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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.
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No Just-Miss This Time for Champ Inland Lakes
June 17, 2017
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – Indian River Inland Lakes didn’t want to leave Michigan State with that same feeling it had a year ago after falling 1-0 to Unionville-Sebewaing in the Division 4 Final.
This time around, the Bulldogs (35-5) combined extra-base power with more solid pitching to claim the school’s first MHSAA softball title with an 8-0 victory over Ottawa Lake Whiteford on Saturday.
Senior pitcher Cloe Mallory struck out the first five Bobcats batters.
“I voted her all-state in our division for a reason; she just kept us off-balanced,’’ said Ottawa Lake Whiteford coach Kris Hubbard. “They had the experience. They’re a junior-senior laden team. We’re seven sophomores. She controlled us, and I think we had a little bit of sophomore-itis.”
Mallory (who will continue at Central Michigan) handcuffed the Bobcats with 12 strikeouts and never pitched in a stressful situation. Left-fielder Sydney DePauw had three hits and scored two runs to pace the offense.
“It definitely was motivation all year, losing in the Finals last year, 1-0, gave us the motivation to get back here this year,” Mallory said. “I mixed up my pitches and mostly threw rise balls. Moving left to right.
“It means so much. Just in the past three years. You see it in the little children. You can see we’re going to have some good players come through the program, and it all started here.’’
Added coach Krissi Thompson: “To come so close so many times. … Even through Little League they got so close but just came up a little short. We wanted to put an exclamation point on it this year. We put up 460-some runs against our opponents, who scored just 65. These girls have busted their butts all year.’’
The Bulldogs put together their first threat Saturday in the third inning when Makayla Henckel walked and DePauw singled her to third.
Henckel scored on a wild pitch and Precious Delos Santos singled in another run to make it 2-0.
Mallory was hit by a pitch with two out, and cleanup hitter Vanessa Wandrie came through with a run-scoring single to make it 3-0 at the end of three. The Bulldogs tacked on another run when DePauw led off the fifth inning with a double and scored on an error.
Inland Lakes then blew it open in the sixth inning.
Henckel tripled to score a run, and DePauw and Braund followed with run-scoring doubles into the center field gap to open up a 7-0 lead. Delos Santos came through with a run-scoring single to make it 8-0, and redemption was all but complete with only the final three outs left to get.
“Oh my God, it felt so good to hit the ball,’’ said DePauw. “(Friday) we did pretty well, but to come out and just put it on them.
“We lost 1-0 last year, and to come back and just open it up like that was great. We came back with a vengeance. We played really hard last year, but we didn’t want to go out like that. We wanted to get it this year. Cloe is awesome. I can’t say enough about her and the team. We are family.’’
Whiteford, playing in its first Final since 1994 after also making the Quarterfinals last spring, ended at 33-7.
“We’ve had a great season,” Hubbard said. “I started seven freshmen last year, and we went a little further this year. Hopefully, we can get back here again.’’
PHOTOS: (Top) Inland Lakes raises its first softball championship trophy Saturday. (Middle) A Bulldogs runner is tagged out trying to get back to third base.