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BRIGHTON — No one knew it at the time, but the first game of the day in the Brighton bracket of the 40th Lee
Shelander Classic was a harbinger of things to come. As in the title game, the lopsidedness of Brighton’s 10-3
win over Hartland came as a surprise. The Bulldogs, who finished off a 5-1 win in a suspended game the day
before, scored six runs in the first inning and cruised from there. “They hit the ball where we weren’t,”
Hartland catcher Max Cadman said. “It’s as simple as that. They hit the ball, we didn’t. It happens.” Brighton
pitcher Justin Steele had a lot to do with that, too, holding the Eagles to three hits and one run over the first six
innings. Hartland hurt its cause, too, with four errors. The game started under dark gray skies after an all-night
rain forced a 30-minute delay in the start. Steele had one of Brighton’s six hits in the inning, a two-run single.
He held Hartland mostly in check until the Eagles took advantage of a pair of Brighton errors to score
twice. Hartland coach Brian Morrison was, as always, matter-of-fact about his team’s performance. “We
played a good team in the first game and we didn’t play very well against a good team, and that’s not a good
combination,” he said. The Eagles (12-5) got in sync against Ann Arbor Pioneer, scoring seven runs in the third
and four more in the sixth to finish off a 12-1 mercy-rule victory. Hartland third baseman Marcus Ziebold put
the game out of reach in the sixth, belting a 3-run homer to cap a four-run rally. “It was definitely a positive
way to end the weekend,” Cadman said. “We told the kids that we’ve gone 10-3 in our last 13 games, and all
three were to one team,” Morrison said, referring to a sweep of the Eagles by Brighton earlier in the week.
“We’re not better than Brighton right now, and we have to keep moving on and see where we end up at the
end of the year.” Brighton ripped Pioneer in its game, a 10-0 game shortened to five innings by the mercy
rule. Pioneer coach Gerry Holley, whose record of 5-14-1 includes seven games lost by a total of nine runs, was
unperturbed by the blowout losses. “One thing we like about this tournament is that we see good
competition,” he said. “Hartland is a good team. Brighton is a very good team. We have a lot of young kid
playing, and I saw some positives today. “We pick the ball up a couple of times, and we’re out of a couple
innings,” he continued. “Right now, we’re not good enough to overcome some of those things.” Brighton
pitcher Garrett Russell, who had a 1-2-3 first inning despite a walk and a single due to two pickoffs, threw the
shutout. “I was real pleased with the way Justin and Garrett threw,” Brighton coach Charlie Christner said.
“They did a nice job. We got some good opportunities to see some guys and get more at-bats from other
guys. “The more we can be out here to get at-bats and get situation stuff, the better,” he added. “And the
better it’s going to be for us in the league and in districts and hopefully
beyond.”
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