SPORTSI n s i d e

S p o t l i g h tF R O M T H E S I D E L I N E S“I’m sad it’s over, but I’m ready for the

new journey.”– Morley Stanwood senior Travis Mc-

Cuaig

By KirKland CrawfordMCT News serviCe

DETROIT — Victor Martinez was 3-for-4 with a home run, a dou-ble and two runs scored as the De-troit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indi-ans, 7-5, tonight at Comerica Park.

Justin Verlander (8-4) pitched seven innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out six on 108 pitches.

Torii Hunter was 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Andy Dirks had two hits and scored a run.

Jose Valverde pitched the ninth, in a non-save situation, and leadoff hitter Jason Giambi took him deep down the rightfield line to make it a three-run game. With one out, Drew Stubbs homered to left. With two away, Jason Kipnis singled to left, sending the tying run to the plate in the form of Nick Swisher, who already had two errors in the game that helped Detroit score. Valverde got Swisher to ground out to second and end the game.

The Tigers got on the board with three runs in the second. Martinez led it off by smacking a 3-1 pitch deep into the rightfield seats for his fifth home run of the season. Jhonny Peralta then walked, but was erased on a Brayan Pena grounder to the pitcher which should have been a double play. Ramon Santiago then hit a grounder to first, but Swisher’s throw to first was a bit wild for an error. Avisail Garcia then walked to load the bases. With two outs, Hunter hit a chopper to short and Mike Aviles had no play, forcing in a run. Miguel Cabrera then walked, making it 3-0.

Detroit added two more in the fourth, knocking out Ubaldo Jimenez in the process. Garcia hit a leadoff double to left-center and then scored on Andy Dirks’ grounder up the middle that hit second base for a single. On a hit-and-run, Hunter hit a single to right, pushing Dirks to third and forcing Cleveland to send in pitcher Matt Albers. Cabrera then grounded into a double play, on which Dirks scored.

By GreG BuCKnerPioNeer sPorTs wriTer

MECOSTA COUNTY — For anyone who played on a sports team in high school while growing up, taking a hard hit on the football field or having a big collision on the basketball court was simply known as “getting your bell rung.”

Now, with the advances in sports medicine and education, these hard hits have come to be known as something else: a concussion.

With the recent death of former Grand Val-ley State quarterback Cullen Finnerty, whose family said his history of multiple concussions may have played a part in an “episode” that oc-curred prior to his recent death in the woods near Baldwin, the debate on concussions has not only peaked at the professional and colle-giate levels, but on the high school level as well.

While playing through a hard collision was once seen as no big deal, administrators,

coaches and trainers alike have begun to see an improvement on how concussions are being diagnosed and treated at the high school level.

For Chippewa Hills football coach Larry Jose, the biggest improvement he has seen in concussion treatment during his 20-year coach-ing career has been the identification of a possi-ble concussion.

“We’ve went from someone just having their bell rung or they’re seeing stars to having any-thing involving the head and neck area being con-sidered a concussion,” he said.

Football has been at the focus of concussion discussions, but Jose said part of the improve-ment in concussion identification and treat-ment has been a change in culture concerning head injuries in the sport.

“Back then, it was a toughness check of ‘Yeah, you got your bell rung, but can you be tough and still play?,’” he said. “Now, it’s nothing like that. It’s always about erring on the side of caution with anything that concerns the head.”

With all of the things he has to focus on dur-ing a game, Jose said the increased knowledge his players have gained about concussions has helped his staff to better identify players who might have suffered a concussion.

“The players out on the field and in the huddle that are around a guy that suffered a concussion have a better chance of seeing the symptoms before we do,” he said. “We’re always looking for it, but the players might be able to notice a change in personality or behavior out on the field before we finally get a kid to the sidelines and notice something isn’t right. So we need to educate everyone involved from the coaches, the players, the referees and everyone in between.”

Like Jose, Big Rapids hockey coach Tim Blashill believes that education is one of the best methods to limit concussion damage to athletes.

