Football season in review: Interview with Senior Kyle Yuncker

Beal City finished the season 7-4 and all of their losses came from teams with at least 8 wins on the season. The Aggies' season ended in the second round of the playoffs with a loss to Muskegon Catholic Central, who went on to win the Division 8 State Title. I had the opportunity to speak with senior athlete Kyle Yuncker about Beal City's 2016 football season:

Q: What were your expectations for the team heading into your season?

A: "I had a good feeling with the group because of the way the seniors and the juniors get along. I've always had a lot of fun playing with the class below me and I knew that the season was going to be a good one."

Q: Would you consider your season a success?

A: “Yes, I would say it was a success. We played our hearts out every game and learned to persevere. We learned many valuable lessons throughout the season and we all meshed really well.”

Q: How do you think you did personally? Did you meet your own expectations?

A:"Personally, I just wanted to bond with everyone and play as a unit this year which we have struggled doing the past couple years. I surpassed what I thought I could do as an individual being honorable mention all-state, so that was pretty cool. But overall I thought I met my goals as being a better teammate."

Kyle is planning on attending CMU next year! Good luck Kyle and Fire Up Chips!

Daniel Beckwith Interview

I had the great opportunity to interview the Boys Varsity Track and Field coach Dan Beckwith about the season this year and his experience coaching the team. He has stated that they have gotten strong contributions from several leaders on the team.  I asked coach Beckwith what it was like to coach the team this year.

"We have had great professionalism from our guys this year. They work hard and push each other. As a coach, that is a dream scenario."

The Aggies have had a successful season thus far, and coach Beckwith attributes that to their leadership and accountability.

"It is rare when you have a team with multiple leaders, in any situation. Even though this is a sport where you're running by yourself in most given events, everyone works together as a team and holds each other accountable. The vocal leaders really get everyone fired up and everyone else feeds off of them."

The Aggies will try to continue their success this Friday at the Clare Invitational. Good luck to coach Beckwith and the rest of the Aggies Track and Field team!

Beal City Track and Field Set to Attend Clare Invitational

The Beal City Aggies Track and Field team have been selected to compete in the annual Clare Invitational. The meet will be held Friday April 28 at the Brookwood Athletic Facility in Clare, MI. The Aggies are entering the meet on a good note, coming off strong showings against Evart and in the Blue and Gold invitational in Ithaca. They are led by runners including Brendan Shaner, Caitlyn Matthews, Jason Clark, and Kayla Bierschbach. Come out to support the Aggies on Friday starting at 3:00 p.m!

Nothing like a School Rivalry

It’s rivalry day for both boy’s baseball and girls’ softball as they travel to Sacred Heart Academy for double headers.  Earlier this week on Tuesday, April 25, both baseball and softball took an hour-long trip up the road to McBain.  Today, April 27, Beal City looks to come out on top in all four games.  Boys’ baseball is looking to capture two non-conference game wins over Sacred Heart who have had a little more success with the bats compared to Beal City.  Currently, Sacred Heart Academy’s boys’ baseball team is averaging three runs a game compared to Beal City’s 1.3 runs per game.  Beal City has a strong pitching group though that is looking to keep both hits and runs at a minimum for the Irishmen.  On the girls’ side, Beal City looks to pull off a win over Sacred Heart Academy in a non-conference match-up between the two teams.  With a young team, Beal City is still trying to get their legs under them for the season.  They are hoping with two wins against Sacred Heart Academy today that it puts them in the right direction for forward progress.  With Sacred Heart Academy being a huge rival for the Aggies, walking away with four wins for the day from the Irishmen’s territory would be monumental!  Both baseball and softball games start at 4:00pm, so make sure to head out and catch the games.  We wish both teams the best of luck!

By: Valerie Johnson

Mid-season Interview with Thomas McCann

Recently, I spoke with senior pitcher and shortstop Thomas McCann about the Beal City varsity boys baseball team and how they're doing midway through the season. McCann is a four year varsity baseball player and captain of this years 3-7 Aggie squad, but he believes their record doesn't tell the whole story.

