John Raffel
Sports Scene
It’s never a good idea for a baseball team to commit four errors in a game, especially in the state finals.
Unfortunately, that’s what John Glenn did in its unsuccessful attempt for a Division 2 state title on June 16.
The season ended for the Bobcats at 35-8 following a 6-1 loss to Grand Rapids Christian in the title game.
“It was just one of those things,” said Bobcat junior Luke Scharich. “It’s baseball. Anything can happen. We had a great year.”
Grand Rapids Christian scored in the first inning, but John Glenn came back with one in the fourth on Sam Brooks’ RBI single.
Scharich went six innings on the mound.
“I knew we would rally back,” Scharich said. “We’ve done that all year. I just try my best to throw strikes and get outs. It was a great experience.”
The Bobcat offense could only muster four hits against Grand Rapids Christian, including two from Brandon Vittitow.
Christian had a three-run sixth inning on an error to put the game away. John Glenn had two errors in the seventh inning which netted Christian another run.
“It was a great season, no regrets. The only thing I regret is we [lose] five seniors. It was a lot of fun,” said coach Jeff Hartt. “They’re a good team. We hit the ball a little bit but couldn’t get anybody. We scored one run; you don’t win too many games by scoring one run. [Scharich] pitched a nice game. We didn’t get any runs behind him.”
In the sixth inning, down 4-1, “no one had their heads down. We just kept battling and it was just a better team today. A better team beat us,” Hartt added. “The kids played good defense all year. It was one of these days we didn’t pick up the ball.”
But bright days could be ahead for the Bobcats.
“We have 11 good ballplayers coming back, and we have some younger players who will help us. Those five seniors are pretty special. What a season – it was a great year for them,” Hartt said. “It was good for all of them. They had a blast. The kids coming back will work on it for next year.
“In the sixth inning, it was 1-1 and we were right in it. We didn’t pick up the ball very well. The biggest thing is, we didn’t hit it.”
Vittitow said the team’s state runner-up performance didn’t come as a surprise.
“It crossed our minds,” he said of the team’s preseason expectations. “We knew we had a good team. We put in a lot of work during the winter. We were hoping to come here.”
The Bobcats had impressive performances earlier in the week, blanking Chippewa Hills 7-0 in the quarterfinals and winning 6-5 in eight innings over St. Joseph.
In the St. Joseph game, John Glenn trailed 4-0 before scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth. The two teams traded runs in the seventh. But John Glenn made it count the in bottom of the eighth when winning pitcher Zach Olszewski helped his own cause with the winning RBI single. He went all eight innings and struck out eight batters.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” Olszewski said after the game. “The kids never gave up. They were down. They got down again, came back and never gave up. It was a total team effort. We had kids coming off the bench and getting base hits or walks. That’s what was done all season. It was total team effort.”
It was a game Olszewski won’t soon forget.
“I’m pumped, I’m really pumped actually,” he said. “I didn’t know what to think. It’s a big thing around our city right now. We have a lot of people supporting us. They’re ready for us to win a state championship.”
When the team was down 4-0, it did not give up. “We got through it. People stood up that don’t normally play,” Olszewski said.