Banner 1-6-2022

Page 12 — Thursday, January 6, 2022 — The Hastings Banner

Area Locations to purchase the Hastings Banner!

Hastings:

One Stop Shop (Marathon)

(M-43 North)

Superette

Family Fare

Tom's Market

Hastings Johnny's

The General Store

Marathon

Mega Bev

Hastings Pharmacy

Marathon Gas Station

(M-37 West)

Marathon Gas Station

(M-37 South)

Family Fare Gas Station

Walgreens

Middleville:

Speedway

Harding's

Greg’s Get-It-N-Go

Middleville Johnny's

Orangeville:

Orangeville Fast Stop

Pine Lake:

Doster Country Store

Prairieville:

Prairieville Fast Stop

Cloverdale:

Cloverdale General

Brown’s Cedar Creek Grocery

Shelbyville:

Town & Country

Delton:

Family Fare

Delton Johnny's

Banfield:

Banfield General Store

Dowling:

Goldsworthys

Woodland:

Woodland Express

Nashville:

Trading Post

Nashville Johnny's

MV Pharmacy

Nashville C Store

Carl’s

Lake Odessa:

Lake-O-Express

Lake-O-Mart

Lake Odessa Johnny's

Carl’s

Freeport:

L & J’s

Ferris helps Chippewas to Sun Bowl title

The Central Michigan University football team's offensive line group, including Delton Kellogg alumnus Tyden Ferris (66) the
team's starting left guard, celebrates on the field after scoring a 24-21 victory over the Washington State University Cougars in the
Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, Dec. 31, 2021. The Chippewas completed a 9-4 season with the victory. CMU built a 21-0 lead in the
first half and then held on with fourth quarter field goal in front of a national television audience on CBS. CMU was originally slated
to face Boise State in the Arizona Bowl in Tucson, Ariz., on New Year's Eve day, but Covid issues in the Boise State program and
the University of Miami program which was supposed to face Washington State in the Sun Bowl prompted the Chippewas to make
the four-hour trip from Tucson to El Paso last week.

Hastings wrestlers place second

at Corunna Duals to close 2021

Valerie Slaughter

Contributing Writer

The Hastings varsity wrestling team trav-

eled to Corunna High School over the holiday

break to wrestle in the Corunna Duals, Dec.

30. The Saxon team finished the day with
    four dual wins and one team loss to finish in
    second place.
    Hastings head coach, Jason Slaughter
    noted, “Lake Fenton was a close one. We
    had some close matches in there that could
    have gone either way. Proud of the team as
    they went out and wrestled hard every
    match winning against some very good
    opponents. Every dual they are continuing
    to improve.”
    The Saxons started against Pinckney High
    School with a 60–17 win and scored a 76–
    win over East Lansing. The team faced even-
    tual tournament champ Lake Fenton in its
    closest match of the day. The Saxons lost to
    the Blue Devils 39–27.
    Isaac Friddle, Tate Warner and Victor
    Ramirez all won on pins for the Saxons in the

dual with Lake Fenton. Joe Goggins won on

a 4–1 decision. Keegan Archer-Sutfin lost a

close match in an overtime decision 9-7.

Jackson Dubois took a forfeit win for the

Saxons in the dual.

The Saxons faced Corunna in the next

round and earned a 49–25 win over the

Cavaliers. The Hastings team got pins from

Dubois, Archer-Sutfin, Zach Chipman,

Warner and Friddle. Jordan Humphrey and

Goggins won on forfeits. Mason Denton had

a win on an 8–2 decision and Robby Slaughter

won on a 16–5 major decision.

In the final round of the day the Saxons

had another big win over Airport High School

67–12. Dubois was the only Saxon wrestler

to get five wins on the day. Humphrey,

Archer-Sutfin, Goggins, Denton, Slaughter,

Ramirez and Friddle all had four wins and

Colton Smith and Warner had three wins

each.

The Saxons will host the annual LH Lamb

Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 8, at the

Hastings High School gym.

Howitt slam jersey gets spot in Saxon trophy case

Brett Bremer

Sports Editor

The Seattle Mariners jersey that rounded

the bases on the back of Hastings native Dann

Howitt, following a first inning grand slam

off of Texas Rangers’ Hall of Fame pitcher

Nolan Ryan, in the Seattle Kingdome Sept.

22, 1993, is finding a home at Hastings High

School.

Howitt hopes it will inspire other Saxons to

great feats.

The Hastings High School took the time to

celebrate Howitt prior to the Saxon varsity

girls’ basketball team’s victory over visiting

Lakewood Dec. 21, 2021 in the final ball-

game before the holiday break.

Howitt, a 1982 graduate of Hastings High

School, played collegiately at Michigan State

University and Cal State Fullerton before

being drafted by the Oakland A’s in the 1986

MLB June Amateur Draft. Howitt spent parts

of six seasons in the MLB from 1989-

playing for the A’s, Mariners and Chicago

White Sox.

