Week 2 pics

A very busy week/weekend over here as I've got to design our Sports Preview pages this weekend, as well as the rest of the paper on Monday (yes, it'll be a full day for me on Labor Day). My point (yes I have one) is that we'll update the standings for the first week of the pics contest sometime next week.

Here's the games for week 2:
Reese vs. Bad Axe
EPBP vs. Vassar
BCAS v. USA
Deckerville vs. Brown City
Marlette vs. Ubly
Sandusky vs. Mayville
North Huron vs. Akron Fairgrove
Memphis vs. CPS
Dryden vs. Kingston
Peck vs. Owen-Gage
Harbor Beach vs. Cass City

Make your picks

Time to make our week one predictions. As you can see, we're making it a little trickier this year with more picks than last year. I'll post my winners on the next page.
Week One:
Akron-Fairgrove vs. Au Gres-Sims
Armada vs. Memphis
Bad Axe vs. Harbor Beach
Brown City vs. Peck
Burton Bendle vs. CPS
Cass City vs. Sandusky
Caro vs. Vassar
Deckerville vs. Sterling Heights Parkway Christian
Dryden vs. Mayville
Kingston vs. Marlette
North Huron vs. Marine City Cardinal Mooney
Owen-Gage vs. Twining Arenac Eastern
Ubly vs. USA

Outpick Ogryski returns for another season

It is time for all you football prognosticators to get your thinking hats on and see if you are better at this picking thing than I am.
For those of you who are new to this, each week I post a series of games for you fans to make your best educated guesses on. Each week, I'll keep track of how everyone does.
We won't have weekly winners, but in the end, the participant with the best winning percentage (most correct picks/total picks made) qualifies to win our contest (minimum of 6 out of 9 weeks picking to qualify).
But there's more. Even if you have the best overall winning percentage in the contest, it doesn't mean diddly unless you can beat. To claim your prize of a $25 gas card, you need to have a better picking percentage than I do, you must Outpick Ogryski.
Look for the first week's games to be posted soon and check out our 8/27 edition where you'll see my picks, as well as those of sports editor Steve Jias, WLEW play-by-play announcer Rick Glaza and possibly one more surprise participant.
Come back to the blog for each week's games to pick, updated standings, etc.

Back in the saddle again...

It's that time of year again. After the blog was dormant for most of the summer (ok just about the entire summer), we're back at it and better than ever.
First for those of you who have wondered (and if so you aren't reading the newspaper...tsk,tsk...)I am fully recovered from my "incident" in April (much like my best friend Diddy, I prefer not to call it a heart attack anymore). I've lost over 40 pounds, changed my diet, gave up Red Bull and did some other things to get my health back on track. According to my last check-up, my EKG is completely normal and I suffered NO damage to my heart during the "incident."
Secondly, my stress level should be decreased some (or actually could be much higher...LOL...you'll get the joke in a moment) as we've brought on Steve Jias as our sports editor. Most of you have probably seen Steve on the sidelines shooting pictures for our papers over the last several years. This will free me up to concentrate more on news and give us someone who spends 80-90 percent of their time on sports. And with a couple nights a week worth of help from me and a little guidance, I think by the end of the fall sports season, you'll see our coverage is as good as it has ever been, maybe even better.
With all this in mind, my question is, "What would you like to see more of?" Not just on the blogs, but in the papers. We want to be as interactive as possible with you the reader, and since it is YOUR paper, give us your feedback on what you like and what you want more of.
If I had a wishlist, it would include more daily interaction with readers, especially on nights after games. So I challenge you all to post more comments, express more opinions and be more interactive with us. In turn, Steve and I promise to provide daily updates, nw topics of discussions and keep this beast going day-in-and-day-out.
With all that said, I look forward to the new season and think it has the potential to be one of the funnest (is that a word) in a long time!

Rain doesn’t stop Hatchet’s parade to the title

BY CHRIS OGRYSKI
Editor
It was well worth the wait.
Due to inclement weather last Friday, officials at Bad Axe were forced to delay the D3 district championship game until Saturday at noon. But when the game was finally played and all was said and done, the host Hatchets had knocked off USA 8-6 to win the district crown.
Against the Patriots, Tim Rader pitched 6 2/3 innings to get the win, striking out eight and allowing three earned runs (six total). Pete Salens came on in relief to get the save for the Hatchets, while Heath Schmidt took the loss for the Pats.
A key to Bad Axe’s win, was their four run rally in the sixth, which included a Mitch Roth RBI single and a two run double from Chris Smith, which gave the Hatchets an 8-4 lead.
Overall for Bad Axe, Roth had three hits, Smith a double and a single, while Jason Brown added a fifth inning solo home run.
Lance VanHoost had two doubles and a single for USA, while Kelson Gettel and Heath Schmidt added two knocks each.
In the semis, Bad Axe beat Lakers 11-1. Salens earned the win with six solid innings, while EPBP’s Craig Smith allowed six runs in three inning s to take the loss. Brown led the Hatchet offense with a two run homer, a double and four RBIs.
Zack Gilbert had a double for Lakers.
Bad Axe advances to regionals this Saturday at Reese, where they face Hemlock at 10 a.m.

