D4 Finalists Step Closer to Long-Awaited Title
June 16, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Over the last two seasons, Indian River Inland Lakes has emerged from its cozy spot tucked 30 miles south of Mackinac Bridge to join the elite of Michigan high school softball.
On Thursday, the top-ranked Bulldogs downed seven-time title winner Kalamazoo Christian in a Division 4 Semifinal to earn another chance at bringing home the school's first MHSAA championship trophy in any sport since 1979.
Returning its entire hitting lineup from last season’s Finals loss to Unionville-Sebewaing, Inland Lakes slugged its way to a 9-0 victory at Secchia Stadium. The Bulldogs will face No. 8 Ottawa Lake Whiteford at 3 p.m. Saturday with that first title on the line – hoping to follow the girls track & field team that won Inland Lakes’ first and only MHSAA championship in 1979.
“It just shows all of the hard work we’ve put in. Our main group has been together eight, nine years,” Bulldogs senior pitcher Cloe Mallory said. “The family we have in our community, it just really shows.
“There’s so many people talking it up. We’ve just got to stay very humble about it. In northern Michigan, it’s hard to get all these great girls all in the same program, the same years. I’ve been very lucky to have this great group of girls with me throughout my high school career.”
And they’ve been fortunate to have her in the circle, especially over the last two.
In two games at Secchia last season, Mallory threw all 14 innings, giving up one run and eight hits while striking out 17. She returned to Michigan State on Thursday with another shutout, striking out nine while giving up only four hits in going the distance.
And Inland Lakes’ bats have been just as punishing. The nine-run performance took the Bulldogs’ overall postseason score to a combined 84-3 against seven playoff opponents.
Five batters had at least two hits Thursday; junior third baseman Madison Milner and junior centerfielder Makayla Henckel hit home runs, and junior leftfielder Sydney DePauw was 3 for 4. Milner, Mallory, senior catcher Pamela Braund and senior shortstop Vanessa Wandrie all had two hits, and Wandrie and Milner both drive in two runs.
Inland Lakes (34-5) jumped out to a 3-0 lead during the top of the first inning and pushed the game further out of reach on Milner’s two-run homer in the fifth.
“That’s the way the girls have been all season. They know they have to jump out early and put the bats to work,” Bulldogs coach Krissi Thompson said. “Like I’ve said all season, my favorite part is watching them hit.”
Kalamazoo Christian was playing in its fourth Semifinal in five seasons and finished 23-18.
Ottawa Lake Whiteford 6, Coleman 1
A proud and successful Whiteford program has been waiting to get back to the MHSAA Finals.
The Bobcats will play in their first title game since 1994, aiming for their first championship since 1987 and fourth overall under 39-season coach Kris Hubbard.
One of only three seniors, centerfielder Erin Manley played a major role in booking that return. Manley drove two home runs – sandwiched, unexpectedly, around a sacrifice bunt – and brought in four runs.
“The past few games haven’t been so good,” Manley said of her hitting, “but my teammates have just been pumping me up. They’re telling me to get a base hit, and that’s what I tried to do.
“Everybody on the team is talking me up, making sure I’m watching (the pitch) all the way through, helping me on the tees and throwing me extra balls in practice, and that’s what really helped.”
Whiteford (33-6) scored three runs in the first inning on Manley’s first homer. After Coleman came back with a run in the second, Whiteford sophomore pitcher Lindsey Walker didn’t allow another hit until the seventh inning.
She finished with nine strikeouts, giving up three hits total. Sophomore shortstop Karyn Berns-Moore had two hits including a triple and scored two runs, while sophomore third baseman Baylee Baldwin also had two hits and scored and Walker drove in two runs.
Junior shortstop Autumn Tubbs had hits in both of her at bats and scored the lone run for No. 5 Coleman (35-7), which was making a second straight Semifinal appearance.
The win was quite a follow-up after Whiteford downed reigning champion and No. 2-ranked Unionville-Sebewaing in Tuesday’s Quarterfinal – and after losing to USA in the Quarterfinal a year ago.