"People can say what they want about our record, but we've gained a lot of momentum recently. We're on a three game winning streak and playing some really good baseball right now." 

So far, the Aggies have played some very tough competition, which McCann believes will help them during the post season. "We've played Bay City Central, Fowler, and one of the top ranked Division 1 schools in Saginaw Heritage. They all were good teams and I think that'll help prepare us for the playoffs." 

(Senior Thomas McCann Pitches)

After Tuesdays sweep of McBain High School, the Aggies will look to take two more against rival Sacred Heart High School on Thursday. "Tuesday we hit the ball really well against McBain. We also ran the bases really well and didn't have any errors. It was definitely our best baseball of the season and hopefully we can do the same Thursday."

The Aggies are happy they will get another shot at the Irish of Sacred Heart after two games they felt they really deserved to win last year. As for the playoffs, McCann likes his team's chances. 

"Our teams grown so much during the season that we've really started to reach our full potential and hopefully we'll keep building off it and make a great run in the playoffs."

As for McCann, he's received some attention from college coaches from divisions 1-3, but he's unsure where he'll play next season.

The Aggies have a chance to sweep two games tomorrow and ride a five game winning streak into next weeks games against Manton High School. 

We want to wish the Aggies good luck tomorrow and throughout the rest of the season! Go Aggies!

Baseball Dominates McBain in Game 1

On a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, the Beal City junior varsity baseball team was in action against McBain High School. The Aggies were in control throughout all of game one and gave the Ramblers all they could handle.

Aggie pitcher Ty Schafer took the mound against the Rambles and started the game with a quick 1-2-3 inning. The Aggies would then hit through the lineup in the bottom of the first. They brought home two runs after two passed balls allowed the Aggies to score. Beal City would take a 2-0 lead into the second inning.

In the second inning, Beal City would bring in five more runs to take a commanding 7-0 lead. Walks and smart base running by the Aggies kept the inning alive and allowed them to take a strangle hold on game one.

However, the Ramblers would fight back in the top of the fourth. An RBI triple would bring in two runs, but that would be all the damage McBain would do on the day. The final score would end up being 7-2 Beal City.

For the Aggies, Schafer went 7 innings, allowing five hits, two runs, and eight strikeouts. He mowed down hitters all day and had a very good outing.

The junior varsity baseball team will follow Tuesdays win with a trip to Alma, Wednesday April 25th. The doubleheader will begin at 4:00 and we hope to see Aggie nation out there supporting!

Baseball and Softball to Start the Week

Boys’ baseball and girls’ softball take on McBain High School today (April 25) at 4:30pm.  Both varsity squads head to McBain while Beal City gets to host both junior varsity games at home.  The baseball and softball teams are coming off of multiple games from this past weekend’s tournament.   Before the weekend games, the week day game on Thursday, April 20 had been cancelled.  With a secured win today, it would allow both teams to continue on a role towards wins this coming Thursday, April 27.  We want to wish both the junior varsity and varsity teams the best of luck in their games this week.  #GoAggies

By: Valerie Johnson

4/24 Week Sports Preview

Our Aggie spring sports teams are going to be very busy this week! Here is a preview of the week to come:

On Monday , there aren't any games for any of our Aggie sports teams. However spring sports pictures will be taking place at 3:00.

On Tuesday, the Aggie track and field teams will be hosting a track meet against Evart High School. Come out and support our Aggies as events begin at 4:30. Beal City baseball and softball also will be in action on Tuesday. Varsity baseball and varsity softball will travel McBain high school to take on the Ramblers. while junior varsity baseball and softball will host McBain at home. All of these games begin at 4:00 and are double headers! 

The junior high boys and girls track teams will have a meet on Wednesday at home against Pine River, but no games or meets other than that. The meet begins at 4:30 and we hope to see a lot of blue supporting!

Thursday will be full of action as the Aggie's varsity baseball, varsity softball, junior varsity softball, and junior high track and field teams will all be in action! Varsity baseball and varsity softball will travel to take on the rival Irishmen of Sacred Heart! Those games begin at 4:00 and will be double headers. The junior varsity softball team will host Sacred Heart at home. Those games begin at 4:00 also. Finally, our junior high track and field team will be participating in the Montabella Invite. The invite begins at 4:00.