Lakers win district title

The EPBP soccer team finished 21-3 overall in 2007 and made a run to the state semi-finals where they lost to Ann Arbor Greenhills. The Laker’s took the first step in another post-season run last Saturday, when they beat host Bad Axe for the district title.
The Lakers advanced to the finals with a 6-1 win over Harbor Beach in semi-final action last Thursday. Kaycee Damm led the team with two goals and an assist, while Brittany Albrecht and Katie Beachy each added a score and a help. Brittney McGathy and Erin Gettel also scored for EPBP, while Shaina Damm and Julia Voelker added assists for the Lakers.
Beth Ritter had four saves in net for EPBP, while Alicia Kramer had 21 saves in goal for the Pirates.
The Hatchets advanced to the finals with a 6-2 win over Marlette. Shayna Polega led the attack with four goals, while Jennifer Morneau added a pair of scores and two assists. Jackie Rochefort also added a pair of assists, while Katie Essian had one for Bad Axe.
Goalie Sara Thoms earned the win with five saves in net.
In quarter-final action, Harbor Beach beat Sandusky 8-0. Jennifer Sorenson led the offense with three goals and an assist, while Jillian Roggenbuck added a pair of scores and one help.
Kramer made her first appearance out of the keeper position and scored twice, while Kaylee Mazure also scored and Abby Lemanski contributed two assists.
The Lakers advance to regional play this week at Auburn Hills-Oakland Christian.

Patriots knock off Cass City to win district crown

BY CHRIS OGRYSKI
Editor
After winning back-to-back D3 state titles, expectations were high for another amazing season for the USA softball team. While the regular season was another successful campaign, there were a few hiccups along the way, including a pair of losses to Reese, which cost the Patriots a shot at the GTW title.
But for those that thought the lack of a league title meant the end of USA’s extended post-season runs, think again…the rumors of the Patriot’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Last Friday, USA got back on track, as they knocked off Reese 9-3 and Cass City 15-0 to win the D3 district title at Bad Axe.
Against the Rockets, USA trailed Reese 1-0 after the first, but rallied to tie the game on in the fourth on a solo shot from Carly Treiber. In the fifth, the Patriots took the lead, as Kiersten McBrayer led off the inning with a triple and scored on a bang-bang play at the plate, after a knock from Estay Ruppal that didn’t clear the pitcher’s mound.
But things didn’t really turn around until the fifth, when Katie Schaus sparked the offense with a three-run homer as part of a seven run rally. Schaus’s three run blast ignited USA, as they went on to outscore the opposition 22-0 from that point on.
“Katie Schaus has been getting big hits for us all year,” coach Larry Houthoofd said.
He explained, “Down at Detroit-Mercy when we played Ida, she had a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh with two outs to tie that game. She is a warrior; she just knows how to hit the ball and she is one of the best hitters on the team.”
Following Schaus’s drive, Treiber and Dani Gremel added a pair of RBI hits, before Marissa Lemere chipped in with a two run shot. Against the Red Hawks, USA got three more round trippers as Gremel homered twice and Treiber put another over the fence to spark the Patriot offense.
Of the home run barrage, Houthoofd said, “I hate to live on home runs, but it is nice when they come; especially when they are timely.”
On the mound, Lemere, who threw a four-hitter in the semis, no-hit Cass City in the championship game. “As the season goes on, she gets really strong and she is at the top of her game right now,” Houthoofd said. “Her drop ball is really moving (at this point).”
Overall, Houthoofd is happy with how the team seemed to “flip the switch” on Friday and elevate their game to a whole other level.
“This team has been up and down all year,” he admitted.
“I don’t know, maybe some of these kids are bored a little because of all the success they’ve had. I hope that is not what is happening, but I don’t know,” Houthoofd explained. “We (the coaching staff) haven’t been able to put our finger on it this year; we’ve been a little frustrated at times with the way they’ve played.”
He added, “It’s not like a water faucet where you just turn it on, I keep telling them that, but maybe they can.”
USA advances to the D3 regionals at Reese this Saturday.