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The veteran coach of the Michigan Mavericks 18 & Under travel club has pushed its record to 16-6 this summer after winning the Firecracker Explosion tournament in Lapeer this past weekend.

The Mavs, comprised of all Thumb area players, also have been runners-up in two of their three other competitions and have qualified for a pair of World Series events.

"In Canton, earlier, we were the only team without a college player and finished second," said Bluthardt. The runner-spot there allowed the Mavs to qualify for the USSSA World Series in Indianapolis. Earlier, in a tournament in Jackson, the Mavs placed second and earned the right to go to the NSA World Series in Birmingham, Alabama.

Unfortunately for the Mavs, the team did not sign up for the Indianapolis event and will not be able to compete in Alabama because of the distance and the fact that two of their three pitchers cannot attend.

Not going to the World Series still won't dampen what this Mavericks team has accomplished, so far.

Bluthardt said he has had teams with great pitching before, but not the best hitting. This team, he says, can flat out knock the cover off the ball.

"We're just so solid. We've got six girls batting over .300," noted Bluthardt, who is from North Branch. That list includes Amy Paape of Sandusky and Amanda Klaus of Deckerville.

After going 2-1 in pool play at Lapeer on Saturday, losing only to Portage, the Mavs came back on Sunday to stun the previously unbeaten Portage squad, 6-1, in the title game.

Along with knocking around the Portage pitcher, who will be on a full-ride scholarship to Ball State this fall, Bluthardt got a great pitching performance from Mayville's Kendra LaBair.

"Kendra pitched a tremendous game. Their coach said to me afterwards that they've never been shut down like that." Bluthardt added about his Mavericks, "This is such a good hitting team. That's how we win ball games. As far as hitting-wise, this probably is the best hitting team I've ever had."

The Mavs also count on Caitlin King, a Marlette senior-to-be, as one of its top pitchers. Other top hitters include Courtney Rabideau of Cass City, Amanda Allen and Noel Byers of North Branch and Amanda Gonzales of Capac.

The Mavs 18 U team will close out its season with two more tournaments - this week in a rugged 23 & Under bracket at Jackson and the following weekend in Kalamazoo.

"The one in Jackson...is all college girls," said Bluthardt. "We'll be over our head. But, of my 11 girls (nine just graduated from high school), two are still in high school, Courtney Rabideau is not playing college ball, and the other eight are playing college ball. I thought this would be good experience for them and a chance to get their feet wet."

Bluthardt credits his daughter, Kayla (an All-State pitcher in high school and a top hurler in college) who has coached the Mavericks 16U team the last four years, for bringing his players along at the lower level.

The 16U Mavs, which feature four girls from Sanilac County - Deckerville's RaChelle Rich and Ashley Foster, Cros-Lex's Amanda Dubay, and Sandusky's Kelsey Paape - have played well at times and struggled, especially defensively, too, "but they're learning. There's a lot of talent, but we have a lot of girls that are not 16," said Bluthardt.