Richard committed five errors and nearly let a four-run lead slip away in the sixth inning. We like to load up our schedule with good competition and see what happens in the playoffs.”īoth teams had their share of ups and downs in Thursday’s semifinal contest. “We didn’t play a Division 4 team until we started the playoffs and we played one Division 3 team all year. We’re playing Division 1, Division 2 teams most of the time,” the veteran coach said. The team’s level of regular-season competition has also played a role, Magier said. We started putting things together later.” We didn’t play many games before spring break. “The weather didn’t start real well for us. “I think we had some ups and downs, there’s a lot that went into it,” said Pioneers coach Mike Magier. Richard has now beaten its six playoff opponents by a combined score of 63-6. Since that point, however, the squad has played much better baseball. The unranked Pioneers had a rocky start to 2022 and hit a rough stretch in early May.

Rudyard, located in the Upper Peninsula, came into Thursday with a record of 27-7-1 and ranked No. “This kind of shows you that anything can happen, you just have to keep playing hard and stick through it. “This feels great, this is something that I’m going to remember,” the standout hurler said. He gave up five hits, one walk and three unearned runs and fired 102 pitches at the glove of his catcher – fellow senior Bryan Tuttle. On Thursday, the younger Silka pitched six innings and struck out 11 batters for the Pioneers, who headed into the postseason with a sub-.500 record. Both players eventually went on to the collegiate level. The game ended with a strikeout, followed by a mid-air embrace between the pitcher and his catcher – fellow 2019 grad Kevin Tuttle. In that contest, Matthew Silka threw a one-hitter in a 3-0 victory over Bishop Foley for the D3 crown. Richard (16-12) last played in the state championship game in 2018. With the win, the Pioneers moved on to face Beal City on Saturday in the D4 state championship back at MSU.

In Thursday’s semifinal game, a Silka and a Tuttle were in the same spots and the two younger siblings helped guide the Pioneers back to the state finals at Michigan State University.Īided by a solid outing from Connor Silka, Richard knocked off Rudyard 10-3 at Michigan State University in a Division 4 state semifinal.

The last time Riverview Gabriel Richard played in the state championship game, a pitcher with the last name of Silka was on the mound and a catcher with the surname of Tuttle was behind the plate.

Pioneers of nowak board game