Monday, May 19, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
11
FRESH IMPRESSIONS
Powers's out says
more than homers
Freshman Jordan Taylor pitches in Michigan's 5-0 win over Kent State in the Ann Arbor Regional championship game..
""Youth key in regional title
Michigan softball coach
Carol Hutchins knew how per-
fect the situation seemed.
But also
how danger-
ous it could
be.
The3
bases were
loaded with
two outs in
the fourth DAN
inning of FELDMAN
yesterday's ED
NCAA
Regional
championship game, and
sophomore catcher Roya St.
Clair was due up. Hutchins had
already pinch hit for St. Clair
with freshman Marley Pow-
ers in the Wolverines' other
two games in the tournament,
and Powers hit two home runs
- a grand slam against Wright
State on Friday to put the
Wolverines on the board and
a three-run shot again Notre
Dame on Saturday.
Everyone knew the substitu-
tion was coming. Powers had
left the dugout to get a few
practice swings, the crowd was
buzzing and several reporters
in the press box were waxing
poetically about her.
It was hard not to be excited
to see what the Owosso native
would do. Her season statistics
were staggering.
20 at-bats.
21 RBI.
Four home runs.
Three grand slams.
A .400 batting average.
A 1.000 slugging percentage.
After her second home run
in as many days, Powers, who
entered high school at 4-foot-11,
100 pounds and didn't homer
until her senior year, was asked
Saturday if she would describe
her hitting lately as "silly."
"Yeah," Powers said giggling.
"Oh, yeah. Silly is a good word."
But Hutchins, who sat two
seats to Powers's left and was
not pleased with the direction
of the conversation, gave one of
her infamous scowls.
"I don't think the word silly
is what I'd use to describe Mar-
ley," Hutchins said later. "She's
taken some good hacks, and
she's a big-time hitter.
"Whether she gets it done
or not, my biggest concern is
just being consistent with our
approach because that's the
only thing that we can control."
So when the coach called on
See FELDMAN, Page 12
"+a
By RUTH LINCOLN
Daily Sports Writer
Experience wasn't necessary.
Two freshmen - pitcher Jor-
dan Taylor and first baseman
Dorian Shaw - led the No. 4-
overall seed Michigan softball
team to a 5-0 victory over Kent
State in the NCAA Regional
championship game at Alumni
Field yesterday.
Taylor threw her second
straight complete-game shutout,
and Shaw solidified Michigan's
lead in the sixth inning when
she ripped a grand slam over the
right-field fence. She had all five
Wolverine RBI and both hits.
Unlike their teammates, they
couldn't turn to other postsea-
son experiences. They could only
draw upon Friday's 13-5 win over
Wright State and Saturday's 8-0
win over Notre Dame. But that
didn't hold them back from help-
ing Michigan advance to its fifth
straight super regional, hosting
Virginia Tech next weekend.
"They don't come and play as
freshmen - they come and playas
part of this team," senior Saman-
tha Findlay said. "That's what we
need them to do."
Findlay and fellow senior co-
captain Alessandra Giampaolo
were key components as fresh-
men in 2005, Michigan's lone
See SOFTBALL, Page 12
MiS TRACK AND iELD
Michigan wins its first Big Ten Title under Warhurst
By ANTHONY OLIVEIRA
DailySports Writer
The Michigan men's track and
field team has been on the rise the
past few years.
From consistently placing in the
bottom half of the Big Ten Out-
door Championships earlier in the
decade, the Wolverines have since
made steady strides. Two years ago,
Michigan finished fifth. Last season,
it broke onto the podium at third
And as the hollering on their
bus ride home from Champaign
showed, the Wolverines continued
their ascent this weekend, claiming
their first Big Ten Championship
since 1983 and first under Michigan
coach Ron Warhurst.
"I'm giddy," Warhurst said as he
quieted down the elated Wolver-
ines. "I'm tired and exhausted. I feel
great. It's a great, great experience.
We haven't done it in 25years. These
kids weren't even alive the last time
we won one."
Battling the flu and injuries,
Michigan faced adversity all year.
The Wolverines finished a disap-
pointing sixth at Big Ten Indoors
and lost "The Dual" against Ohio
State. And for this meet, they stayed
56 miles away from the Illinois
Track & Field Stadium after losing
their hotel room a week ago.
But with everything coming
together the previous two meets,
Michigan knew it had a chance to
surpass Wisconsin, winners of the
past four Big Ten Championships.
Sophomore FrankShotwellbegan
Michigan's meet with solid show-
ings in the first day inthe decathlon.
He finished in the top three in 4-of-
5 events, but sat fourth after strug-
gling on the high jump at the end
of day one. On the second day, he
started with two first-place finishes
in the110-meterhurdles and discus
throw. Shotwell needed to beat out
Penn State's Shawn Colligan by 2.4
seconds in the 1,500-meter run, the
decathlon's final event. He edged
Colligan by 2.6 seconds to win.
"It's tough to put into words what
is going on right now," Shotwell said
through the Athletic Department.
"I just did it for my teammates."
Led by redshirt sophomore Sean
Pruitt's program-record hammer
throw, Michigan had a huge boost
from its field competitors, which
scored more than 30 points, com-
pared to less than 10 last year.
Yesterday,juniorAdamHarrisled
the Wolverines, who entered the day
infifth,tovictory.Anchored by Har-
ris, the Michigan 4X100-meter relay
team won its first title since 1982.
Including Harris's victory in the
200-meter dash, all 13 qualifiers
scored for Michigan on Sunday.
"You really have to give a lot of
credit to my coaches David Kaiser
and Fred LaPlante," Warhurst said.
"They really put the team together
over the past year or so. We're in
this together. We're a group. The
team is really solid."
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