Schuiteman, Brege make first team all state
by Richard Lamb– Advance Editor
With the end of the softball and baseball seasons, comes the announcement of individual honors. A pair of Huron senior sluggers earned their way on the Division 4 first team all state teams. Outfielder Chelsie Brege made it from the Huron softball squad and outfielder Tyler Schuiteman made first team on the baseball all state team. Junior infielder John Rhode and senior pitcher Isaac Freel made the second team, all state. Junior outfielder Dustin Hein earned academic all state with his 4.00 grade point average.
IN SOFTBALL, BREGE overcame a basketball injury, suffered in the Hurons? district loss at Whittemore-Prescott, to finish her high school career in fine fashion. In addition to earning all conference, all district and all regional, she made the first team in the Michigan High School Softball Association?s first team as a right fielder. Brege had fine stats, hitting .302 with a team-high 12 doubles and 22 runs batted in. She scored 17 runs and walked ten times. She has been invited to play in the Division 4 Michigan High School Senior All Star game at Michigan State University in July.
?I am very happy for Chelsie Brege. She earned all state with her hard work and dedication. She always took extra batting practice and fielding practice. She had knee surgery in January for an ACL injury and worked hard to come back and play softball,? said Huron coach Karl Grambau.
?SHE WANTED TO play shortstop and as the season went along we moved her to right field and she made the best of it by throwing out several batters running to first after they thought they had a hit to right.? Moni Cercone, a junior third baseman, made the first team in the Straits Area Conference and earned all district and all regional honors. She hit .330 from the lead-off position and scored 31 runs while stealing eight bases. Laura Konieczny made first team all conference as an outfielder. She had a .324 batting average, hit two home runs, five triples, drove in 18 runs and led the team by scoring 38 runs. Senior catcher Dana Fairbanks (.370 average, 6 home runs, 29 RBI), senior infielder Heather Kowalski (.263 ave., 5 triples, 14 RBI) and junior pitcher Elly Plath (8-7, 4.98 ERA, 58 strikeouts, 86 innings) each earned second team all conference.
THE TEAM FINISHED with a record of 20-15, winning a tournament in Glen Lake and finishing second in two other tournaments. The season ended with an 11-inning loss to Onaway in the district semifinals. Grambau praised the efforts of junior varsity coach Kathy Tulgestke, and assistant volunteer varsity coaches Gary Pietsch, Paula Pietsch and Gary Bisson for their assistance to him during the season.
?We are very lucky to have them working with our players in Rogers City. All of our coaches work so well together and I think the future?s bright for Rogers City softball,? Grambau said.
IN BASEBALL, Schuiteman put together a monster year at the plate, leading the team in nearly every offensive category. He hit .524 with 8 home runs, 51 runs batted in, 11 doubles, and 2 triples?all best on the team. He also stole 17 bases and scored 34 runs, second in the team in both categories. ?He was the guy that made us go. He showed great leadership on the field. In key situations, he was the guy we wanted at the plate. Based on his stats, it seemed like every time he got a hit, he drove somebody in,? said coach Howard Madsen. ?He had a tremendous year, and is even a better person, which is really cool.?
Schuiteman started on the varsity as a sophomore catcher and was moved to outfield midway through his junior year, a move Madsen said helped contribute to his productivity as a hitter.
Freel made the second team as a pitcher, going undefeated at 8-0. He started nine games, completing seven, pitching 46 innings with 50 strikeouts and just eight walks. He had an ERA of 1.18.
?HE HAD A tremendous year, considering he was struggling with his shoulder most of the year. He is such a competitor, a tremendous young man who would do whatever we asked,? Madsen said.
Rhode (.459, 2 HR, 28 RBI in 26 games) made second team as an infielder. ?He started hitting the ball hard during the season. John doesn?t say a lot, but he works hard in practice. When it comes to game time, he is a very, very tough competitor,? Madsen said of Rhode.
The all conference team included Schuiteman, Fre
ON THE academic side, Dustin Hein (4.00), Freel (3.92), and Jackson Bruning (3.67) earned academic all district. Freel and Hein made all region, and Hein eared academic all state. Schuiteman was selected most valuable and third baseman Evan ?Mookie? Vogelheim (.354, 1 HR, 24 RBI) was named the team?s most improved player.
The team finished the season at 19-12-2, winning the district title before losing to Rudyard in the regional semifinals. The Hurons finished second in the Straits Area Conference.