9
Thursday, June 4, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS
was hit in the shoulder. Anoth-
er two-on, two-outs situation for
Michigan’s offense, and this time it
was Blanco’s turn.
But yet again, the Gators got out
alive when Blanco grounded out to
the short stop. Overall, the Wolver-
ines could not handle Haeger in the
circle Wednesday night. She was
named the tournament’s Most Out-
standing Player.
“(Lauren Haeger) was great
tonight,” Hutchins said. “A very
deserving champion. She definitely
took care of business.”
Against
Betsa,
the
Gators
couldn’t get a single run, as the Big
Ten Pitcher of the Year handed
Florida eight strikeouts. However,
she hit a multitude of batters to load
the bags and was taken out in the
bottom of the sixth when Wagner
returned to the circle.
In the final inning, Ramirez got
onto first base as Florida’s short
stop couldn’t handle her slapper in
time. Michigan’s next batter, junior
centerfielder
Sierra
Lawrence,
struck out looking, and Romero
returned to the plate. Romero
grounded to the shortstop, who
tossed to second for the next out,
and sophomore outfielder Kelly
Christner stepped into the box,
Michigan’s last chance.
But after three pitches, Christ-
ner grounded out to first, and the
season was over. The Florida Gators
were the 2015 National Champions.
“I told my team today, and I
told my team (Tuesday), ‘Tonight
doesn’t
define
our
season,’
”
Hutchins said. “We would’ve liked
to walk out of here with the other
trophy, but this has been a great
team. I’m really proud of them.”
CHAMPIONSHIP
From Page 1A
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan Softball
60
Wins by the 2015 Michigan softball team,
second-most in school history
122
Home runs by the Wolverines, first in the
nation and most in school history
100
Wins on the mound for Haylie Wagner,
third-most in history
2005
Michigan’s lone NCAA Title season after
team lost to Florida Wednesday
Compher named ‘M’ captain,
Nieves and Selman alternates
By ZACH SHAW
Summer Managing Sports Editor
The Michigan hockey team
announced
Wednesday
after-
noon that junior forward JT
Compher will serve as the team’s
captain for the 2015-16 season.
Senior forwards Justin Sel-
man and Boo Nieves were named
alternate captains.
“It’s an honor
to be considered
by the coaching
staff and your
teammates for a
leadership posi-
tion,” Compher
said. “To wear a
letter on a team
with such tra-
dition, I think
all three of us
are excited about the role. We
work well together, and I think
we have a really good opportu-
nity to make a difference on this
team.”
The
announcement
comes
after Compher tallied 24 points
in his sophomore campaign.
Though it failed to match the 31
points he tallied in his freshman
season — which earned him Big
Ten Freshman of the Year hon-
ors — the forward developed
as a leader and motivator, find-
ing success away from the puck
while alternating between wing
and center on the team’s top two
lines.
“He competes more than
anybody I’ve ever seen,” Sel-
man said. “When he competes
in practice, it kind of fires you up
and creates this contagious atti-
tude amongst the team.”
Added Nieves: “He’s fierce,
he’s relentless, especially at prac-
tice. He gets
guys
going,
he’ll hit you
in
practice,
he
doesn’t
care who you
are, he’ll find
a way to get
you going and
it carries into
the
games,
so it’s really
good.”
Compher
succeeds
former
linemate Andrew Copp, who
gave up his senior season of eli-
gibility to join the Winnipeg Jets
in March.
Selman and Nieves received
the honor as two of the remain-
ing three seniors on the team.
Nieves was fifth on the team
in scoring last season with 28
points, while Selman notched
the team’s second-highest +/-
with 18 and 23 points in 26 games
after tallying just 13 points his
first two seasons combined.
Still seeking their first post-
season berth after three seasons,
the duo know they will need to
elevate their game even further.
“As guys have left through-
out the years, our class has been
pretty
strong,”
Nieves
said.
“Now it’s down to us, and I think
we have what it takes to lead this
group and get us back on track.”
Compher, Nieves and Sel-
man headline a core of 19 Wol-
verines set to return next fall.
Despite the losses of forwards
Zach Hyman, Dylan Larkin and
Copp, the team’s top-three scor-
ers, high summer participation
has the captain confident for his
team’s upcoming voyage.
“Obviously the goal is to get
back to the postseason, and it
starts with the little things,”
Compher said. “We have all
the guys in town working out
right now, and everyone’s really
focused on making sure that
each day is good, and the main
thing for us is the attention to
detail in the little things that we
do.
“For
us,
the
difference
between making the (NCAA)
Tournament and not is very small,
so anything that you can do to
improve yourself and improve the
team has to be done if we want to
make it back.”
“He’s fierce,
he’s relentless,
especially at
practice.”
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Junior forward JT Compher was named the Michigan hockey team’s captain after tallying 24 points in his sophomore year