Sportsbeat

Talk about the air being let out of the Battle Creek balloon. The Huron baseball team had a monumental shift in momentum in their quarterfinal playoff game Tuesday in Traverse City. Fans and parents left the field with a bit of an empty feeling. That?s probably only a fraction of what the players were going through, especially starting pitcher Tyler Szumila, who had a rough go of it in the final inning. My heart goes out to that kid. It was a tough and sudden turn of events at the Traverse City West baseball complex. Ben Tulgestke hit a solo homer in the fifth, which gave the Hurons a one-run lead and an emotional lift. He was fired up as he raced around the bases. His jubiliant teammates waited for him at home. Through the mob, he was still the first player in the dug out and still whooping it up.

Matt Mertz, and what an amazing tournament this kid had, followed him to the plate and ripped a bomb to nowhere land in center field. He had a double and moved over to third with nobody out, but couldn?t get home. It didn?t seem like it was going to hurt at the time, especially when Szumila baffled the Frankfort hitters in the top of the sixth. Two of the Panthers looked off balance, taking third strikes on split finger fastballs, while the third swung through a fastball right down the middle.

Szumila and catcher Pat Quaine did a side-bump in the air as they came off the field. The table seemed to be set for a Huron victor

y, but unfortunately it just wasn?t in the cards. Rogers City had some bad breaks and a questionable balk call. A few too many mistakes added up at the wrong time. And then the mistakes earlier in the game started looking a little more glaring. A runner left at third with nobody out, a runner getting thrown out at second by the catcher. And the guys took it as a team. They went to TC as a group and took defeat the same way, not tossing blame, instead supporting each other.

That?s a life lesson, and a fine example of sportsmanship. Something Madsen said these boys displayed throughout the tournament.

In the wake of the loss, of utmost concern to the Huron squad and the community was the health of Jesse Wilbert, who spent the night at Munson Medical Center following the facial injury he suffered after the rain delay in the fourth. He was hoping to come home after doctors looked at him on Wednesday morning. Wilbert was injured retrieving a wild pitch that was thrown to the backstop by Frankfort ace Kyle Zimmerman, who was warming up. He went to get the ball and was hit in the face by another wild pitch. Zimmerman didn?t continue in the game. It also forced Madsen to shuffle his lineup.

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