A championship-caliber baseball team rose from humble beginnings at Bay City All Saints.
And humble is putting it nicely.
“We were terrible. We were almost like the Bad News Bears as freshmen,” said pitcher David Eager. “A lot of guys didn’t even play ball up to that point. I remember we started by just going over the fundamentals of baseball — and it was rough.
“But all those guys who hadn’t played learned baseball, developed and performed well. By the time we were done, we thought we were going to win it all.”
From a rag-tag bunch, the Cougars bonded, blossomed and bloomed, becoming one of the top teams in the state of Michigan while rolling all the way to a Class D state runner-up finish in 1991.
Now 34 years later, that band of unlikely heroes reunites for induction to the Bay County Sports Hall of Fame. The 1991 Cougars join the Class of 2025 that is being honored with a Nov. 9 banquet at the DoubleTree hotel and conference center in downtown Bay City.
Their road was a long, twisting, turning one, but the journey was half the fun. By the time that crew came of age as seniors, they were poised for big things and delivered.
All Saints (20-9) stormed to the district title, weathered some tense moments for the regional crown then battled its way into the state championship game. Sitting nine outs away from the grand prize – and joining the 1978 and 1981 All Saints baseball teams among the pantheon of state champions – the wheels came off in unfitting fashion.
Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes broke loose for an eight-run fifth inning to snare a 10-3 victory and halt the Cougars one win shy of their ultimate goal.
“The last game left a bad taste in our mouths,” said Ryan Cull, the dazzling leadoff hitter for that squad. “We could have won, we should have won.”
But there is no denying the pride the players took in making leaps-and-bounds progress from those humble beginnings.
“We were kind of a bunch of misfits, to be honest,” Cull said. “But we had a fun team. Some guys who never played baseball in their life joined just to hang out.”
In 1990, Don Eager took the helm as head coach of the program and brought in All Saints graduate Tim Rousse as assistant. Together they caught lightning in a bottle and drove the team to unexpected heights.
“Coach Eager was stability, but he let Tim push our buttons,” Cull said. “Whenever we were getting too much of Tim, Coach Don would calm us down and bring us back in. Those guys worked good together.”
With athletes who helped the football team to an 8-2 record and the basketball team to an 18-5 mark, the Cougars certainly had the competitive spunk to compete in the spring. But they also had a kinder, gentler side that centered on faith. And that, too, would play a role in making this a special group.
“As a group, they were incredibly tight,” said Rousse, who was a 23-year-old assistant. “They all hung out at the Eager house or they’d be in my basement, in my garage… I had nets up everywhere and they put them to use.
“But I remember some practices where they’d take their gloves off and we’d talk about God, talk about believing in each other and having faith in each other. We didn’t go through practices like normal teams do.”
It was one of those chat sessions that David Eager calls the turning point.
“We had a rainout and everybody was sitting in the storage barn by the field,” he said. “Tim went around the room and had us each talk about the season, our goals and wishes. We all wanted to win it all.
“Then the coaches said something good about each player, then we each said something good about somebody else. It’s a little surprising to hear good things from other kids – you don’t hear that – but it gave us all motivation.”
The Cougars started putting it all together. Cull set a school-record with 37 stolen bases while catcher John Duyser hit .554 and blasted a school-record nine home runs. Eager was the cornerstone, not only batting .519 with four home runs but posting a 12-1 record on the mound.
All Saints claimed the district crown for the sixth consecutive year then took a step further. The Cougars claimed their first regional crown since 1981, as Eager outdueled Mio ace James Kirkum with a two-hit, 12-strikeout effort in a 1-0 win.
A 10-3 win over Ottawa Lake Whiteford in the semifinal sent All Saints to the Class D title game at Battle Creek’s Bailey Park. But it left Eager with just three innings of eligibility on the mound, and that would loom large.
The hard-throwing right-hander – who earned first-team All-State then went on to play at University of North Carolina-Greensboro – pitched three shutout innings in the final against Waterford Our Lady and exited with a 2-0 lead.
But Our Lady would break out in a big way in the fifth inning, sending 13 batters to the plate and scoring eight runs against three All Saints relievers. The 10-3 loss left the Cougars without the one trophy they truly sought.
“After the game, I had this speech, but everybody was crying,” Rousse said. “I told them ‘If you want to cry, you should cry. But cry for this team right here, and that you’ll never play together again. Don’t cry over that scoreboard.’”
The 1991 All Saints baseball team featured Jon Anthony, Andy Buczek, Shane Cianek, Ed Clements, Ryan Cull, John Duyser, David Eager, Chris Heintskill, Brandon LeBourdais, Jeremy Majchrzak, Dave Michalak, Todd Noonan, David Trabalka and Kyle Zielinski.
Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet can be purchased online or at the Renue Physical Therapy, 804 N. Water Street in Bay City.
Tournament Trail
District semifinal: All Saints 9, Akron-Fairgrove 1
David Eager was dominant on the hill and at the plate in the tourney opener, firing a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts in five innings while drilling a three-run home run at the plate. John Duyser and Jeremy Majchrzak each delivered two hits in the win.
District final: All Saints 18, Kingston 1
The first six batters to come to the plate reached base and scored as All Saints instantly took charge. John Duyser ripped three hits while Ed Clements and Todd Noonan each added two. David Eager allowed two hits with five Ks over four innings and Ryan Cull spun three no-hit innings.
Regional semifinal: All Saints 1, Mio 0
The Cougars needed their ace to be at his finest, and David Eager delivered. He fired a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts to outduel Mio ace James Kirkum. Eager picked off two runners at second base to thwart a couple scoring opportunities. All Saints scored the game’s only run in the first inning as Ryan Cull drew a leadoff walk, stole second, moved to third on a groundout then scored on an infield single by Eager. Shane Cianek rapped two hits in the win.
Regional final: All Saints 8, Brethren 1
The bats sprung to life for the title game as All Saints knocked 12 hits. Ed Clements ripped three hits with two doubles, driving in three runs. Ryan Cull, David Trabalka, John Duyser and Jeremy Majchrzak knocked two hits apiece. David Eager retired nine of the 10 batters he faced. Brethren loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth against Cull, but the reliever promptly struck out three straight batters. “After they loaded the bases on him, Cull dug down deep and started throwing strikes,” Don Eager said for a story in The Bay City Times.
State semifinal: All Saints 10, Ottawa Lake Whiteford 3
John Duyser blasted a three-run home run, his school-record ninth round-tripper of the year, and finished with three hits and five RBIs in the win. David Eager walked the first two batters he faced, but the All Saints infield forced two runners out at the plate to limit the damage. Eager ripped a two-run triple in the fourth to give the Cougars the lead and Duyser iced it with his big blast. “I wasn’t worried when we were behind. We have some real sticks in our lineup this year,” Don Eager said. Ryan Cull and Ed Clements each knocked two hits.
State final: Waterford Our Lady 10, All Saints 3
David Eager toss three no-hit innings before hitting his allowance of outs, exiting with a 2-0 lead. The lead stood at 2-1 in the fifth when Our Lady sent 13 batters to the plate against three relievers, scoring eight runs to take control of the game. “We had six straight exceptionally pitched games through the tournament,” Don Eager said. “Our pitching held together except for one inning of the tournament basically.” State champion golfer Dan Ugolini pitched a strong game for Our Lady. All Saints scored unearned runs in the first and third innings.
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