PETER JAKEY’S SPORTSBEAT: Boosters to present awards Wednesday
Trying to find a night to have the annual Huron Sports Boosters awards program hasn?t been easy. The Boosters have tried a number of things to increase attendance at the event. They?ve tried different days of the week and now are trying a different month, moving the ceremony from May to April. Booster president Mike Stempky said there have been a number activities which have conflicted with the program. There?s Mother?s Day in the middle of May and Little League gets going. In addition, seniors are preparing for graduation — it?s just a busy time of the year. That?s a major reason the Boosters would like to see if an evening in April will work.
The group was prepared to have the awards program this Friday but found out the Rogers City High School gym would be tied up as Health Fair 2004 would be setting up for Saturday?s show. Now they?ve got make sure everyone gets the word that the ceremony has been moved to Wednesday, April 28 at RCHS, at 7 p.m. This is what the Boosters have been working for all year. It?s been a year?s worth of meetings and months of selling raffle tickets. Now it all comes together to honor the Huron athletes. In a way, the Boosters, on behalf of the community, offer a thanks. Thanking the athletes for the great games. A thanks for bringing a little excitement into an otherwise dull winter evening. A thanks for the effort on the hardcourt, gridiron, or mat.
The Boosters deserve a thanks as well, and the only way to express it is to not miss Wednesday?s program. Stempky said the Boosters will be having a meeting Monday where last minute preparations will be made. Discussion will include next year?s fundraisers and changes to the 2005 awards program. Election of officers also is expected. Deciding on a fundraiser has been made easy after the tremendous success of the raffle from the last school year. The Boosters gave away some terrific prizes, including a 52-inch High Definition television set, and the response was excellent. The night of the drawing, which was the Rogers City-Posen boys basketball game, the Boosters sold the most tickets, bringing in $1,300. They got my $5 that night. It was the variety of prizes which made for a successful fundraiser. Don?t look for that to change all that much next year.
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Former RCHS all-stater Emily McLean has been named to the GLIAC weekly honor roll after a great week for the Ferris State University Bulldog softball team. In a sweep of Lake Superior State, the FSU outfielder scored the lone run in a 1-0 game April 14, after singling ahead of junior shortstop Navreet Gill, who had an RBI hit. McLean also was three-for-four with two runs scored and three RBI in an 8-0 win, to clinch the sweep. McLean is batting .308 and has a slugging percentage of .452. She leads the Bulldogs with 17 RBI and has eight doubles, two triples, and cleared the fence with one dinger.
McLean?s career-high 32 base hits in 34 contests this spring is 19 more than a season ago in 20 outings. She has compiled nine multi-hit games this campaign after notching three in the
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Red Wing fans got their wish as the Wings take on the Calgary Flames tonight when the second round of the NHL playoffs gets underway at Joe Louis Arena. The Flames upset Vancouver with an overtime goal in game seven of their series in a contest that ended sometime Tuesday morning. On paper, the Wings are getting the breaks. They?ll get a Calgary squad that had an emotional series with the Canucks and won?t have anywhere near the rest Detroit has had. The Wings wrapped up their first round series with Nashville last Saturday.
Detroit would have had to play Colorado if Vancouver had won the series. The Avs had little trouble with Dallas, so avoiding them for at least this next round is a positive. The Wings need to play some more of that suffocating defense they displayed in the final two games against the Predators and get on top early against Calgary.