“I think, number one, the education every-

MISSING TIME: Chippewa Hills’ Jared Emerson (left) missed out on competing at the MHSAA Division 2 State Finals last weekend because of a concussion and broken collarbone he suffered in practice during the week leading up to the state finals. The discussion of concussions has not only picked up on the professional and collegiate levels, but the high school level as well. (Pioneer file photo)

NO GAME AT ALL

Tigers hang on to beatIndians

Moving on to the next stepBy GreG BuCKner

PioNeer sPorTs wriTer

MORLEY — For Morley Stanwood senior Travis McCuaig, Thursday night’s track banquet was a happy, but somewhat sad occasion.

The two-time state champion in the high jump signed a National Letter of Intent to accept a full scholarship offer from Division 2 Wingate University in North Carolina following the banquet.

While he’s excited for the next step

of his career, McCuaig said it was a bit-tersweet moment when he realized his high school athletic career was over.

“I’m sad it’s over, but I’m ready for the new journey,” he said. “I was considering Michigan State and thought about Cen-tral Michigan and Eastern Michigan, but Wingate seemed to take care of me more.”

While he regularly competed in the high jump, long jump, 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles this season, McCuaig said he will likely start out his college career by competing in only the high jump before eventually becoming a decathlete.

For Morley Stanwood boys track and

field coach Brian Young, seeing McCuaig move on to college is a joyous, but sad, moment.

“He’s a great kid,” he said. “You don’t get many kids like this. You look at him and you wouldn’t know he was a 6-9, 6-10 high jumper. We’re very pleased and hopefully we have another one like him coming soon.”

As the Mohawks first-ever four-time regional champion, McCuaig has plenty of accolades under his belt, but being able to end his high school ca-

Morley Stanwood’s McCuaig signs on with Wingate

SIGN HERE: Morley Stanwood’s Travis McCuaig is surrounded by Mohawks boys track and field coach Brian Young and high jump coach Michele Young as he signs his letter of intent to accept a full scholarship to Wingate University on Thursday. (Pioneer photo/Greg Buckner)

By GreG BuCKnerPioNeer sPorTs wriTer

REMUS — Friday was a special day for two Chippewa Hills student athletes as Ty Schafer and Larissa Umbleby signed National Letters of Intent to con-tinue their athletic careers past the high school level.

At a ceremony at Chippewa Hills

High School, Schafer announced that he will be playing baseball at Delta College next year while Umbleby revealed that she would be running for the cross coun-try team and the club track team at Jack-son Community College.

For Schafer, the decision to go to Delta was a no-brainer.

“It feels good to get to the next level,” he said. “I was pretty much aiming to go to Delta. I was aiming at bigger programs at one time, but I got this opportunity and I wanted to take it.”

A CSAA All-League First Team selec-tion this season, Schafer hit for a .364

average at the plate with 23 RBIs and 10 stolen bases while also recording a 7-1 record as a pitcher with a 2.83 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 54.1 innings of work this season.

For Delta baseball coach Dan Smith, Schafer’s versatility was a big part of why he wanted him on his team.

“First and foremost, he’s an athlete,” Smith said. “He’s the type of player we recruit because he doesn’t pigeonhole himself into one position. He’s capable of handling a bat and we know he has a

Taking their talents to the next level

ALL SMILES: Chippewa Hills senior Ty Schafer is surrounded by Warriors baseball coach Ben Wright (left) and Delta College baseball coach Dan Smith (right) as he signs his letter of intent to play baseball at Delta next season. (Pioneer photo/Greg Buckner)

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Concussions have become a hot-button issue at local high schools

z Chippewa Hills seniors Ty Schafer and Larissa Umbleby sign letters of intent Friday

H I G H S C H O O L A T H L E T I C S

Pioneer Sports Hotline: (231) 592-8364 n sports@pioneergroup.com

Baldwin family makes hunting a tradition

SEE PAGE 3B

W E E K E N D , June 8-9, 2013

MLB

HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS:

See MCCUAIG page 5B

See WARRIORS page 5B

z Detroit pulls out 7-5 win in series opener

See CONCUSSIONS page 5B

5 BW E E K E N D , June 8-9, 2013 www.bigrapidsnews.com

CONCUSSIONS: CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B

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050 Help Wanted

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Baker College of Cadillac issearching for part-time In-structors to teach daytime Dir-ect Credit classes in PersonalFinance and Math for Busi-ness, at the Marion HighSchool, starting in September.The MINIMUM requirement fora Personal Finance Instructoris a Bachelor's degree in fin-ance or related businessfield required. The MINIMUMrequirement for a Math forBusiness Instructor is a Mas-ter degree with Bachelor'sdegree in Math required.