The week will conclude Friday, as the boys and girls varsity track and field will participate in the Clare Invite. The track meet begins at 3:00 so be sure to come support our Aggies!

We also want to wish all of the Beal City students and athletes a great night at prom! Have fun and be safe!

Make sure to support our Aggie teams throughout this busy week! Good luck and go Aggies!

Softball and Baseball home games canceled (4/20/2017)

Both the varsity baseball and varsity softball home games have been canceled due to bad weather. The softball team was set to play John Glenn High School and the baseball team was set to play Alma High School. If these games get rescheduled there will be an edit to this post, or there will be another blog post. Thanks and Go Aggies!

Upton's 10 K's Not Enough in Beal City Opener

The varsity baseball team at Beal City didn't expect to be playing their first game on April 11th. They also didn't expect to be playing in what felt like playoff football weather. However, on Tuesday the Aggies got their first taste of the 2017 baseball season in a tough match up against the Bay City Central Wolves.

On opening day, the Aggies started junior pitcher Brett Upton. Beal City started slow and fell behind 2-0 after the 1st inning. However, they would settle down as Upton would continue to mow down hitters. He followed up a stellar second inning by striking out the side in the third. The Aggie defense held strong, but they couldn't seem to get a run across. Collin Sharrar would get the first Aggie hit of the season on a ground ball up the middle, but he would eventually get stranded at third to end the inning. 

                                       (Brett Upton pitching 4/11/17 Photo by Joey Paciero)

Both teams continued to battle keeping the score at 2-0 until the top of the sixth. The bases would be loaded as starting pitcher Brett Upton would exit the game. He finished with 10 strikeouts allowing 4 runs and a walk in 5 1/3 innings. The top of the sixth would eventually be a seven run inning for the Wolves. 

Trailing 9-0, It would've been easy for the Aggies to lay down and die, but they kept fighting. In the bottom of the sixth, senior Thomas McCann would hit an RBI double to put Beal City on the board. Brett Upton followed his double, with one of his own that hit the center field fence bringing McCann in to score. However, their rally would fall short and Bay City Central would go on to win 10-2. 

The second game of the double header would be called due to darkness. However, the boys will be back in action Thursday, April 13th at 4:00 to take on Claire High School at home! The Aggies baseball team will look for their first win of the season so make sure you come out and support them!

Aggie's Look for Opening Day Wins

Both the Aggie baseball and softball teams did not believe their seasons would begin in mid April. However, due to inclement weather against Shepherd High School on March 27 & 28, both the softball and baseball seasons begin today against Bay Central High School!
After returning from Spring break, the softball and baseball teams will look to start off the season with a win. The games begin at 4:00 at Beal City High School!
We hope to see everyone out there supporting our Aggies!

Coach Davis and Team Ready to "Knock the Season Out of the Park"

I had the pleasure of attending a softball practice and interviewing Beal City’s Head Softball Coach, John Davis and a few of the varsity softball members earlier this week to discuss the upcoming season for Beal City.  We got to talk and crack a few jokes about what both Coach Davis and the players are excited about for this upcoming week and season.

As a head coach, John Davis has high aspirations for the team this year.  He wants to kick off the season and beat some of the bigger teams that are not in the Highland Conference with Beal City.  Coach Davis has his eyes set on capturing a win from schools like Mt. Pleasant, Bay Central, and Clare.  Although he states that it is a tough schedule to begin the season, by the end of the season, “The record will not show it when we are done, it will ultimately make them better throughout the season.”  As for the players, Evart was high on the list of teams that they wanted to beat this year along with Clare.  The players main overall goal though seems to be getting their picture in the weight room at the end of the season.  This can only be accomplished if they win Districts.  The District game may be farther down the road, but the entire Varsity squad was in unison when this goal came into question.  It is something they are determined to accomplish.

