Chippewa Hills won its first regional baseball title since 1985, and first baseman Colton Conley played no small role in that success.
Conley and the Warriors celebrated a regional title-winning season with a 4-1 victory over Ogema Heights on June 9.
“This was one of our goals,” Conley said. “We wanted to beat what we did last year.”
Last season, the Warriors lost in the regional finals.
“We’re about the same, but we’re focused and we wanted to win a little more, I think,” Conley said.
It’s best Conley’s best hitting season. He’s been in the the .400s.
“It’s just the practice and focus,” he said adding that he’s improved “quite a bit. Practicing in the off-season helped.”
Conley was especially happy with his hitting. A player since T-ball, he’s been a first baseman for a long time. He won’t soon forget the Warriors’ drive to the regional title.
“It was a lot of focus and dedication …we wanted to win,” he said.
The Warriors beat Escanaba 8-1 on Jake Tarbell’s 7-hit gem in the semifinal of the regional, and then won the title game 4-1 behind Nick Halm’s six-hitter.
It was a special moment to celebrate the regional title, especially since Halm and his teammates were disappointed a year ago when they lost in the regional final.
“This is huge, this is what we were waiting for and what we really wanted,” Halm, a senior, said.
In the top of the seventh of the title game, Devin Esch made the defensive play of the game for the first out. Brandon Benac smacked a deep drive to centerfield, and Esch, with his back mostly away from the plate, reached out and made a running catch in Willie Mays-Vic Wertz-World-Series style.
“That was an amazing catch,” coach Ben Wright said. “To get turned around and catch it was something special. Once we caught that ball I figured we had it.”
“I got a good jump on it, ran back, and put it all on the line to catch the ball,” Esch said.
Halm had 10 strikeouts against the Falcons and no walks.
“Nick threw outstanding,” said Wright. “It was a very good ball game against a quality opponent. We were able to get a lot of guys on base. Nick has thrown a lot of very good games. Under the circumstances, Nick threw very well. I don’t know if it’s his best outing of the year, but he for sure pitched well.”
Halm admitted that his stuff was working effectively.
“I know when the curveball works…I can be dominant,” Halm said. “I don’t throw with a lot of velocity. I know if I place some pitches right and get a good movement, I can pitch [well.] The biggest concept is pitching to contact. I had my defense behind me. I felt everything was working for me.”
Halm struck out six batters in the first three innings.
“It really clicked in probably the fourth and fifth innings,” Halm said.
At the plate, Halm also had some key hits for the Warriors. In the first game, he had a two-out, two-strike bases-loaded single for two runs in the top of the third inning that helped Chippewa Hills start to break the game open.
“Their pitcher was a little wild and we made the adjustment,” Halm said. “I knew even when they brought their other pitcher in, I knew we weren’t scared. That was good.”
“We were lucky to come up in big situations,” Wright said. “They had many chances, bases loaded a couple of times and guys on base. We made some pretty good plays. It could have easily gone the other way if we don’t make those plays.”
The Warriors’ season ended when they lost 7-0 to John Glenn in the quarterfinal.