Previous teaching experiencea plus. Please send resumeand cover letter by June 17,2013 to:

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SUMMER WORK AVAILABLEAre you student looking for asummer job or a local residentlooking for a permanent posi-tion? MPI has the answer. Wehave FULL and PART-TIME pos-itions available starting at $8 perhour. Call now for an interview,231-796-9276.

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THE PIONEER GROUPis now accepting IndependentContractor Applications for theupcoming contract year. Weneed contractors to deliver ourdaily and weekly publications,both driving, walking routes,and substitute carriers. If youare interested please stop byour office at: 115 N MichiganAve, Big Rapids, MI week-days between 8AM and 5PMto fill out an application or callthe Hotline (231)796-1710 formore information.

090 Business Services

IN-HOME HEALTH CARE PRO-VIDER looking for client(s). Res-pite care for families, assist inpersonal needs, light housekeep-ing, cooking. Available Monday-Friday (231)250-2755.

100 Pets & Supplies

MALTI-MIX FEMALE puppy.Adorable no shed hypo-aller-gic. Vet check, 1st shot.$350.00. (231)856-0164

110 For Rent

2-BEDROOM, 2-Bath mobilehome Barryton area. $500/monthplus deposit, no pets/smoking(989)382-7481.

QUIET, WELL MAINTAINED 2-Bedroom, large yard, near BigRapids, no pets, $550/month.Call Gary (231)796-4564.

3-BEDROOM APARTMENT,813 Rose St., Big Rapids.$850/month, utilities included.New bath, no pets.989-560-1502, 989-287-3865

3 BEDROOM HOME, w/base-ment and garage, newly re-m o d e l e d , B A R R Y T O N .$550/month plus utilities/deposit(989)289-2830 or (989)289-1536.

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QUIET SCENIC COUNTRYhome for rent $475 per month. 2bedroom, basement storage,wash/dryer hook up, propaneheat, cable ready. Remus, MI.Call 586-781-4712 for applica-tion/questions. Leave message

VERY NICE TWO bedroom du-plex in Remus, Available July1st, Includes water and sewer,AC, Dishwasher and great loca-tion. Rent is $560 per month.Also, nice one bedroom apart-ment in Paris. Available now, In-cludes all utilities (water/trash,electric and gas), snow removaland lawn care provided. Rent is$550 per month. (231)796-1200

160 Real Estate

RECENTLY FORECLOSED,SPECIAL Financing Available,Any Credit, Any Income 2 bed-room, 2 bath, 1,266 sq. ft. loc-ated at 20064 Trufant Road,Pierson, $54,900. Visitwww.roselandco.com/BHJDrive by then call(866) 937-3557.

RECENTLY FORECLOSED,SPECIAL Financing Available,Any Credit, Any Income 4 bed-room, 2.5 bath, 1803 sq. ft. loc-ated at 227 North Pine, Evart,$55,900 Visitwww.roselandco.com\BN9Drive by then call(866) 937-3557.

RECENTLY FORECLOSED,SPECIAL Financing Available,Any Credit, Any Income 4 bed-room, 2 bath, 920 sq. ft. locatedat 3642 W. Saginaw Bay Street,Baldwin, $24,900. Visitwww.roselandco.com\BCJDrive by then call(866) 487-5738.

MORLEY, 243 4TH Street 2BR,1BA Single Family 1399 sq ft,Detached Garage. Lease Optionor Cash Discount $1250 DN,$572/mo 803-354-5310.

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one, especially the players, have gained in regards to con-cussions has substantially im-proved,” he said. “The discus-sion is even bigger than it was two or three years ago.”

