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Top 10 of 2015

No. 1-Hillman softball team reaches semifinals

Northeast Michigan has been well represented at the state softball finals in recent years and in 2015 it was the Hillman softball team’s turn for a moment in the spotlight.

Hillman put together one of its best seasons in years and made a run all the way to the Division 4 semifinals, marking the third consecutive season a local softball team has been among the final four in Class D.

The Tigers’ first trip to the semifinals in 19 years ended quickly as Hillman was overtaken by eventual champion Kalamazoo-Christian in a 13-2 loss.

Despite the loss, Hillman, which finished with a 30-3 record, was one of the area’s hottest teams when the playoffs rolled around. In district play, the Tigers ended a four-year drought by winning a district title and outdueled Frankfort to win their first regional title since 1996.

The Tigers only gained momentum from there and earned perhaps the most thrilling local postseason victory when they bested Inland Lakes 1-0 in a nine-inning quarterfinal which ended after Vanessa Schook hit a ball to the outfield and the ball popped out of the fielder’s glove, allowing Eden Hunt to score the winning run.

No. 2-Posen High School’s football season

From the start of the very first practice when coach Greg Pietsch said he was excited to get started and excited about the team he had to work with, the Posen football team set out to make the 2015 season a special one.

From their dominating running attack to their stifling defense, the Vikings were nearly unstoppable this season, going 10-1 and welcomed every challenge presented to them.

Posen went 9-0 during the regular season to clinch the Bridge 8-Man Football Alliance title and clinched home field for the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Vikings extended their season by winning their first playoff game since 2004 in a 48-38 triumph over Pickford.

The Vikings’ season came to an end the very next week by the narrowest of margins in a 22-20 loss to Cedarville, but what Posen accomplished this season won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Posen averaged 49 points on offense and gave up 16.9 points a game while reaching double digits in wins for just the second time since 2002. Two players-Travis Sharpe and Skyler Tulgestke-earned all-state honors and as a team, the Vikings earned a slew of individual honors.

With Pietsch at the helm, expect the Vikings to keep aiming high in 2016.

No. 3-Tyler Sytek scores for Alcona football team

For four years, Tyler Sytek was ready to contribute any way he could to the Alcona football team as the team’s manager.

On Oct. 23, the Tigers showed Sytek just how much he’s meant to them.

During the second half of a blowout win against Mio in Alcona’s regular season finale, Sytek took a handoff on a two-point conversion try and dashed around two tackles into the end zone, providing the final points for the Tigers in an 80-0 win.

It was the thrill of a lifetime for Sytek, who was born 24 weeks premature and was diagnosed with a form of cerebral palsy. Sytek is also considered legally blind and wears braces on both feet.

“It meant everything. I haven’t been able to play a lot and that was great,” Sytek said of his special moment.

Despite whatever medical challenges he faces, Sytek was a trooper for the Tigers. He attended practices, stretched with the team and did a little bit of everything in practices short of being tackled.

When the time came for his big moment, all of Alcona’s seniors took the field with him and after he scored, he shared a long embrace with his father Steve while the hometown crowd erupted in cheers.

Sytek, his teammates and Alcona’s fans won’t soon forget his big gridiron moment and it was later featured on ESPN.com the day after the game.

No. 4-Hillman boys basketball team reaches quarterfinals

After winning league and district titles in the past few seasons, the Hillman boys basketball team aimed higher during the 2015 postseason and took its program to new heights.

With a senior-laden squad leading the way, Hillman made its first ever appearance in the state quarterfinals, cementing a spot as one of eight teams left in the Class D tournament.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, Powers North Central got the better of them and advanced to ultimately win the state championship. But Hillman’s ride to the quarterfinals was a thrilling one. The Tigers set a new program mark for wins and finished the year with a 23-2 record. They won their first regional title and added district and North Star League titles along the way.

From the outset of the season, Hillman set high goals for itself and met those goals one after another. Hillman finished the regular season with a 19-1 record and several players etched their name into the school record books, including Mason VanPamel, who became Hillman’s all-time scorer with 1,862 points.

The run to the quarterfinals capped a stellar three-year stretch for Hillman that included three consecutive district titles and two North Star League titles.

No. 5-Rogers City volleyball team reaches quarterfinals

The Rogers City volleyball team has been steadily improving over the past few seasons and in 2015 all the Hurons’ improvement paid off.

With a dominating front line and a stellar defense, the Hurons plowed through their competition on the way to an appearance in the Class D quarterfinals.

While the Hurons lost to Crystal Falls Forest Park in four sets during that quarterfinal, they showed why they could be an exciting team moving forward. In finishing with a 31-11-1 record, Rogers City had several of its young players step into key roles such as sophomore Kayla Rabeau and freshmen Taylor Fleming and Jayna Hance.

Combining the Hurons’ younger players with veterans like Sarah Meredith and Ally Streich made Rogers City a tough matchup for any team and the Hurons showed they could win close games as easily as they could dominate opponents. In district play, they gutted out a five-set victory over county rival Onaway, but in regional play they needed just six sets to defeat two opponents and capture the regional title.

