With two of the top three teams in the state on the field, the prospects for an upset at Harrison’s Division 3 district baseball tournament seemed limited.
Meridian and Clare tied for the Jack Pine Conference championship and one or the other seemed likely to punch a ticket to the regional and, perhaps, beyond.
Beaverton, meanwhile, finished in the middle of the Jack pack with a 7-7 mark. They edged Farwell 6-5 in the first round, on the same day Meridian clubbed Harrison 21-1.
Beaverton bombed Houughton Lake 12-5 in the semifinals, while Clare and Meridian staged a battle worthy of the hype, which the Pioneers won 2-1.
That set up the title bout. The rivals were tied 3-3 heading into the top of the 11th inning when Clare scored two runs.
The Beavers rallied for three in the bottom of the frame and won 6-5 on a walk-off, two-run double by Camron Schneider.
Getting the big hit was poetic justice for Schneider, who pitched the first 10 innings, but did not get the decision.
Sophomore Carson Longstreth got the win in relief. Senior Chad Meilke had two hits and knocked in a pair of runs.
The experts took a pounding on the result, but it didn’t come completely out of left field, according to Beaverton coach Mike Cingano.
“Our conference is one of the toughest in the state,” Cingano said. “We had two of the top three teams and we lost some close games to both of them. We lost 4-2 and 4-1 to Clare, and I think only three of the runs they scored were earned.
“We kind of beat ourselves in some of our conference games,” he continued. “We were making too many errors and you can’t do that against good teams.”
As the season rolled on, the Beavers focused on fielding and changed up batting practice as well, switching from the cages to live pitching.
“We started playing better toward the end and things really came together,” said Cingano. “I knew we were a better team than 7-7 in the conference. I don’t know if the kids believed that, but they pulled their stuff together at the end and played the kind of ball I knew they were capable of playing all along.
“It was not a fluke. We weren’t favored to win the district by any means, but we knew we could play with those guys.”
The fluke philosophy took another hit the following week at the regional when the Beavers beat St. Charles 3-2 in the semifinals.
It was another nail-biter and another walk-off win, albeit a bit unconventional, as Carter Johnston was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to plate the winning run in the seventh.
“You want to give him credit for taking one for the team and all that,” said Cingano, “but it really just brushed his sleeve. The umpire started yelling, ‘dead ball’ and we weren’t really sure what had happened, but that’s how we won it.”
The music finally stopped in the final when Standish defeated the Beavers 10-0.
“They had their hitting shoes on,” said Cingano, “and we only had four hits. It was still a great experience. We only lose two seniors, so we should be decent again next year.”