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EAST LANSING, MI – There wasn’t an ounce of nerves to be found in the Grosse Pointe Wood University Liggett baseball dugout Saturday during the Division 3 state championship game at McLane Stadium in East Lansing.
The Knights deployed a roster that featured five sophomores and two freshmen, but this particular group of underclassmen had already been in the spotlight before.
The Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores Little League team advanced to the Little League World Series in 2018 led by the likes of Jarren Purify, Reggie Sharpe, Ryan Knaebel, Oliver Service and Preston Barr. Now, that same group was leading the University Liggett varsity baseball team to its state-record tying ninth state championship and seventh title in the last 10 seasons with a 12-0 rout of Traverse City St. Francis.
“I’m speechless right now,” said sophomore infielder Jarren Purify, a University of Michigan commit. “I definitely shed a few tears when we got that final out. It feels great to celebrate this championship with my teammates because we talked about this all season and this was our goal from Day 1.”
Purify, who joins Sharpe as a University of Michigan commit, wasn’t phased by the spotlight of the Division 3 state championship game. The clubhouse filled with former Little League World Series performers relished the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of a packed stadium at Michigan State University.
“We don’t really feel that much pressure because we’ve been here before,” he said. “We don’t shy away from a big spot. We want to make a play in a big game and help our team win those games that everybody is watching. Everyone that stepped to the plate today was comfortable and that’s why we had such a strong game.”
Junior Matthew Greene finished with two hits and five RBI to pace the Knights from the plate, while Preston Barr added three hits, one RBI and two runs scored. Sharpe had two hits, three RBI and two runs scored, Purify had two hits and one RBI, Kurt Barr had one hit and two runs scored and Jack Jones added one hit, two RBI and two runs scored.
Jack Jones also picked up the win from the mound with six strikeouts and only three hits allowed through five innings.
“My two-seam fastball had a lot of movement on it today and I was really getting on a lot of my pitches early on,” said Jones. “I was just focused on painting the outside corner with that and then using my slider. That combination was working for me early and I just kept trying to mix it up after that.”
Jones had a no-hitter through three innings before a 55-minute rain relay put the game on pause. When he returned to action, Jones gave up three hits but had enough composure to work through any danger and keep the Gladiators off the scoreboard.
“After the delay, it took a little bit of time to get it going again but once I got it going, we were rolling,” he said. “I was just trying to stay mentally focused the whole time. I tried to keep my arm warm and then after that, I went out to my own bullpen with my catcher Oliver (Service) and we just spent a few minutes getting some practice tosses in.
“We’ve played together since we were 10-years-old in little league, so we have good chemistry. He knows what I like to throw and where I want to place my pitches and he’s good at calling pitches. We just have a special connection.”
The Liggett bats were rolling early in the contest, as Jack Jones singled up the middle to score Ryan Jones and Oliver Service. Sharpe added a sacrifice ground out that scored Jacks Jones to give the Knights an early 3-0 lead.
The Knights added five more runs in the top of the fourth inning with an RBI single by Preston Barr, a run scored by Jack Jones off a throwing error by St. Francis, an RBI single by Purify, and a two-RBI double by Greene. Liggett closed things out with four more runs in the top of the fifth inning with an RBI single by Sharpe and a bases-clearing triple by Greene.
“That took a lot of pressure off of me early in the game because I knew we were hitting well,” said Jones of his team’s early run support. “Any time you can get some breathing room, it makes you relax a little bit and just focus on playing within yourself and doing your job from the mound and not trying to play catch up.”
Jones, a Michigan State University commit, felt right at home pitching from the mound of his future home at McLane Stadium.
“I love it here,” he said. “The coaches, the community, everything is just awesome. I felt right at home pitching from the mound here today and I’m excited to play all my home games here in the future.”
For head coach Dan Camini, the state championship celebration felt even sweeter knowing that every member of the team contributed to the cause.
“I told the guys before the game that we needed to play our best game of the season today and you, as an individual, need to be at your best and do whatever you can to help the team win,” he said. “Everyone in the lineup did that today and I can’t be any more proud as a coach when your team does all the hard work, all the practices, all the extra hours and come away with a state championship like this.”
Camini has grown alongside his players this spring, as he’s learned to welcome the hype and feast on the results of a group of Little League All-Stars.
“These guys are used to all this,” he said. “The parents are so used to all this and the kids don’t let the weight of the situation get to them because they’ve dealt with this kind of pressure before at a really young age.
“I don’t usually like to hype them up more than they need to be, but I’ve changed my tune on that a little bit because they feed off the hype. Now, as long as they go out there and produce, I’m cool with hyping each other up.
“There are a lot of expectations at here, too. This is our seventh state championship since 2010 and we’ve made it to the state championship game as many times as anybody in the history of baseball in Michigan. I don’t think there’s another group of underclassmen in the country that could handle the gravity of this type of situation the way they have but they’ve continued to exceed even their own wildest expectations.”
Jack Hitchens, Charlie Peterson and Corbin Domres each recorded one hit to lead the Gladiators, who finish 28-10 on the season. Judd Lawson took the loss from the mound, allowing two earned runs and three hits through three innings.
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The Link LonkJune 20, 2021 at 04:01AM
https://www.mlive.com/highschoolsports/2021/06/all-grown-up-university-liggett-baseball-goes-from-little-league-world-series-to-d3-state-champs.html
All grown up: University Liggett baseball goes from Little League World Series to D3 state champs - MLive.com
https://news.google.com/search?q=little&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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