“I think it’s our attitude, effort, every single day on and off the field that makes us good,” Manley said. “Last year we didn’t have any seniors; it was six freshmen and three juniors, and that was our team. We knew we had a good team, and we lost in the Quarterfinals. The goal was to get to state championships this year, and that’s what we’ve been working for.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Indian River Inland Lakes greets Madison Milner after her home run Friday. (Middle) Ottawa Lake Whiteford celebrates one of Erin Manley's homers in its Division 4 Semifinal.
Next Group Takes Place Among USA Greats
June 13, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — The softball coaches at Unionville-Sebewaing don't need to waste much time talking about tradition to their incoming players.
Nearly every athlete who comes into the program has already witnessed that tradition first-hand.
Many of the current players watched from the stands at Bailey Park in Battle Creek while the Patriots competed in MHSAA semifinal and championship games. As young girls, they idolized the teenagers who wore the red, white and blue of Unionville-Sebewaing.
Just as some young girls currently look up to junior Nicole Bauer, who pitched a one-hit shutout in a 5-0 victory over Kalamazoo Christian in the MHSAA Division 4 championship game Saturday at Michigan State University.
It was the fourth MHSAA title for the Patriots, who have played in seven Finals in the past 10 years. They won it all in 2006, 2007 and 2009 before losing three close Finals in 2011, 2013 and 2014. They have played in at least the quarterfinal round for 12 straight years, making the Semifinals 11 times.
"I was just so in awe of them and how great they were," Bauer recalls of her early impressions of Unionville-Sebewaing softball. "I just knew I wanted to be on that field some day."
Recalling their own childhoods, the Patriots (38-3) were mindful of the likelihood that future Unionville-Sebewaing stars were watching from the stands at Secchia Stadium on Saturday.
"Before the game, our speech was 'Play for that little girl that we were that was sitting in the stands just like the little girls are here today,'" Bauer said.
And, thus, tradition is handed down from one class to another.
"One of the things I'm proud of is all of these girls are homegrown USA kids," Patriots coach Steve Bohn said. "It's like the Yankees. Hey, we win championships. When you go there, you know that's the expectation. That's the expectation they have, because that's all they've seen. Everybody's worried about being the one team that doesn't get here. Nobody wants to be that team."
For all of the Patriots' success, none of the current players had won an MHSAA championship — until Saturday.
"I came down to Battle Creek to watch them play, watch them win and sometimes fall short," senior third baseman Madison Zimmer said. "I was really determined to get another state championship."
It was a title game that oozed with tradition, as the Patriots' opponent was a Kalamazoo Christian squad trying to match the record for MHSAA softball championships. The Comets have seven titles, one fewer than Waterford Our Lady.
Kalamazoo Christian (29-15) reached its third straight MHSAA Final, despite a roster comprised of eight sophomores, two freshmen, two juniors and only two seniors.
"These girls are JV kids playing varsity," Comets coach Terry Reynolds said. "Coming here and playing in the semifinals and state championship, it shows the girls what they can do. We got here. Now we've got to do something about it. We're already talking about next year. This group wants to be back next year. They'll be stronger and work harder."
The Comets couldn't solve Bauer, who allowed only one base runner. Aliyah Lemmer led off the fifth inning with a single after the first 12 batters were retired in order. After that, Bauer got the final nine batters in a row, striking out Lemmer to clinch the championship.
"I felt very confident," Bauer said. "I knew if I kept it in the field that my players would make outs for me."
The Patriots scored their five runs with a three-run fourth inning and a two-run fifth.
Zimmer lined the first pitch she saw for a two-run double to left-center field to open the scoring in the fourth. After going to third on a wild pitch, Zimmer scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Katie Engelhardt.
"It was huge, because we had runners on and we needed to get them in," Zimmer said of her double. "Nicky did a great job. She held them until we could hit; that really helped."
The Patriots built their lead to 5-0 when Bauer lined a two-run single to left with two outs in the fifth.
"We didn't have a lot of opportunities," Bohn said. "We didn't swing the bats real well. That hit Maddie Zimmer got, that first one you get across the plate, especially the way Nicky was throwing, that's huge. That's the one hit we had to get. That loosens everybody up, and the other ones start to happen."
PHOTOS: (Top) A Unionville-Sebewaing batter connects during Saturday’s championship game. (Middle) USA’s Sara Reinhardt beats a throw to second base.