Rockford’s Ben Pols pitches against University Liggett, the 2014 Division 3 state champion which is moving up to Division 1 next season.
Rockford’s Jack Weisenburger, right, is met by Khale Showers after his two-run homer against Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett on Saturday.
In a way, it was a litmus test.
One which Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett coach Dan Cimini said the Knights passed, despite dropping a doubleheader at home Saturday.
Inviting No. 4-ranked Rockford in Division 1 to the east side to face the No.-1 ranked and Division 3 2014 state champs was a purposeful strategy — to see how Liggett would stack up against larger teams, since the Knights are voluntarily jumping up to the state’s biggest division next school year.
“We passed it,” Cimini said. “We got better today. Even though we lost a couple games, it’s not about the wins and losses. Our pitcher Anthony (George) gave up three runs in the first inning (second game) and shut them down the rest of the way, kept them off balance. I thought our defense was phenomenal all day, and that’s what we’re built on, pitching and defense.
“I thought it was an even game all the way around.”
A few timely hits led Rockford to victories of 4-1 and 4-2.
In the first game, the Rams’ got a two-run homer from Jack Weisenburger with Khale Showers on base in the second inning. In the third, Bryce Kelley smacked an RBI single to score Nolan Bryant, but the Rams scored again only on a bases-loaded balk call in the seventh inning.
Rockford (24-5) used four pitchers in the opener — yet except for one inning of relief for Weisenburger to get the save, Rockford coach Matt Vriesenga chose to not use his top two pitchers. Weisenburger has signed with Michigan and Kelley with Michigan State.
“We have quite a few pitchers and some of the guys, like Trevor Springfield and Brayden Durfee, haven’t pitched a whole lot this year,” Vriesenga said. “But we used them today and knew we’d get them some innings. They’re good enough pitchers to compete; we just have so many pitchers to get in.”
The variety of arms to look at in game one might have also led to Liggett scoring just one run despite having three innings with the bases loaded.
“Cold bats, maybe patience at the plate,” Cimini said. “I think some of us were pressing a little bit when the guys were on base, thinking they needed to do something different. We’ve left guys on base this year and always overcome it; today we didn’t overcome it.”
In game two, Rockford jumped out, 3-0, in the first inning when Weisenburger hit a two-RBI double to score Bryant and Kelley, and then came in on a single by Jacob McNamara. Then Nick Ignatoski drilled a home run over the rightfield fence to lead off the third inning.
Liggett (23-3) closed the gap in the fifth when Billy Kopicki and Connor McCarron reached base on singles, then scored on a throwing error when William Morrison hit the ball to the shortstop.
Vriesenga was pleased to have been invited to face Liggett, and make the long trip home more enjoyable with two wins.
“I love it, especially coming to a great field like this,” he said. “And we love coming over. There’s great baseball on the east side of the state, great baseball all over the place. But we want to play the best, and Liggett is one of those best teams. They said they’re making the jump to Division 1 next year, and they should because they’re a great team.”
Bryant — who made more than his share of great scoops in the hole at second base — said Liggett was good competition and he likes the concentration his team is regaining.
“At the beginning of the year we came out with a lot of energy and a lot of focus and had a great start to win our conference championship,” Bryant said. “But towards the end of conference we started losing a little bit of focus and didn’t play up to our full potential. Today I think we really came out and starting playing more like the beginning of the season and played well as a team.
“For a Division 3 program to play a Division 1 that close, in two games, that’s impressive. They had good pitching, great fielding and their hitters put the ball in play. They’re a good team.”