In a sport like hockey, where players pride them-selves on toughness and bat-tling through injuries, Blashill said while there has been some resistance from some of the older hockey coaches and players to embrace the new approach to safety, the overall improvements in identifying and treating concussions has been on the upswing.

“I grew up in Sault Ste. Marie where hockey was a way of life,” he said. “I was a physical player and I certainly wouldn’t allow anyone to take me out if I had any injury back then. That’s something even as a coach that I’ve had to get better at over the years. But you just don’t know what an injury like a concussion can do to you down the road. You look at a story like the Grand Valley quarterback and you get a little nervous when you think about the possible con-cussions you might have suf-fered back in the day.”

If a player on Blashill’s team is thought to have suf-fered any concussion-like in-juries, the player is immedi-ately yanked from the game.

“If there’s even a thought that a player suffered a con-cussion, we take them out and if they are diagnosed, they sit out for a week at minimum,” he said.

Luckily for Blashill and all of the Big Rapids coaches, they have the assistance of Chelsea Read, who serves as the Cardinals’ athletic trainer five days a week at the school, in addition to being on the sidelines at every home game.

For Big Rapids athletic

director Nick Scheible, hav-ing Read on the sidelines and at the school is money well spent.

“I think at Big Rapids, we’re in a unique position with having a trainer to work with our athletes and coaches,” he said. “It’s a huge benefit to have her expertise and I think it’s a huge relief for the coaches because they can trust her expertise, which allows them to continue to coach. The coaches are still concerned with looking for injuries, but it helps to have someone on the sidelines who’s specifically looking for players who might be experiencing concussion symptoms.”

Having Read at the school also allows her to educate players and coaches on identi-fying the signs and symptoms of a possible concussion.

“I think our coaches do a great job of trying to become better educated on the issue, but it’s great to have Chelsea here to work with them to help them detect the signs of a con-cussion,” Scheible said. “The kids especially are doing a bet-ter job of identifying a team-mate in the huddle who might have suffered a concussion and alerting their coaches or Chelsea to what is going on.”

As she finishes up her sec-ond year as the Cardinals’ ath-letic trainer, Read said she has been encouraged by the prog-ress coaches and players have made in identifying possible concussions and alerting her to the issue.

“It makes me really proud of the kids when they are more worried about their team-mates than the game,” she said. “In the culture of sports today, people are worried more about winning than any-thing else. The coaches here at Big Rapids have been super

supportive of what I do and are always keeping an eye on the kids. I think the coaches and players both are taking a hold of the issue and making sure they’re looking out for possible concussions.”

Read said there are some tell-tale signs she looks for to determine if a player has suf-fered a possible concussion.

“The big thing I’m looking for is a hard impact,” she said. “The symptoms I’m looking for are the usual ones of play-ers complaining of headaches, feeling dizzy, feeling nauseous and things like that. I also rely on their teammates to tell me if anyone has any changes in their personality. If a player is usually serious and focused during a game and they start acting weird or out of charac-ter, I’m going to check them out.”

Because she is only on the sideline for home games, Read said she gets nervous when the Cardinals head out on the road and she’s not there.

“I worry about the play-ers when I’m not there,” she said. “I think our coaches do a great job of trying to identify concussion symptoms, but I just get nervous when I’m not there. The (Michigan High School Athletic Association) is doing a good job in their efforts to increase awareness and education about concus-sions, but there’s plenty of work still to be done.”

Heading into the 2012-13 sports seasons, the MH-SAA, in partnership with the University of Michigan’s NeuroSport and the Pediat-ric Trauma Program at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, required online rules meet-ings for coaches and officials that included an educational component illustrating the serious nature of concussions;

recognition of the signs and symptoms; a review of return to play protocols; applica-ble MHSAA regulations and downloadable resources.

For Read, there can never be too much information and education for coaches, play-ers, referees and everyone involved with high school ath-letics, especially in regards to post-concussion symptoms.