This is Beal City’s first week back since last week was Spring Break.  Due to this, Coach Davis feels that it is hard to tell how the team is looking right now.  Before the break, he stated that both the pitching and batting were looking extremely good.  He did say that they are still a little rusty on the field, but it should be an easy fix and they will be back to normal.  When it comes to the team progressing through the season, he feels they are in a great position to finish strong in the conference.  “We play bigger teams at the beginning and are able to stay competitive with them and sometimes beat them.  This makes it hard for our conference teams to deal with us when they face us later on.”

With the team having their first game rescheduled and then later cancelled due to weather, the team is biting at the bit to start games.  “It can be really claustrophobic in the gym we start the season off practicing in.  This year we have had the advantage of getting outside a little earlier, which the girls always look forward to.”  This has provided the young team, that has no seniors, a chance to better prepare for the upcoming season though.  Most of the team has been lucky enough to be the same as the ten-year travel team.  Alli Peak, a junior, states, “We all know what each other can do.  I know where they (my teammates) play and they know where I play.  It isn’t anything new which adds an excitement level to know that we are all a team again.”

With two freshmen, seven sophomores, and three juniors rounding at the roster, there is still a chance to better learn the game and gain experience at the varsity level.  The team needed to fill the shortstop and first baseman positions, and luckily there are some young players who are able to step up and fill those positions when needed.  “The shortstop position was filled by a freshman, but we are still trying to work out the first base position.  We run into some problems when some girls have to pitch and they cannot take on position for us during that time.”  Although the team is young, they are determined to not let that stop them.  Shelby Trevino made the comment, “I think we are a young team, but I think we have a lot of potential.  I think we will be able to do great things this season.”

Although they were supposed to open their season at the end of March, due to weather, they get to open the bats this week.  Beal City Softball will start their season tomorrow, April 11, at 4:00 against Bay Central.  They will also take on Clare on Thursday, April 13.  Beal City will get the pleasure of hosting both varsity games at home this week.

By: Valerie Johnson

Members of the Beal City Varsity Softball Team stretch prior to practice

Make sure to check out bonus content from the interview and pictures from practice on our instagram and twitter accounts.

One Season Ends for Another to Begin

It was a sad couple of days for Beal City High School when both boys’ and girls’ basketball took the court for the final time this season.  Although neither team finished the way that they had hoped to come out, both teams had some star moments this season.

To start off with the girls’ team, they finished sixth in the Highland Conference per MaxPreps.com with a 4-10 league play record and a 5-16 overall record.   One standout game they had was against Evart on February 9 when they pulled off a 55-50 win.  A week later, Beal City girls had another impressive win of 48-13 over Marion.  With the season ending, Beal City will miss the seniors lost this year that include: Haley McMullen, Mackenzie Schneider, and Natalie Gross.  The remaining girls will look to build upon this past season while heading into next season with key returners: Ashley Reihl, Alex Fussman, and Mackenzie Yuncker.

On the boys’ side, Beal City finished with a third-place finish in the Highland Conference per MaxPreps.com with a 8-5 league play record and a 11-9 overall record.  One of the boys’ standout games was on February 7 against Sacred Heart.  They walked away with a whopping 67-38 win against Sacred Heart.  This was also Coach Cam Gatrell’s 200^th career win.  Another impressive game by the boys was on March 2 when Beal City pulled off the close win against the Lake City Trojans winning 73-67.  Since the season has come to the end, the boys’ team has had to say goodbye to one lone senior, Kyle Yuncker.  The team will have a strong returning class for next year to build upon the positives from this season which will be led by: Lucas Schumacher, Ryan Schafer, and Logan Chillman.

Although it is sad to know that the winter sports season has come to an end on the court, there are plenty of new activities starting up this spring.  Both softball and baseball practice started yesterday, March 13.  They start games up and hit the ground running towards the end of March and the beginning of April.  Both boys’ and girls’ track and field also start up to help finish out the school year on a high athletic note.  We want to wish all the upcoming sports teams the best of luck to start off their seasons!  #GoAggies

By: Valerie Johnson

We Wore Blue for Kelly Pung

Coach Antcliff with the girl's during a timeout.

