinal matchup against Stevensville-Lakeshore. The winning pitcher for Coldwater in the Pennfield game was Brandon Lewis, who tossed 5-hit ball over 5 innings with no walks and 3 strikeouts. Brayton Rzepka earned the save with a scoreless sixth inning. The Cardinals scored all of their runs in the third inning, including a two RBI single by Bryce Barringer.
Coldwater made it to the title game by beating Marshall in the semifinals 5-2. Jordan Butler picked up the victory with a save for Randall Linton. The Cardinals had only 3 hits in the win but they were all doubles with one apiece for Linton, Butler, and Morgan Sims with 2 RBI’s for Linton and one for Sims. Coldwater improved their record to 32-8 in winning their fourth straight district championship and also tied the school record for baseball wins in a season.
In softball, it was a convincing Coldwater title performance with the Lady Cardinals downing Harper Creek 8-1 in the championship game after eliminating Marshall 18-3 in the semi-finals. Coming up at the Edwardsburg Regional semifinals, Coldwater will take on ninth-ranked St. Joseph. In the district championship victory over Harper Creek, Stacy Guzy went the distance with a 3-hitter with 3 strikeouts. Kendall Galloway had 3 singles, Morgan Howard had a double and a single, and Payton Watson, Jamie Wellet, and Kati Stanton had 2 singles apiece.
In the 3-inning decision over Marshall, Darlene Horn picked up the victory on a 3-hitter. Michaelea Gillette led the offense with a triple and 2 singles while Howard added a double and a single. Coldwater’s record is now 29-7.
Quincy brought their district title trophies home from the Hanover Horton Division 3 District. In baseball, the Oriole’s bats were booming with 28 hits on the day in a 10-4 win over Jonesville in the title game which followed a 15-2 semifinal victory over Hillsdale. Quincy’s next game will be in Saturday’s Lansing Catholic Regional and a semi-final matchup with Parchment. In the Oriole’s win over Jonesville, Josh Clark picked up the victory with a save for Tyler Powell. On offense, Jake Jodway and Evan Albright each had 3 hits and an RBI while Jake Rider had 3 RBI’s with one hit. In the five-inning victory over Hillsdale, Powell was the winning pitcher. Bryce McCavit and Rider had 3 hits apiece with a home run and 2 doubles and 4 RBI’s for McCavit while Rider added 3 RBI’s. Albright also had 3 RBI’s and 2 hits.
The Quincy softball district championship was earned with a 2-1 title game win over Hanover-Horton after the Orioles eliminated Hillsdale 19-0 in the semifinals. Hannah Economou picked up the victory in the title game with a 3-hitter and 9 strikeouts. Jayden Haller had an RBI hit while Megan Parshall had a triple. Kaylin Oliver had a 1-hitter and 6 strikeouts in the 3-inning victory over Hillsdale. Kati Newberry had 2 doubles, Jordan Haller and Parshall each had 2 hits and 2 RBI’s and Economou had 2 RBI’s with a double. The Quincy district win sets up a Branch County matchup for the Lansing Catholic Regional semifinals as the Orioles will take on Bronson in the opening game on Saturday.
Bronson played at home in winning their Division 3 softball district title, defeating Parchment 11-1 in the semifinals and then rolling past Galesburg Augusta 16-0 in the championship game. In the 4-inning title contest, Skyler Sobeski had a 1-hitter with 5 strikeouts. She helped her own cause with a triple, double, and single with 4 RBI’s. Allie Sikorski had 2 triples and a single and 3 RBI’s. Sobeski also picked up the win on the mound in the semifinal against Parchment with a 5-hitter and 9 strikeouts. She added a triple and a single with 2 RBI’s. Kelsey Robinson had 3 singles and 2 RBI’s. Bronson improved their record to 33-7.
Also at the Bronson District, Union City’s season ended with a 13-12 loss to Galesburg Augusta. Marissa Mead suffered the defeat for the Chargers. Haley Harty went 3-for-5 with a two run homer and 5 RBI’s. Skyler Herman and Emma Elgan each added 3 hits.
In the Bronson baseball district, the host Vikings fell 8-3 in the semi-finals to Parchment, which went on to win the championship. Daniel McMichael took the loss for Bronson while Ethan Cossairt had a hit with 2 RBI’s.
Turning to track-&-field and Saturday’s State Finals, Coldwater senior Logan Targgart earned his second straight Division Two shot put title with a toss of 57-feet and three-quarters inch. Targgart also took second place at Zeeland in the discus, which he won last year. All-State honors at the finals for Coldwater also went to Connor Covert for his fourth place finish in the discus. As a team, the Cardinals scored 25 points to place sixth in the state.
In the Division 4 Boys finals at Hudsonville, Aaron Watson paced Union City to a 4th place finish in the team standings by winning state titles in the 100 and 200 meter dash. He also ran on the Charger’s winning 400 meter relay team along with Spencer Connell, Jalen Boes, and Thomas Anderson.
In Division 3 at Comstock Park, Bronson’s Eric Toledo had an All-State showing, placing fifth in the discus. In the Girls finals, in Division 4, Union City’s Rachel Wing earned All-State honors by taking seventh place in the discus and eighth place in the shot put. April Inman made All-State with her eighth place tie in the pole vault. And in Division 3, Quincy’s Kayti Hawkins made All State with her sixth place finish in the discus.
Today on the Coaches Corner, it’s Coldwater baseball coach Randy Spangler.