With Rabeau, Fleming and Hance among those set to return for Rogers City next season, the Hurons aren’t going away any time soon and will likely be hungry to put together another postseason run.

Top 10 of 2015

No. 6-Boys Basketball Scoring Milestones

The 2014-15 season proved to be a year of milestones for local boys basketball players. The best players in the area not only led their teams to success, but they scored. A lot.

In the midst of leading Hillman to a quarterfinal appearance, Mason VanPamel finished his high school career as the Tigers’ leading scorer with 1,679 points.

In Alpena, Tyler Pintar put together a season for the ages, finishing with Alpena’s third highest scoring average (24.6) while becoming the program’s No. 2 all-time scorer with 1,261 points. He also finished his career as Alpena’s leader in three-pointers and steals while helping the Wildcats to a second consecutive Big North Conference title.

In Mio and Alcona, Ben Lubitz and Trenton LaVergne led their respective teams to solid finishers and both players recorded their 1,000th career point during the season. LaVergne finished his career as Alcona’s top scorer with 1,441 points.

Lubitz is already off to blazing start this season, averaging 33.6 points in the Thunderbolts first three games and will likely end up among Mio’s top all-time scorers by the end of the season.

No. 7-Alpena softball wins 5th straight Big North title

For the past several seasons, the Alpena High softball team has been awfully tough to defeat in Big North Conference play and 2015 was no exception.

With one of its deepest teams in recent years, the Wildcats won their fifth straight Big North crown with ease on May 18, sweeping Cadillac in a doubleheader at home.

The wins improved Alpena’s conference record to 11-1 and gave the Wildcats their 13th Big North title since the conference was established in 1998.

In the clinching games against Cadillac, Lauren Heath earned two wins on the mound and Alexis Smith came up with some timely hits at the plate in the nightcap, blasting an RBI double and then laying down a squeeze bunt to score another run.

“We are keeping the BNC tradition alive and we are not letting ourselves or anyone else down,” Alpena senior Alex Peters said after the clinching wins.

With a number of players set to return in the spring, Alpena will likely be a favorite to bring home its sixth straight conference title when the 2016 season rolls around.

No. 8-AHSBR teams combine for 5 state titles

The arrival of the youth baseball tournament season in the summer usually means good things for Alpena Huron Shore Babe Ruth. That was especially true in 2015.

When the state finals rolled around, Alpena rose to the challenge, taking home state championships in five different divisions. Alpena’s 9U, 10U, 11U, 12U and 13-15U teams all brought home some hardware and for several of those teams, they’ve won multiple titles across different divisions.

Since the merger of Alpena Huron Shore Little League and Alpena Babe Ruth in 2013, local teams have had incredible success at the state level. In 2013, two teams won state titles and two others finished runner-up. Last year, four AHSBR teams won state crowns and another finished runner-up.

In three years, that gives local baseball teams 11 state championships.

AHSBR teams have established themselves as some of the best in the state and it’s a good bet Alpena will have several teams in the running to add to the recent local success this summer.

No. 9-Brad Moughon becomes Alpena’s football coach

The start of a new football season meant change was in the air for the Alpena football team in 2015 as Brad Moughon took over as head coach.

After a successful tenure as a coordinator and position coach at Tatum High in Texas, Moughon moved 1,600 miles north to Alpena and led the Wildcats to a 3-6 record in his first season.

While the Wildcats had their share of struggles, they also had some success under Moughon. After an 0-2 start to the season, Alpena won its next two games, starting off its Big North Conference slate with a 2-0 record and a stretch where the Wildcats won three games in four weeks.

Moughon has already laid some foundations for the program he hopes to build up, amping up Alpena’s efforts in the weight room and emphasizing improvement on each practice rep so that it will in turn lead to better effort and better results in games.

Though many players were asked to step up and fill key roles for the Wildcats for the first time in their careers, many of them fared well under Moughon’s system, including an emerging playmaking combo in sophomore quarterback Lars MacArthur and sophomore receiver Alex Arch.

Time will tell if the Wildcats turn into the kind of team Moughon’s aiming for; one that makes the playoffs regularly and expects to win. But with Moughon committed to building the program, the Wildcats have a coach in place who will bring some consistency to the program.

No. 10-Mitchell Day takes 2nd at XC finals

Headed into this year’s cross country state finals, Mitchell Day was aiming high. After finishing 14th as a sophomore, Day had his sights set on a top-10 finish this time around.

Day not only met his goal in 2015, he far exceeded it, finishing second with a career best time of 15:13.4. The finish earned Day all-state honors for the second consecutive year. He finished just behind the winner, who crossed the line in 15.10.4.

Day’s finish at the state finals capped off a junior season in which he was often the runner to beat during his races. He became Alpena’s first regional champion in several years and narrowly missed first-team Big North Conference honors.

With Day’s senior season still ahead of him, he’ll undoubtedly be looking to become state champion and he’ll likely be the man to beat in the Big North. With Isaac Cross and Aden Smith and Josh Smith among Alpena’s other returners, Day will also be looking to help the Wildcats qualify for the state finals as a team in 2016; something they missed by 11 points this year.

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