SPORTS

Tecumseh 10-11-12 girls softball continues special run

Sean Reider
The Daily Telegram
The Tecumseh 10-11-12 softball  team celebrates with the District 16 Michigan Little League banner Thursday after beating Blissfield at Mitchell Park.

TECUMSEH –– For Tecumseh 10-11-12 girls softball, the difference of two weeks has been something to behold. 

Two weeks ago, coach Keegan Grounds said they weren’t even sure if they’d be able to field a team, much less one knocking on the door of another state tournament appearance. 

“Families have vacations planned (this time of year),” he said. “So it’s, ‘OK, I can’t do it this year, we’re going to be gone.’ So, who’s gonna be around? Who’s willing to commit to it for the next couple of weeks? 

“And who do we think we can fit together to kind of put this together to work and hope for that, you know, ending?”

The ending Grounds referred to? It was Tecumseh’s 12-2 mercy win against Blissfield in the District 16 final on Thursday, punctuated by a madcap sprint around the bases with a championship banner fluttering wildly behind the team.

The victory, predated by prior wins in the quarterfinals against Onsted and semifinals against Blissfield, sealed another state tournament appearance in Grosse Pointe for Tecumseh and a unique turnaround for a young team which might not have had the chance to come together in a big spot. 

“I was hoping for a break this year, to be honest,” Grounds said. “But I said, ‘yeah, I’ll coach.’ I’m glad I did it now.” 

The Tecumseh 10-11-12 softball team unravels the Michigan District 16 Little League District Championship banner Thursday at Mitchell Park.

Of course, not all of this came together overnight. Cobbling the roster together on short notice presented a few challenges in terms of personnel. 

For instance: the battery of pitcher Laura Nadeau and catcher Reese Grounds. Grounds said they’d had no prior experience playing together but grew into their roles enough over the last two weeks to come up in a big spot for Tecumseh. 

“I could see them growing as a unit as this week went on and Reese has caught a lot of good pitchers,” he said. “I think that helped Laura, having a catcher back there that can handle somebody.”

In the district final, Nadeau flourished in the circle, striking out nine over four innings to keep Blissfield down while Tecumseh ran roughshod on the basepaths, using every passed ball and wild pitch to take another base and maximize each scoring opportunity. 

While Grounds said that was their strategy heading into the final, he mentioned the importance of distilling confidence in his team as the real reason they won. 

“The biggest thing is convincing those 12 girls that you can do this, you can play with these girls,” he said. “If they don’t believe it? We’re not where we are right now.” 

After achieving what Grounds said was their biggest goal, Tecumseh will look to take the confidence with them into the state tournament at Grosse Pointe in early July. 

“It’s another beast, it’s another level of what you see here,” Grounds said. “We’re a young team going into it so I look at it like we’re playing with house money right now.” 

But with only two weeks making all the difference, Grounds said he’s hoping this run will help change things heading into next season. 

“Our numbers are down this year,” he said. “So hopefully something like this will kind of boost that coming into next year.”