Howard Township wins two state championships

Published 10:24 am Thursday, July 12, 2018

NILES — Two days before the Howard Township 11U All-Stars were scheduled to compete in the Michigan Cal Ripken state tournament, coach Rick Morrison received an interesting phone call.

It seems as if there would not be any competition for Howard Township at the state tournament in the 11-year-old division.

But tournament officials said they could compete in the 12U state tournament instead if they wanted to.

So with the 11-year-old championship already in hand, Morrison and his team decided to step up an age bracket and take their chances.

“They said we could come and play in the 12U division so we could get our games in,” Morrison said. “You get the 11U championship by default, but you also have a chance to win the 12U state championship too.”

Not only did Howard Township play in the state tournament against older teams, it defeated every single one of them on its way to a second state championship.

“They are like a pocket-sized team,” Morrison said. “They are small and fast. So, when we get in there and see some of those other teams, they had some players that were six-feet tall. But we told the kids to just go out there and do what they do. We said ‘let’s go out there and play and have some fun.’”

On Friday, Howard Township defeated Rosedale 10-2 and lost to Brandywine 7-6.

On Saturday, the all-stars came back through the consolation bracket to defeat Alpena 10-4 and the Howard Township 12U All-Stars 14-3 to advance to Sunday’s semifinals.

Howard Township got its revenge against Brandywine, winning 8-6, to move into the title game against Alpena.

Howard Township won 14-8 to advance to the Ohio Valley Regional being hosted in Lexington, Kentucky July 19-22.

The Howard All-Stars are a close-knit group that Morrison has coached since they were 6 years old.

“The bond these kids have with each other is insane,” he said. “They are really easy to coach. They are really well-behaved. They all play together, hang out together and are really good friends. Their parents have all become friends.”

The Howard Township All-Stars will be hosting a fundraising car wash at noon Sunday at Advanced Auto, which is donating supplies, to help offset the cost of food and lodging in Kentucky.

The team also has a GoFundMe page (gofundme.com/howard-11u-all-stars-to-regionals) to help raise money for the trip.