District Baseball Preview: Monroe, Bedford appear headed for showdown
Bedford’s baseball team had big dreams in the state tournament last year.
The Mules rolled into the District tournament with a shiny 28-2 record, but hardly got their tourney run started when they were packing up the bats and balls.
Monroe sent Bedford to the sidelines with a wild 9-8 win in extra innings.
The old rivals seem ticketed for another meeting Saturday.
They are on opposite sides of the bracket for the Division 1 District at Ypsilanti Lincoln. That means if they meet for the fourth time this season, it will be in the District final.
Monroe County Region teams will play today in six Districts. Here’s a look at all of those tourneys.
DIVISION 1 AT YPSILANTI LINCOLN
Bedford gets things started with a 10 a.m. semifinal battle with Ypsilanti. Then, Monroe will take the field against the home team around 12:30 p.m.
The final is slated for 3 p.m.
“It should be an interesting District tournament,” Bedford coach Craig Trychel said. “I would think that Monroe will be the favorite overall for the tournament since they did beat us twice and I believe they beat Lincoln all three games this season.”
Bedford (22-7) did take one game from Monroe this season and was a dropped flyball away from winning a second.
“If we play our game with limited defensive mistakes and errors, along with good pitching and timely hitting, I think we have a good chance on Saturday,” Trychel said. “The kids are really excited and looking forward to the challenge.”
Monroe coach Bubba Bezeau always has a lot of respect for Trychel and his program.
"Our District is wide open,” said Bezeau, whose team stands at 22-7. “Any team could have a good weekend and win the District.”
DIVISION 1 AT WOODHAVEN
It’s been a frustrating season for Gibraltar Carlson, which sports a 9-26 record.
But the Marauders avenged two earlier losses by knocking off Wyandotte Roosevelt in the first round of the District Tuesday.
Three other Downriver League teams await Saturday.
The Marauders open at 3 p.m. against Taylor.
If they can win that game, they would advance to the 7 p.m. final against Woodhaven or Southgate Anderson.
DIVISION 2 AT AIRPORT
New Boston Huron has most of the key pieces back from a team that made it to the state semifinals last year before falling to powerhouse Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.
Huron is 23-5 this season.
“It’s anybody’s District,” Yancey said. “The key to our success is pitching and keeping guys off the base paths with walks.”
Three Huron League foes will try to keep Huron from making another long state tournament run.
Flat Rock and Jefferson play in the opening game at 10 a.m., then Airport challenges Huron at 12:30. The final is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Flat Rock coach Jim Lancaster likes the fact that Airport and Huron have to play each other.
“This could potentially benefit whoever comes out of the game between us and Jefferson if we can jump on whoever wins early after a hard-fought battle in the game before,” said Lancaster, whose team is 4-21-1. “We are going to need our veteran leaders to step up and lead the young talent that we have to surprise the world in this District.”
Jefferson coach Tyler Bondy also sees his 11-16 team as a big underdog.
“We know we will be challenged from the first pitch Saturday morning,” he said. “I’m excited to find out which of our players will rise to the occasion.”
Airport enters the tournament at 18-10 overall.
"Huron is the obvious favorite in our District," Jets' coach John VanWasshenova said. "In order to win we will need to play very well in all aspects of the game."
(Editor's note: A previous version of this article stated that VanWasshenova announced he would be resigning at the end of the season. That information is incorrect.)
DIVISION 2 AT CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY
Dundee and Milan both bring .500 records to Ann Arbor for the District. Milan (14-14) takes on host Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard at 10 a.m., then Dundee (12-12) tangles with Pinckney at noon. The final should start around 2 p.m.
"Milan vs Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard is going to be a great game,” Milan coach Adam Gilles said. “AAGR has some very good athletes and their top pitcher is signed with West Virginia. We have to play near-perfect baseball."
"For us to be successful, we need to continue our good defensive play and pitching,” Dundee coach Paul Walters said. “Both have been solid for us the last few weeks and it will enable us to stay in any game. Our offense has been streaky as of late, but when we hit it has been contagious.”
DIVISION 3 AT WHITEFORD
Whiteford (22-6), which cracked the state rankings for the first time this week at No. 20, faces Erie Mason (8-14) in a District semifinal at 11 a.m. The first game at 9 a.m. pits St. Mary Catholic Central (7-17) against Blissfield.
Everyone seems to agree that Whiteford is the favorite.
"I think Whiteford is the team to beat in our District,” said Bob Meade, who took over for Gabe Medina during the season. “For us to be able to win, we will need to eliminate errors and cut down on walks.”
"The team to beat in our District is Whiteford, but with that being said I believe District is wide open and it’s any team's tournament to win,” said SMCC coach Zach Parran. “I personally think if we cut down on errors on the field and giving teams more than three outs an inning, we have a solid chance of winning the tournament.”
DIVISION 4 AT ADDISON
Summerfield has yet to win a game this season at 0-17-2, but coach Reid Olmstead believes his team could break through at the District.
“I keep telling the guys that the season resets Saturday morning,” he said. “Nothing we have done up to this point matters, and everything depends on which team shows up to play Saturday morning. I think we have a competitive District and any team could win it.”
Summerfield battles the host team at noon after Lenawee Christian plays Morenci at 10 a.m. The final is scheduled for 2 p.m.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: District Baseball Preview: Monroe, Bedford appear headed for showdown