Last Tuesday, February 21, 2017, Beal City Athletics did something truly amazing.  They came together as a community to bring hope and awareness for Kelly Pung’s fight against cancer during Beal City’s girls’ basketball game against the NMC Comets.  The girl’s team may not have pulled out a win in the game, but awareness was brought to a fantastic cause.

The game got off to a slow start for the Aggies when after the first quarter they were down 28-2.  The lone score for the Aggies was made off of an offensive rebound by sophomore, Alex Fussman.  She continued to have an impressive night for the Aggies by nailing a three late in the fourth quarter and by taking charge of the Aggie offense.

Another impressive standout for the Aggies that night was junior, Ashley Reihl.  She continuously battled on both the offensive and especially the defensive side of the ball for rebounds.  These are stats that not very many people pay attention to, so we wanted to give her some credit.  She impressed us enough with these behind the scene battles to win Athlete of the Week honors from our blog staff for last week.

Although the final score for the game was not in Beal City’s favor finishing 18-68, there was still a win on the night.  Beal City students, staff, and community members helped raise a whopping $4,186.  Some of the areas that raised money were the t-shirts that people were able to purchase with the saying, “I Wear Blue for Kelly Pung” on the back.  As a spectator, the front truly captured my attention reading, “Not all Cancer is Pink.”  Along with the t-shirts, there was a bake sale, bracelets for sale, and a 50/50 raffle.  To truly capture the Beal City spirit though, one had to be there for the halftime half-court shot.  This was run by Beal City’s own “Blue Crew,” an organization run by Beal City High School students, that raised an additional $57 to help Kelly’s fight.  Watch the video below to catch a couple lucky participants drain their half court shot!

By: Valerie Johnson

Aggies Lose a Tough One

The Aggies girls varsity basketball team was defeated on Thursday, February 23 by the Manton Rangers with a final score of 66-38. Manton controlled the game from the start despite a strong effort from the Aggies.

The loss drops the Aggies to 5-15, with an upcoming neutral torunament on Wednesday, March 1. The tournament will be held at Beaverton High School. The tournament will include opponents from within the district as well as Farewell Area Schools and Montabella High School. The Aggies will be looking to avenge an early season loss to Montebella in which they were defeated 49-27. 

Make sure to come out and support our Beal City Aggie girls this Wednesday, March 1 at Beaverton High!  

Aggies Keeping Busy

Beal City Aggie Athletics has a busy week ahead of them for both boys and girls’ basketball. 

For starters, Aggie boys take on Baldwin at Baldwin tonight (February 14, 2017) at 7:30pm.  Baldwin is currently 12-1 while Beal City is 9-4.  It will be a tough match-up for the Aggies, but if the boys are able to keep Baldwin below their 19.6-point average in the third quarter and if Beal City can match their 14.8-point average in the second quarter, there should be a fighting chance for Beal City to come out with a win.

The next basketball game up for the boys will be a conference match-up on February 16, 2017 at Marion.  This game will also start at 7:30pm.  In the last game between the two teams in January, Beal City Aggies pulled off a 64-35 win over the Eagles.  After that game, the boys turn back into students to hand the athletics over to the girls to finish out the week.

The Beal City Aggie girls take on Marion at Marion on Friday, February 17, 2017 at 7:30pm.  This is a conference game between the two teams.  In the last match-up between the Aggies and the Eagles, Beal City pulled off a big win of 56-9.  It looks to be another big game for the Aggie Athletic program since the girl’s will have all week to prepare for the game.

Also, reminder to check out our social media pages! You will see more daily and weekly material available on all your favorite Aggie Athletic events.

By: Valerie Johnson

Beal City Boys Dominate Rival Irishmen on the Road

On Tuesday night in a packed Sacred Heart Academy gymnasium, Beal City varsity boys basketball head coach Cam Gatrell picked up his 200th career win during a rout of rival Sacred Heart Academy. 

The Aggies jumped out to an early 12-6 lead midway through the first quarter, and lead 10-17 after one. However, the Irish would fight back and eventually cut the lead to three. 