“Just because the symp-toms don’t show up right away, it doesn’t mean they’re not there,” she said. “It’s scary when you think of all of the post-concussion issues that can come about. Especially now, people are starting to find out that it doesn’t take a major concussion to cause a lot of damage. In a lot of sports, it’s the build-up of all the smaller hits and collisions that can cause the most dam-age.”

One of the most recent developments in the concus-sion discussion has been the increase in athletes in contact sports developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive degenerative dis-ease that affects athletes with a history of multiple concus-sions or head injuries.

According to the National Academy of Sciences, the dis-ease can only be definitively diagnosed after a person has died, but individuals with the disease may show signs of de-mentia, such as memory loss, aggression, confusion and de-pression.

“These kids don’t think about the future,” Read said. “They only think about what’s going on at the present. They have to start thinking about the future when it comes to concussions because you don’t know what these concussions and head injuries are going to do to you as you get older.”

strong arm and a good base-ball aptitude. Those are the kind of players we look for.”

Smith said Schafer will compete for a middle infield position with Delta during the fall practice season.

When Schafer heads off the Delta, he will see a famil-iar face at practice as fellow Chippewa Hills senior Jake Tarbell already signed with Delta back in March.

“I’m lucky to be able to go on a team with a buddy of mine,” Schafer said.

While he was scout-ing Tarbell, Smith said he couldn’t ignore the skills he saw from Schafer.

“For us, Chippewa Hills is a place we’re going to peek at every year,” he said. “Once we saw Ty play and saw what he was capable of, we knew he was a player we liked. The guys that come from Chippewa Hills, you don’t really need to teach them the basics of base-ball. They come in and they’re ready to play. That’s the most intriguing thing about coming in and getting players from this program.”

As far as academics go, Schafer said he doesn’t yet know what his major will be, but he said he does have an interest in physical therapy.

For Umbleby, she said while she was considering staying local and attending

Ferris State, she ultimately decided to go to JCC be-cause of its academics, even though she is not currently sure what she will major in.

“It’s a relief because it’s always what I’ve wanted to do,” she said. “I definitely want to thank my coaches for always being there and helping me along the way.”

Umbleby said she doesn’t know what events she’ll run in for the track club just yet.

“I’m just going to go with it and see what happens,” she said.

For Chippewa Hills girls track and field coach Sally Schafer, Friday was doubly special as she got to see not only one of her athletes, but her son as well move on to the college level.

“We’re really happy for Larissa,” she said. “She’s a hard worker and we’ve ba-sically had her for eight sea-son because she’s done four season of cross country and four years of track. The fact that she gets to continue, it’s a really neat thing to see.

“All the time and work that Ty put into it, it would be weird for his baseball ca-reer to come to an end. The fact that he gets to continue his career and have a team-mate going with him, it’s very cool and he’s excited,” she continued.

reer by defending his state title in the high jump with a winning jump of 6-9 at the Division 3 State Finals last weekend was one of his fa-vorite moments.

“Coach has always said it’s harder to two-peat,” he said. “He was always tell-ing me I had to be focused. We had our fights here and there but I love him. Our relationship turned into a father-son type thing.”

While Brian Young served as the boys track and field coach, Michele Young worked with McCuaig as his high jump coach throughout his career.

Young said she has many memories of working with Mc-

Cuaig, but one moment at this year’s finals stuck out to her.

“He told me that morn-ing that he wasn’t going to let anyone beat him,” she said. “He missed twice at 6-8 and I thought, ‘Here we go. We’re all done.’ But then he made 6-9 his first try and those words he said came back to me.

“He just has such natural talent,” she continued. “He’s the best athlete I’ve ever worked with. I can honesty say he never disappointed me ever during my whole time working with him.”

Before he heads to Win-gate this August, McCuaig will compete at the Midwest Meet of Champions at Fort Wayne, Ind., on June 15.

MCCUAIG:CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B

WARRIORS:CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B

MOVING ON: Chippewa Hills senior Larissa Umbleby signs her letter of intent to run cross country at Jackson Community College on Friday with Warriors’ girls track and field coach Sally Schafer at her side. (Pioneer photo/Greg Buckner)