KALAMAZOO — Shelby lived and died with its defense all season long, and most of the season it produced great results - a 30-11 record, a conference co-championship, a district title, the team’s first regional win since 2012. But good teams like Kalamazoo Christian have a way of putting pressure on an opponent, and Saturday, the Tigers were unable to play how they needed to to keep their run going.
It ended in a 12-2 defeat that wasn’t nearly as lopsided as the score indicates; the Comets piled up eight runs in the final inning to break open a close game. Kalamazoo Christian went on to defeat Schoolcraft, 9-2, in the quarterfinals later Saturday.
No one wants to go out like that, but coach Brian Wright, who capped his 45-year career as Tigers’ coach with the game, said this won’t define the 2026 team to him.
“You don’t want this, but like I told them, this 2026 season, when I think about it, I’m not going to think about the regional loss,” Wright said. “I’m not going to. Too many other good things happened.”
Shelby came in confident after preparing for Kalamazoo Central’s turf field with a practice at the new Tiger Athletic Community Center, and played like it early on. The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Leighton Belasco lofted a single into the outfield, stole second, and scored on a two-out single by Chase Simon. The Tigers had another scoring opportunity when Simon got to second on a wild pitch and Evan Waller drove the ball into left field for a single, but the Comets got Simon at home to prevent further damage.
Star righthander DayDay Garcia got the starting nod, and for 2 2/3 innings, he was delivering exactly the results needed to win; three hits, one run, and a 1-1 tie score that had the Comets, who started lefthander Jackson Herder on the mound instead of ace Logan Bittle, sweating a bit. Garcia had even worked around a couple of defensive miscues behind him; the Tigers were not as adept catching the ball as they were most of the season.
However, with two out in the third and two runners on, two Comet batters - James Annen and Jace Rarick - came up big. Annen waited back on an off-speed pitch and deposited it into left field for a go-ahead single, and Rarick delivered the first of his two laser beams on the day, a two-run double to make it 4-1.
“It just seemed like things rolled in that inning they got four,” Wright said. “It was like all of a sudden, it just kept rolling so fast. We couldn’t say, ‘Oh, wait a minute.’...And they run. They just put pressure on you constantly. They’re a really, really good team.”
Shelby didn’t back down - even when Garcia fouled a ball off his foot and had to leave the game (he later returned, but was not moving well enough to pitch, playing first base instead). Carsen Stark pinch-hit for Garcia and laid down a good bunt to get Jaden Furman to second base. After Furman got to third on a single by Belasco (who was 3-for-3 on the day), Cam Smith brought him in with a sacrifice fly. Down 4-2, Shelby seemed far from done.
From there, Trevor Weiss took over on the mound and kept Shelby in it, allowing only one hit and one walk in his first three innings. The Tigers, meanwhile, had a key scoring chance when Eli Kelley and Weiss each singled in the fourth. With men on first and third, Wright planned a safety squeeze - but before he could make the call, Michael Regeczi went after the first pitch. He made solid contact, but right at the Comet infield, and it turned into an inning-ending double play that extinguished Shelby’s last good scoring chance.
“It was just damned if you do, damned if you don’t today,” Wright said. “I thought (Herder) was hittable, and we did hit the ball. He struck us out a few times, but we mustered some things early on.”
It wasn’t until the seventh that the pressure got to the Tigers, who made three errors in the inning and failed to cover first base on a bunt single. Rarick immediately made Shelby pay for that miscue by smashing a triple that bounced off the wall and drove in two runs. The runs kept on coming after that.
“This is a cruel game, because there’s no clock,” Wright said. “The end of the quarter didn’t run out. We couldn’t get the last out. That’s baseball, you know? When you get back on your haunches, the ball finds you and it just keeps coming.
“It’s disappointing, because that’s not who we are. Their coach knew that, and he had some kind words to say. I’m so proud of this group. We talked about a bunch of goals and we checked some off. Some we didn’t, but it was never because they didn’t prepare or want it.”
Wright shared a hug with each of his 11 seniors and encouraged the young Tigers to build on the accomplishments of their older teammates. His own day was far from done; he had to go to Muskegon to coach a doubleheader to open the Clippers’ season in his new job as head coach. But for a few more precious moments, he was all Tiger, sharing memories with his team.
“At the point right now, it stings, and losing stinks,” Wright said. “But later tonight or tomorrow, you’re going to take a deep breath and say, ‘Man, 30-11. Not too bad.’ You don’t like to end this way, but it happens.”