After a Beal City timeout, the Aggies would respond which was capped off with freshman Logan Chillman's layup in the closing seconds. Beal City would go into the locker room leading 32-21. 

From there, juniors Lucas Schumacher and Ryan Schafer would get heat up from the field. Schafer scored eight straight points himself to grow the Aggie lead to 14. Schumacher would knock down back to back triples after that and the lead was 20 after three quarters. 

Beal City would cruise the rest of the way with much delight to the very well traveling 

Aggie fans. The starters would receive a nice ovation as they headed to the bench late in the fourth quarter. Beal City would go on to win the game 68-37.

The Aggies were paced by Schumacher who finished with 20 points and Schafer who finished wth 17. Kyle Yunker also added 10.

On the other side, Sacred Heart was lead by Joe Methner with 16, and Colten Nelson with nine in the losing effort..

With the big road win, the Aggies are 8-4 on the year. They will travel to Evart (4-6) to face the Wildcats Friday, February 10 at 7:30. The boys are playing some of their best basketball of the season so be sure to make the trip! 

Boys Varsity Basketball Game Preview

After a huge comeback win against rival Sacred Heart Academy earlier in the year, the Beal City's boys varsity basketball team will once again face off with the Irish. However, this time the game is on the road. The boys games begin at 6:00 on Tuesday, February 7 (tonight), at Sacred Heart with j.v. followed by varsity at 7:30.  The varsity will look to sweep the season series against SHA and improve to 8-4 on the season with a win. Come out and support the boys on the road tonight!
Follow us on Twitter @bcaggieathletic for live video and updates! Go Aggies!

(Photo taken by Skip Taylor of MI Prep Zone on 12/20/16)

By Joey Paciero

Boy's Basketball Game Tomorrow!

Boy's Varsity Basketball

Opponent: McBain
When: February 2nd at 7:30 pm
Where: Beal City High School

The boy's basketball team takes on McBain High School, hoping to hand McBain their first loss of their season (13-0). The teams met once before this season with McBain winning by a final score of 73-32. Come watch as men's team tries to settle the score at home this Thursday.

By: Landon Dillion

About the Aggie Blogger Team

By: Valerie Johnson

As we all move farther into the Spring semester, we want to give a little bit of background information on each one of the writers who will be generating stories about Beal City Athletics.  As we stated in our welcome blog post, we are four students attending Central Michigan University.  Feel free to contact any of the writers below if you have any questions or comments on our stories or our future work at bcaggieblogger@gmail.com. 

The Beal City Aggie Blogger Team:

Jordan Brown:  Jordan is a junior Sports Management major at Central Michigan.  One interesting fact about him is that his cousin is Scottie Pippen.  Follow Jordan on twitter at @itsjaybrown

Landon Dillion: Landon is a sophomore Sports Management major at Central Michigan.  Some of his hobbies include watching sports and reading.  Make sure to follow him on twitter at @LandonDillion06 

Valerie Johnson: Valerie is a junior Sports Management major at Central Michigan.  She enjoys spending time with family and friends, especially her teammates on the CMU Women's track team.  Follow Valerie on twitter at @vrjohnson1 and Instagram at @vrjohnson1. 

Joey Paciero: Joey is a sophomore Sports Management major at Central Michigan.  He is excited to be back around high school athletics after playing three years of varsity basketball and soccer at Divine Child High School and having experience both coaching and scouting for Detroit Southeast.  Make sure to follow him on twitter at @Joey_Paciero and on Instagram at @jpaciero.

Welcome!

By: Valerie Johnson

Welcome! I just want to welcome you to the Beal City Aggie Athletics blog.  This is a blog written by four Central Michigan University students throughout the 2017 Spring term for our Sports Communication Class.  With this blog, we plan to keep you updated through a variety of multimedia content on different athletic events taking place within Beal City High School.  We also want to grant our blog visitors with some additional content for the different winter and spring sport teams and their schedules.  Make sure to keep a lookout for more content to come in the following couple of days and weeks.  Also, look for our other social media sites to be developed and make sure to give us a follow to stay up to date on all new blog posts and extras.