Beal City's Cayden Smith throws first perfect game in state title game history in repeat

EAST LANSING — Cayden Smith saved his absolute best to deliver Beal City its second consecutive Division 4 baseball state championship, throwing five perfect innings in the Aggies' 10-0 win that ended early due to the mercy rule on Saturday.

Smith now has two wins as a starting pitcher and three appearances at McLane Stadium on Michigan State's campus in state championship games for Beal City the last three seasons. Smith struck out eight of the 15 batters he faced.

According to an MHSAA official, it was the first perfect game or no-hitter in state championship history. Smith didn't realize the history until he was told postgame, where he was shocked and deferred praise to his teammates.

"It is awesome," Smith, a right-handed senior, said. "It's cool. It is a team game and I'm just happy that the team won and that I put the team first."

Smith shut down Norway while Beal City's offense scored in each of the first three innings, including a four-run third, then added four more in the bottom of the fifth to win on a walk-off mercy ruling and take home a second consecutive state title and sixth in school history.

DIVISION 1:Northville holds off Brother Rice for first state title

It was the school first baseball state final for Norway, located on the border of Michigan and Wisconsin in the Upper Peninsula. The Knights couldn't get a runner on base against Smith and struggled to attack the strike zone when pitching.

"The fastball always works," Smith said. "The velocity is always there, but the curveball has really been my pitch this year. I developed that so curveball was my second go-to."

Smith struck out two batters in the first inning, one in the second, two in the fourth and all three batters in the fifth to finish with eight strikeouts, over half the outs he forced in the shortened game. He adds those eight strikeouts to his state title tally of 11 as the starter in the 2023 championship.

Smith, also the lead-off hitter, reached on an error and scored the first run on a single from Jake Fussman. In the second, Blake Walcutt reached on an error, moved to second on a hit by pitch, then scored on an RBI single from Owen McKenny. Lane Gross hit an RBI double in the third, followed by a 2-RBI double from Smith himself then a run walked home.

DIVISION 3:Watervliet wins 1st state title over Jackson Lumen Christi led by Caleb Jewell

"A bulldog," Beal City head coach Brad Antcliff said of his starting pitcher. "(He's) a kid who wants the ball, a kid that is a gamer, a kid that has it. There is an it-factor in some kids and he has it."

In the fifth, Beal City loaded the bases with two walks and a hit-by-pitch, before Fussman knocked in two runs on a single then Josh Wilson drove in the winning two runs with a single back up the middle to make it 10-0 in the bottom of the fifth.

"We just had to keep pouring it on and we did that today," Antcliff said.