After nearly a year of waiting, the Hartland baseball team finally gets a chance to defend its state championsijp.
“I think the kids for a long time have been looking forward to this Satruday to get it started,” Hartland coach Brian Morrison said, “and they’ve done a good job keeping their focus in the games in between trying to build up to that point. I think we’re ready. We’ll see how it goes.”
Hartland is playing host to its own district, while Howell is home to a district that includes Brighton, and Fowlerville is at Owosso.
Unlike last year, when the Eagles didn’t get things going until late in the season, Hartland has been steady. A 1-2 start was followed by a 25-game winning streak, and the Eagles are 31-5-1 going into Saturday’s district semifinal against Lakeland.
“Our pitching and defense have been steady all year, except for a couple innings,” Morrison said. “It’s been our strong point, for sure, and those are the areas, if you ask any coach, that you want to be strong in. I hope we come out and hit the ball and espeically hit runners in when they’re in scoring position, but it’s no different than any other game. Whoever gets the leadoff batter on and gets the two-out hits is going ot be the team that wins.”
Lakeland and Hartland went 13 innings in the district championship game last year, a game won when the Eagles had to rally in the bottom of the 13th.
“They gave us a run for our money and we had to win it in the last inning,” junior center fielder Jack Slavin said. “You can’t take it lightly.”
All but two of the starters from last year’s team are back this season, and R.J. Bortle, who scored the winning run in last year’s title game, says that’s a factor that should favor the Eagles.
“Experience goes a long way,” he said. “About three-quarters of the team expereienced it last year, and we know what to do and how to get there. We know what the expectation is.”
Morrison agreed, to an extent.
“You still got to play the games,” he said, “but they’ve been in a lot of situations already, so the situations they’ll probably see on Satruday, you’d think they’d complete those plays and be able to handle it mentally, because they’ve been in situations already bigger than that.”
At Howell, the Highlanders (30-8) are starting their district at 9 a.m. with an eye toward getting players off the field in time for graduation later Saturday. Their first game won’t come until after Brighton and Dexter play at 9 a.m.
The championship is scheduled for 2 p.m., although it could be later. All three games will be broadcast on The Livingston Post.
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But, Howell co-coach Mike Weatherly said, the later start time doesn’t apply for coaches.
“We won’t sleep in,” he said, laughing. “We’ve got to be there at 6:30 to get the field ready. There’s advantages in not hosting, but I’m not complaining.”
In the opener, Brighton and Dexter meet in a game between 25-game winners.
“We have two conference champions in this district, and we’re not one of them,” Brighton coach Charlie Christner said. “But we have to beat those teams anyway.”
Unlike most teams, the Bulldogs didn’t play a tuneup doubleheader this week.
“We spent time doing a lot of different things,” he said, “getting reps we ended to get and to get healthy. We brought in some guys to throw BP and got some different looks there. We spent the 4-5 practices trying to improve as individuals and as a group, and we did that.”
The Dreadnaughts slipped past Pinckney in Tuesday’s pre-district game, 3-0.
“They seem to do a lot of good things,” Christner said. “We’re going to have to play well. We’re going to have to do every cliche you’ve ever thought of.”
He chuckled as he said that, but the message was clear: There is almost no room for error.
Howell takes on an Ann Arbor Skyline team that got off to a slow start but has picked up steam as of late.
“We’ve been playing good fundamental baseball,” Weatherly said. “When we play our best, that’s what we do. We had a lot of two-out hits against Essexville (Garber, in a doubleheader sweep Wednesday). It’s a good sign they’re locked in.
“The kids are ready, itching to go, and it’s time,” he added. “No more talking. Go out and play. Start over at 0-0.”