Hastings High School athletic director Mike

Goggins set the scene for Howitt to describe

what was the defining moment of his MLB

career to the crowd in Hastings – over 40,

spectators in the Kingdome to see what was

expected to be the final Seattle appearance by

Ryan, MLB’s all-time strikeout leader.

It was a short lived appearance for Ryan.

Omar Vizquel singled off of Ryan to lead off

the bottom of the first inning for the Mariners,

then promptly stole second. Ryan then walked

Rich Amaral and Ken Griffey Jr. to load the

bases for Jay Buhner, who walked to force in

the first run of the ballgame.

That brought up the left-handed hitting

Howitt with the bases loaded and nobody out.

“I got to face Nolan Ryan quite a few times

and it was usually because my teammates

were sick that day,” Howitt told the crowd in

Hastings. “It wasn’t necessarily a choice

thing, but when you get to face somebody

like that it is very exciting. I was just fortu-

nate enough to be in that spot that day. He

was Nolan, throwing balls all over the place

and hit a teammate or two of mine before I

got up there.”

Despite the wildness from the flame-throw-

ing righty, Ryan got ahead of Howitt 1 ball

and 2 strikes.

“I just got very fortunate. Luckily, I saw

him enough to know where he as going to be

throwing that last pitch. I guessed right, and

if I had guessed wrong I wouldn’t be here

today,” Howitt said.

He belted the 1-2 pitch over the left-field

fence for his first career grand slam. The

Mariners led 5-0 and would go on to a 7-

victory.

Howitt’s grand slam was the final grand

slam, the final home run and the final hit

allowed by Ryan, who was inducted into the

National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 with

an MLB record 5,714 career strikeouts and a

record seven career no-hitters.

Ryan threw four pitches to the next batter,

Seattle’s Dave Magadan. He felt a pop in his

arm on the third pitch, and walked off the

field after the fourth with Magadan sitting on

a 3-1 count.

According to the National Baseball Hall of

Fame, “if a pitcher began his career with 300

strikeouts in his rookie season and matched

that for each of the next 18 seasons, he would

still be 14 strikeouts short of Ryan’s all-time

record.”

Even in the current era of increased strike-

outs overall, the 300 strikeout milestone has

only been reached six times since 1993 when

Ryan retired – two times by Hall of Famer

Randy Johnson (1993, 1999) and and Hall of

Famer Pedro Martinez (1999) and once each

by current MLB pitchers Chris Sale (2017),

Justin Verlander (2019) and Gerrit Cole (2019).

Howitt also had an outfield assist in that

ballgame against the Rangers, throwing out

Julio Franco at second base from deep down

the left-field line as he tried to stretch a single

into a double in the top of the fourth inning.

Over the years, Howitt fared pretty well

against the ‘Ryan Express.’ He was also

3-for-4 with a run scored against the Rangers

in a 3-2 Mariners’ loss in Arlington, Texas,

Sept. 27, 1992. He was 2-of-3 with a single,

a double and a stolen base with Ryan on the

mound that day.

The two were face-to-face for the first time

when Howitt’s A’s visited Ryan’s Rangers

Sept. 30, 1990, and Howitt went 1-for-3 with

a single, a run scored and two strikeouts

against Ryan. Jose Canseco took over for

Howitt in right field for Oakland after Ryan

left the mound in the top of the eighth.

A photograph of Howitt’s grand slam, one

of his five career home runs, has been a part

of the trophy case at Hastings High School

for years and the jersey will join it.

“I thought about being from Hastings

almost every time I came up to the plate. That

just kept me solid. Anyone who goes any-

where, remember where you’re from. It is not

that hard. It just takes a second,” Howitt said.

Howitt played in 115 MLB games, compil-

ing 47 hits including 11 doubles, three triples

and the five home runs. He had a.400 on-base

percentage in 15 plate appearances in his

final season which was spent with the Chicago

White Sox.

Hastings' Mason Denton holds down Corunna's Caden Minton during their 145-

pound match, an 8-2 decision for Denton, at the Dec. 30 Corunna Duals. (Photo by

Valerie Slaughter)

Hastings heavyweight Jackson Dubois closes in on a pin during the Saxons' victory

over East Lansing at the Corunna Duals Dec. 30. (Photo by Valerie Slaughter)

Dann Howitt (left), a 1983 Hastings High School graduate, is joined by former
Hastings High School varsity baseball coach Bernie Oom with the Seattle Mariners
jersey Howitt wore when he knocked a grand slam off of Texas Rangers Hall of Famer
Nolan Ryan in what would be Ryan's final MLB appearance in September of 1993.
Howitt shared the jersey with Hastings High School in a ceremony prior to the Saxons'
varsity girls' basketball game Dec. 21, 2021, and it will reside in the high school trophy
case along with a photo of the moment.

Dan Howitt as a member of the 1993

Seattle Mariners.