COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – In Branch County high school sports, it was very busy Saturday with perfect spring weather. In baseball, Coldwater went 2-0 in a mini-tournament at Bay City John Glenn. The Cardinals opened with a 15-5, six-inning win over Escanaba. Starting pitcher Nick Shaw earned the victory with four innings of 2-hit, one run ball along with 11 strikeouts. Brandon Lewis, Jordan Butler, and Morgan Sims had 2 hits apiece with 4 RBI’s for Lewis.
Coldwater then outlasted Bay City John Glenn 10-9. Marty Johnston picked up the victory in relief. Leading the Cardinal’s 16-hit attack with 3 hits apiece were Butler and Shaw while Brendan Spangler had 2 doubles and 3 RBI’s. Coldwater’s record is now 15-5.
Quincy hosted an invitational tournament and the Orioles split their games. In the opener, Quincy defeated Kalamazoo Home School 13-1 in five innings. Josh Clark was the winning pitcher. Jake Jodway had 3 hits with a triple and an RBI while Jake Rider had a pair of hits with 4 RBI’s. The Orioles then fell to Schoolcraft 7-3. Tyler Powell took the loss. Bryce McCavit had 2 of Quincy’s 4 hits with 2 RBI’s.
Bronson was at the Leslie Invitational and the Vikings lost to Leslie 4-2 in the championship game. Daniel McMichael suffered the defeat while Brenden Bell and Tommy Littlefield had 2 hits apiece. The Vikings opened the tournament by beating Laingsburg 10-8. Coty Bennett picked up the victory while McMichael earned the save. Tyler Roussey and Philip Mandoka had 2 hits apiece with 2 RBI’s for Roussey and Thadd Herman had a hit with 3 RBI’s. Bronson’s record is now 7-11.
Union City won the Colon Darmofal Invitational. The Chargers beat Mendon 14-2 in the five inning title game. Darren Austin went the distance with a 3-hitter. Blade Gordon and Max Heiney had 2 singles apiece while Kenyon Stuchell and Colin Kreger each had a hit and 3 RBI’s. In their first game, Union City defeated Colon 4-1. Seth Bruce picked up the victory with a 1-hitter while Austin had a single and 2 RBI’s. The Chargers have won 10 of their last 11 games to improve their record to 11-8.
In JV baseball, Coldwater swept a doubleheader at Hillsdale 16-1 and 21-1. Eric Bach and Mitch Duda were the winning pitchers. In the opener, Kameron Miller had a double and 2 singles while in the second game, Collin Torrey had 2 triples and a double with 6 RBI’s.
In freshman baseball, Coldwater was runner-up at its annual invitational tournament. The Cardinals defeated Parma Western 11-6 with Austin Spray the winning pitcher with a save for Lucas Santure. Brent Smoker had 3 hits and 2 RBI’s. Coldwater lost to Edwardsburg in the championship game.
In softball, Bronson went 4-and-0 in winning the Grand Rapids Northview Invitational. In game one, Bronson blanked Catholic Central 6-0 with a three hitter and 8 strikeouts for Adyson Lasky. Payton Robinson had 3 singles with an RBI while Skyler Sobeski had a home run and a single with an RBI. The Lady Vikings then beat Northview in pool play with a 2-hitter and 13 strikeouts for Skyler Sobeski. In game three, Bronson again downed Northview 7-1 with Lasky the winning pitcher. Kinslea Blouin had a home run and a single with 4 RBI’s. In the championship game, Bronson was down by 5 runs in the bottom of the seventh and rallied beat Rockford 10-9 in eight innings. Sobeski was the winning pitcher and helped her own cause with a home run and double and 4 RBI’s. Blouin added a triple and 3 singles with 2 RBI’s as Bronson improved to 17-5.
In JV softball on Friday, Coldwater swept a doubleheader at home over Hastings 11-10 and 10-1. The winning pitchers were Izzy Foley and Emma Stanley. Foley had 2 singles in the opener while Jalynn Snyder had a triple and a singles and 3 RBI’s in the nightcap.
