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Hurons’ softball dynasty continues

Rogers City Hurons raise up fourth straight regional title trophy. The Hurons took down Onaway.

ROGERS CITY, Mich. — The Rogers City softball dynasty continues. Another season in the books. The Hurons finished the 2019 campaign (27-8) overall and (12-0) in the North Star League. Head Coach Karl Grambau has built a strong foundation in Rogers City. The softball team has won eight straight district titles (2012-19), four consecutive regional championships (2016-19) and advanced to back-to-back state semifinal appearances.

“Nobody thought we would have made it back to MSU,” said senior captain Taylor Fleming. “We proved everyone wrong once again, and made it there again.”

The Hurons did not begin their softball career in high school. Nine athletes started out playing little league together. Team-bonding and having fun have always been a priority for this team. Now, six seniors will be hanging up their jersey’s for one last time: Taylor Fleming, Amanda Wirgau, Linnea Hentkowski, Catheryn Hart, Alissa Bowden and Ashleigh Morgan.

“They really were close together,” said Grambau. “The improvement from the beginning of the year to the end of the year just shows what a team can do when you work and work together.”

For season standout stats, junior all-state pitcher Kyrsten Altman dished out 189 strikeouts, allowing 114 hits and 39 earned runs. At bat, the Hurons totaled 280 runs, 286 hits and 14 home runs, eight of those dingers from Fleming.

“It was different kids stepping up all year. You know as a team we had lower batting averages this year than we’ve had in the past, but we had huge hits,” said Grambau. “We had great big hits by some of the kids with the lowest averages and it was just great.”

Fleming and Wirgau joined Altman on the all-state list, but it took a team effort to get there.

“I’m going to miss all of the people I’ve played with over the years,” said Wirgau. “You know, we’ve played in little league and up to this year and knowing it was our final game together.”

All-State Honors:
Pitcher-Kyrsten Altman
Shortstop-Taylor Fleming
Catcher-Amanda Wirgau (Honorable Mention)

All-Region Honors:
Pitcher-Kyrsten Altman
1st Base-Jeffra Dittmar
Shortstop-Taylor Fleming
3rd Base-Catheryn Hart
Catcher-Amanda Wirgau
Coach-Karl Grambau

All-District Honors:
Pitcher-Kyrsten Altman
Shortstop-Taylor Fleming
3rd Base-Catheryn Hart
Catcher-Amanda Wirgau
Coach-Karl Grambau

Academic All-State:
Amanda Wirgau
Ashley Morgan