July 2023 Issue of Varsity Monthly Thumb Magazine

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PROUD TO COVER HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS IN THE THUMB 

July 2023 | Volume 11 Issue 7 

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FINALE

Owner Jason Parmenter 

Magazine Design Alyssa Buhl 

Photo Editor Kaitlin Gunsell 

Office Manager Brenda Tomlinson 

Regularly Contributing Photographers 

Kaitlin Gunsell - Kaitlin’s Klicks 

Jason Parmenter - Quad N Productions 

Mallory Hughes - Quad N Productions 

Jeff Caverly - Jeff Caverly Photography 

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USA 

Frankenmuth 

Cass City 

Caro 

Lakers 

Cass City 

Kingston 

Sandusky 

Bad Axe 

Caro 

Reese 

North Branch 

Marlette 

Harbor Beach 

Mayville 

Akron-Fairgrove 

Deckerville 

CPS 

North Huron 

Peck 

Ubly 

Cros-Lex 

Bad Axe 

Vassar 

Owen-Gage 

Caseville 

Millington 

Caro 

Frankenmuth 

Brown City 

QR Code to 

www.misportsphotos.com 

FINALE 

COVER IMAGE: 

Images from USA, Frankenmuth and Cass City game 

quarterfinals and beyond. 

Photos by Jason Parmenter and Kaitlin Gunsell 

The 2023 Spring Season came to an 

exciting end with USA Varsity Softball winning 

the MHSAA Division 4 State Championship 

at Michigan State University. This was after a 

busy couple weeks of softball and baseball 

regional/quarterfinals games, and several area 

individual track state championships. We had 

a fantastic 2022-2023 year with several area 

team and individual state championships. We 

are very proud of all of our area athletes, and 

extremely grateful to all of the fantastic adults 

who help make youth sports happen. Thank 

you to our amazing advertisers that allowed 

us another year of covering these athletes. 

Be sure to thank those advertisers when you 

do business with them. 

www.misportsphotos.com

NATHAN 

FELTNER 

CASEVILLE 

TRACK 

PLAYERS OF THE MONTH 

Athletes are selected as the Players of the Month for their athletic 

accomplishments, leadership roles, and community impact. 

GABBY 

CRUMM 

USA 

SOFTBALL 

Congratulations! 

Rebecca Moeller 

Deckerville - Pole Vault 

State Champions 

Olivia Findlay 

Marlette - High Jump 

Alex Affer 

Peck - Long Jump 

Kyle Affer 

Brown City - Shotput 

Nathan Feltner 

Caseville - 400 Meter Run 

Dalton DeBeau 

Frankenmuth - Discus 

NATHAN FELTNER BEGAN RUNNING THE 400, 

TO BETTER HIS PERFORMANCE IN THE 100 AND 

200. LITTLE DID HE KNOW IT WOULD BECOME HIS 

SIGNATURE EVENT. THE JUNIOR PUT CASEVILLE 

TRACK & FIELD ON THE MAP, WINNING THE 400 AT 

THE DIVISION 4 STATE FINALS. 

“It feels great knowing that all the hard work has paid 

off for me,” said Feltner. 

Winning the 400 was the culmination of a banner day 

for Feltner, as he just missed the 100 finals, finishing 

ninth (11.44). He followed that with a fifth in the 200 

(22.99). 

In the 400, he was in the second to last heat and pitted 

against Folwer’s Ford Phillips. Feltner and Phillips were 

nearly inseparable for the race, with Feltner recording a 

time of 50.76, to Phillips’ 50.77. 

“Going into it, I knew he was a fast runner,” Feltner said. 

“My thing was just stay ahead of 

him the entire time. Around the 

120 mark, was when he started 

to catch up, so I knew I had to 

speed up even more. By the end 

of the race, I was just hoping I had 

enough.” 

This season marked the first 

time in Feltner’s career that he 

was mostly healthy. Besides a 

right knee that swelled from time 

to time, he was in relatively good 

shape. 

It’s a far cry from a knee injury 

he dealt with as a freshman and 

hip injury as a sophomore. “Compared to last year, it 

feels a lot better,” Feltner said. “I was placing low in 

everything, and it felt terrible; because I was hurt. This 

year, it felt good to run like I could.” 

ARTICLES BY PAUL ADAMS 

GABRIELLA CRUMM DOES IT ALL ON AND OFF 

THE FIELD FOR THE USA SOFTBALL TEAM. ON THE 

FIELD, SHE IS ONE OF THE BEST CATCHERS IN THE 

STORIED HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM. 

Crumm calls the game for her pitchers and runners 

barely test her arm. 

At the plate, she bats No. 3 in the lineup, where during 

the regular season, she hit .420, driving in 30, with 45 

runs scored and 10 doubles. 

She is the team’s unquestioned leader. When USA was 

trailing 3-1 in the state championship game, Crumm 

gathered the team to calm them down. “I came in after 

that inning and said: ‘We’ve been 

put in situations where someone 

has scored on us, and we’ve 

responded,” said Crumm. “They 

score on us some more, and we 

respond. All I’m looking for is a 

response’”. 

Crumm led the response with a 

single to lead off that inning and 

eventually scored on a Jenna 

Gremel home run. 

Off the field, she watches out 

for the younger players to help 

them maintain the high standards 

of the program. “In our hotel, I 

roomed with Erin Jubar, Olivia Green and Natalie DeGroat 

because I wanted to go with the young ones and make 

sure their nerves were calmed down,” Crumm said. “It 

means a lot to me to know that Erin and Liv have one, 

Nat has two. It’s so great that you get to leave that legacy 

and get to keep working with younger ones that keep 

coming up.” 

Team captain is the role she cherishes most. “I love 

my job as team captain,” Crumm said. “I couldn’t ask 

for anything better. I love being the one that gets to 

motivate.” 

USA Softball 

2023 MHSAA Division 4 State Champions 

4 July 2023 CONTACT US AT 989-673-5826 VIEW FREE ONLINE AT WWW.VARSITYMONTHLYTHUMB.COM PURCHASE PRINTS AT WWW.MISPORTSPHOTOS.COM 

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Photography by Jason Parmenter 

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6-14-23 FRANKENMUTH VS RICHMOND - QUARTERINALS 




CASS CITY 

SOFTBALL 

6-13-23 CASS CITY VS LAINSBURG - QUARTERFINALS 

Photography by Kaitlin Gunsell 

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48 July 2023 CONTACT US AT 989-673-5826 VIEW FREE ONLINE AT WWW.VARSITYMONTHLYTHUMB.COM PURCHASE PRINTS AT WWW.MISPORTSPHOTOS.COM

July 2023 Issue of Varsity Monthly Thumb Magazine

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