In girls soccer on Saturday, Coldwater captured the title at the Hanover Horton Invitational. In their opening game 3-0 win over Division One Warren Mott, Allison Germann had 2 goals, while Mackenzie McGuire had one goal and one assist. Megan Hoath also had an assist and Shelby Bowers made 11 saves in goal. In their second game 3-0 win over Ypsilanti Arbor Prep, McGuire had one goal and 2 assists, while Germann and Breanna Eddy also scored. Bowers did not have to make any saves in goal, as Coldwater outshot Arbor Prep 18-0. Coldwater got their third shutout of the day and 7th of the season by beating host Hanover Horton 6-0. Megan Hoath had 3 goals and one assist, Breanna Eddy had 2 goals, and Carlee Smoker scored on a penalty kick. Jasmine Wellet had 2 assists and Hailey Danielson had one assist. Bowers didn’t need to make any saves in goal again as Coldwater outshot the Comets 22-2. Coldwater’s record is now 7-4-2.
Also in soccer, it was the Quincy Invitational and the host Orioles had a 1-and-2 record on the day for a third place finish. Quincy started out with a 6-0 loss to Laingsburg but then bounced back to beat Calhoun Christian 6-1. The Orioles led 4-1 at halftime on unassisted goals by Cailyn Hines, Liz Counterman and Haley Bean with a second goal by Counterman with an assist from Hines. After the break, Counterman scored her third goal on a cross from Hines, who wrapped up the scoring with an assist from Cailyn Cook. Quincy closed out the day with a 5-0 loss to tournament champion Waterford Mott. The Orioles’ record on the season is now 5-6-and-1.
In track, it was the Quincy Invitational with 9 schools including Bronson and Union City. In the boys meet, Hillsdale was first with Quincy second, Bronson third and Union City fourth while Pittsford won the girls meet with Quincy third, Union City fourth and Bronson fifth. For the boys, Union City’s Aaron Watson won the 100 and 200 meter dash, Bronson’s Eric Toledo won the discus and Quincy’s Nathan Nohr won the 1,600 meter run. In the girls meet, Quincy’s Kayti Hawkins was a triple winner in the high jump, long jump and discus.
In boys golf, Coldwater defeated 8 other teams to win the Tiger Invitational on Saturday hosted by Battle Creek St. Philip at the Binder Park Golf Course. The Cardinal’s first place team score was 319 with Harper Creek second at 330. Nolan Duda led Coldwater with a 78 which was good for a third place tie overall. Cam Ruge and Stephen Boston each shot 79 to tie for fifth place. Nate Waterbury had an 83 to tie for eighth place while Jacob Fair rounded out the scoring for the Cardinals with a 90.
The Coldwater JV Golf team played at the Gull Lake JV Invitational and came in sixth place out of 13 teams and was led by Keagan Dwyer who was medalist for the event with a round of 80 on the Gull Lake View Golf and Resort West Course.
And in girls tennis, Coldwater placed third in the Paw Paw Rally for the Cure Tournament. Karissa Harrell won her flight at third singles while taking second place in their flights were Samantha Youse at fourth singles and at 3rd doubles, Allison Eastmead and Kayle Riley, and at 4th doubles, Emily Hicks and Brooke Lafferty. And in junior varsity tennis, Coldwater took fourth place at the Fremont, Indiana Invitational with Emily Foulk winning her flight at second singles.
On today’s high school schedule, in girls soccer, Coldwater has an Interstate Eight match at home against Jackson Northwest starting around 6:45 p.m. following the JV game that begins at 5 p.m. Also in girls soccer, Quincy has an ISL match at Jackson Christian. In girls tennis, Coldwater hosts Charlotte. And in boys golf, Bronson has a BCS East jamboree hosted by White Pigeon at the Klinger Lake while Union City plays in a Big 8 jamboree hosted by Concord at Concord Hills.
Today on the Coaches Corner, it’s Coldwater baseball coach Randy Spangler.
