Flyers’ top four finish was good, but not good enough

Northern Buckeye Conference coaches repeatedly said the league this year played out like “the big four” and “the little four.”

Lake, which finished 17-12 overall and fourth in the NBC at 8-6, was always talked about as being in “the big four,” which coach Dave Rymers takes pride in. The others were league champion and Division III regional qualifier Otsego, runner-up Elmwood and third place Eastwood.

“We actually were (top four) this year, so that was good,” Rymers said. “I was not pleased about being at the bottom of “the four”, but it is better being in the top four than the bottom four, right?

“Maybe it was almost split more than that because looking at the way that it shook out Otsego went undefeated and I think they were a clear No. 1. Elmwood’s only two losses were to Otsego, Eastwood’s only losses were to the teams ahead of them and our six losses in the league were to the teams ahead of us. It was definitely a top four, bottom four, but even within those four there was some separation based on wins.”

The Flyers not only dealt with three at the top of the NBC, but ran into a tough non-league schedule.

“It was what it was — of our 12 losses, 11 of those came to teams that made it to the district. Of those 11, eight came to teams that played in the district finals. I thought the top four in our league were good, the top two or three teams in our league were really good, and based on league and district voting, the other coaches saw that the top three in our league were really good,” Rymers said.

The Flyers struggled near the end of the season to get quality wins, in part because of the schedule, but came on strong during the tournament, winning a Division III sectional final against Swanton to reach the district tournament.

“It was the first time since 2011 that we won the sectional,” Rymers said. “That was a big win for these kids and this program to get it back to where I thought it should be. It was not just a win — it was 13-5 and a pretty dominant performance for a group of kids who struggled at the end of the year in terms of winning games.”

There were plenty of successes for the Flyers this season. Senior catcher Natalie Patrick was two hits shy of tying the school record for hits in a season (Tricia Askins, 1991). Junior pitcher Mackenzie Mickens was 10 strikeouts shy of tying the school record for Ks in a season. Both Natalie Patrick and Kenzie Jackson would have had the chance to be our career extra base hits record holder if not for the cancelled season a year ago.”

By the way, the strikeouts record (221) Mickens was chasing? It was set in 2008 by Aubry (Akenberger) Brown, who is now Rymers’ assistant varsity coach. For Mickens, in 175.1 innings this year, she struck out 211 while giving up 101 earned runs for a 4.03 ERA. Mickens, a second team All-SBC pick, and Patrick, an honorable mention All-SBC selection, were the complete battery. Patrick threw out or picked off 15 would-be base stealers, also

“We had a really good mix. We had a pitcher, Makenzie Mickens, who threw a lot of strikeouts, and we had a catcher and a senior in Natalie Patrick who had a really nice year for us,” Rymers said.

Patrick batted .462 (48 for 104) with nine doubles, one triple, two home runs, 25 RBIs and 27 runs.

Junior center fielder Abbie Rymers was the Flyers’ only first team All-NBC selection after hitting .432 (38 for 88) with 11 doubles, two triples, one homer, 22 RBI and 30 runs.

“I had a number of coaches who contacted me after the league meeting and all of them commented on how much she improved from her freshman year, to not having a season last year, to this year,” Coach Rymers said. “She did a really nice job playing center field for us and she is a good kid who plays the game the right way. She plays it hard and as a dad, I’m extremely proud of her, and as a coach, I’m also proud of her for what she accomplished.”

Patrick was one of four seniors, joined by classmates Kenzie Jackson, Elizabeth Cowell and McKenna Encalado. Cowell and Encalado were the corner outfielders on either side of Abbie Rymers while Jackson played first, second and third base, pitched and was the team’s designated player, getting chose second team All-SBC as a utility player. 

“The nice thing about those seniors is they played two years ago. It was disappointing that they lost their junior year but they did a really nice job for us this year,” Rymers said.

The other All-SBC selection is sophomore Jessie Materni, who is honorable mention at first base.