Top-ranked Unionville-Sebewaing, No. 2 Mendon Set Division 4 Matchup

By Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com

June 16, 2023

EAST LANSING – Not even a once-in-a-lifetime, over the fence, home-run robbing catch by Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart centerfielder Alexys Zeien could stop the Unionville-Sebewaing softball machine.

USA junior catcher Gabriella Crumm belted what looked like a sure two-run home run to left-centerfield in the top of the seventh inning Thursday morning, only to watch in disbelief as Zeien leapt, fully extended over the fence and yanked the yellow ball back into play, safely “snow coned” in the top of her glove.

Instead of a 4-1 USA lead, it remained a narrow 2-1 edge.

Unfazed, USA junior pitcher Rylie Betson retired the upset-minded Irish 1, 2, 3 in the bottom of the seventh for the narrow 2-1 win at Secchia Stadium, as the Patriots advanced to Saturday’s Division 4 Final – which will be the school’s 12th Finals appearance. USA has won eight titles, including the last three.

“When I hit it, I was like: ‘YEAH, that’s gone,’” said Crumm, the team’s lone captain and a returning first-team all-stater. “Then I looked out there and saw that she caught it, and I was like ‘Respect.’

“We still had the lead and we just had to go get three more outs, and that’s what we did.”

USA, ranked No. 1 in the final Division 4 coaches poll, will try to make it four championships in a row Saturday against No. 2-ranked Mendon, which had only one hit but manufactured four runs in a 4-2 Semifinal win over Johannesburg-Lewiston.

 The Patriots are the only softball team with a chance to repeat. In fact, the other three winners from last year – Allen Park (D1), Stevensville Lakeshore (D2) and Millington (D3) – all fell short of the Semifinals this time.

USA’s 12 appearances in Softball Finals will tie for the most in state history with Kalamazoo Christian. The Patriots’ first Finals appearance didn’t come until 2006, but they now have made 12 title games in the past 18 years.

Gabriella Crumm celebrates at second base. “It never gets old,” explained Crumm, who started watching her school compete for Finals titles when she was just a little girl. “We know how important it is to our school, to our community and all of those little girls in the stands.”

The Patriots’ latest Semifinal victory will not go down as a thing of beauty, or perhaps it will, depending on who recounts it.

First-year USA coach Marc Reinhardt didn’t mind that his team tallied only seven hits and two runs – both of them unearned.

“We will take it any way that we can get it,” said Reinhardt, whose daughter, Macy, had a two-run double in last year’s championship game win over Ottawa Lake Whiteford. “This is the first time I haven’t sat in one of the stadium seats here and watched the game.”

Crumm was the only USA player with multiple hits.

The Patriots fell behind 1-0 after the first inning, then took the lead with single runs in the fourth and fifth.

Jenna Gremmel led off the fourth inning with a double and came around on a wild pitch and a throwing error. Lauren Green then led off the fifth inning with a single and eventually scored after a passed ball and another throwing error.

USA’s run in the fourth inning snapped a 37-inning postseason scoreless streak by the Irish, who won their first six tournament games by a combined score of 65-0.

Sacred Heart, which started three freshmen and three sophomores, showed off their bats in the first inning, jumping out to the lead behind doubles from senior Eliza Pieratt and sophomore Kallie Smith.

But Betson settled in after that, scattering four hits over the final six innings.

“They were a good team and were hitting me pretty good,” said Betson. “The thing is, I know my team is so solid behind me and that takes so much weight off of my shoulders.”

Click for the box score.

Mendon 4, Johannesburg-Lewiston 2

Mendon managed just one hit over seven innings, but took advantage of its opportunities and used aggressive base-running to advance to its first Final since 1992.

The Hornets broke through despite having one of the youngest teams in the field with two seniors, no juniors and a combined 11 sophomores and freshmen.

“We thought we’d be something special in a couple of years, but these girls are different – they don’t quit,” said Mendon co-head coach Mike Smith, who handles the duties along with Steve Butler. “We had one hit, but we won the game, so who cares?”

Mendon’s Lauren Schabes makes her move toward the plate.Mendon, 35-5, scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning, capitalizing on a pair of errors, then scored its final two runs in the top of the sixth, taking advantage of two walks and three wild pitches.

Freshman Mattea Bingaman had the Hornets’ only hit, an infield single in the sixth inning, and sophomore Brielle Bailey was credited with her team’s only RBI.

The standout for the Hornets was senior pitcher Lauren Schabes, who went all seven innings, allowing six hits, three walks and striking out 12.

Schabes won’t have much time to celebrate, however, as she had to hurry home after the game for her graduation open house in Mendon, which is about 71 miles from MSU in the southwest corner of the state.

“It’s going to be a busy night,” said Schabes, one of just two seniors for the Hornets, along with third baseman Carlie Doehring. “I don’t even have time to go to B-Dubs (Buffalo Wild Wings) with everybody else.”

Johannesburg-Lewiston, 30-4-1, advanced to the Semifinals for the first time since 1981 and fell just short of its first Finals appearance.

Junior pitcher Jayden Marlatt was the hard-luck loser, allowing just one hit and striking out 15 over seven innings. Reagan Sides had two hits and two RBIs, and Brittney Fox also ripped two hits.

Click for the box score.

PHOTOS (Top) A Unionville-Sebewaing hitter makes contact during her team’s Semifinal win Friday. (Middle) Gabriella Crumm celebrates at second base. (Below) Mendon’s Lauren Schabes makes her move toward the plate. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)

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.’’

Click for the full box score.

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.