Tradition Continues to Grow as USA Claims Record 9th Softball Finals Title
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 17, 2023
EAST LANSING - Unionville-Sebewaing won its record ninth MHSAA Finals championship – and fourth in a row – on Saturday, but this one might have been the most dramatic.
And most unexpected.
“This one is really special because no one thought we would make it again,” said USA junior left fielder Jenna Gremel, who was the star of the game with a three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning to lift the top-ranked Patriots to a 5-4 win over No. 2 Mendon in the Division 4 championship game at Secchia Stadium.
“We didn’t have a dominant pitcher or a lot of seniors, but we were determined to keep (our tradition) going.”
USA drew on years of experience to survive a serious scare in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Patriots led 5-3 entering the bottom half of the inning, with the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters in the Mendon order up next.
But things would soon get interesting, as eight hitter Brielle Bailey led off with a solid single and Abby Butler got hit by a pitch. The bases were loaded with two outs when freshman Mattea Bingaman was hit by another pitch, forcing in a run to make it 5-4 and leaving the bases loaded.
Mendon’s next hitter made contact, but popped it up to pitcher Rylie Betson, who clutched it in her glove to secure perhaps the school’s most improbable championship.
“I don’t know where those hit-by-pitches came from, I don’t know if we’ve had one of those all year,” said USA coach Marc Reinhardt, who has coached travel softball in the USA community for more than 10 years but is in his first year as varsity head coach. “But Rylie is my warrior. She came through under some serious pressure.”
USA won its third title in a row last spring behind the dominant pitching of senior Laci Harris and the bat of fellow senior Macy Reinhardt, the current coach’s daughter.
But finding someone to replace Harris in the circle was a big question, and Betson was converted from a position player to No. 1 pitcher – and came through admirably.
“We didn’t have a kid who throws 60, so we’ve had to support her and play our best behind her,” Marc Reinhardt said.
After limiting the powerful bats of Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart to just one run in Friday’s Semifinal, Betson came back and went seven more innings Saturday, allowing five hits, three walks and four earned runs.
Then the Patriots did just enough with their bats to pull out the win.
Mendon actually made the first big move of the game in the bottom of the third inning, with a two-run triple by senior pitcher Lauren Schabes, who went on to score to give the Hornets a brief 3-1 lead.
USA struck right back in the top of the fourth, highlighted by Gremel’s three-run homer, which barely cleared the outstretched glove of Mendon left fielder Rowan Allen. The play was eerily reminiscent of Friday, when USA catcher Gabriella Crumm’s shot to left field was pulled back from over the fence by Sacred Heart centerfielder Alexis Zeien – a play which has garnered national attention.
“All I was thinking up there is that I wanted to get those runners in,” said Gremel, who had seven home runs coming into Saturday’s game. “I swung my hardest, and I ended up getting myself home, too. I wasn’t expecting a home run, that’s for sure.”
USA added one more run to take a 5-3 lead, which is how it stayed until the dramatics in the bottom of the seventh.
“I thought maybe the lucky leprechaun was going to sprinkle some magic dust out there for us in the last inning, but it didn’t happen,” said Steve Butler, in his sixth year as the co-head coach of Mendon, along with Mike Smith. “We battled them right to the end, and we had a chance to win and we probably should have won. I can’t ask for anything more out of these girls.”
Schabes went five innings for Mendon (35-6) and Allen, a freshman, came in and allowed no hits over the final two innings. Schabes also finished 3-for-3 at the plate.
USA, 33-10, finished with eight hits. Gremel was 2-for-3 with the three-run homer and Olivia Jubar went 2-for-3.
Reinhardt said he took the head coaching job after his youngest daughter graduated last spring because he is determined to keep the USA tradition going. The Patriots have earned nine Finals titles, one more than Stevensville Lakeshore and Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes on the list of those that have won the most in state history.
Reinhardt got all the young players from Unionville and Sebewaing together for the team’s sendoff to the Semifinals on Friday.
“I wanted to do that to put a little bit of fire in their belly to keep this thing going,” he said. “You could hear them whisper to each other: ‘I want to do that someday.’”
PHOTOS (Top) Teammates welcome USA’s Jenna Gremel (13) home during Saturday’s Division 4 Final. (Middle) Olivia Jubar (4) rounds third base. (Below) Rylie Betson makes her move toward the plate for the Patriots. (Photos by Olivia Napier/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Hudsonville, Lake Orion Bats Heat Up to Set Up Saturday Title Decider
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
June 13, 2024
EAST LANSING – Thursday’s second Division 1 Semifinal started as a classic pitching duel between the top-two ranked teams.
That was until Hudsonville showcased its potent offense.
The No. 2 Eagles erupted for seven runs in the fifth inning en route to a 10-0 win in six over top-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy at Secchia Stadium.
Hudsonville (41-0) remained unbeaten and will meet Lake Orion in Saturday’s 10 a.m. Division 1 Final. The Eagles are seeking their first Finals championship since 2012.
Lake Orion rallied to defeat South Lyon, 5-4, in the first Semifinal.
“We knew going in that she was a very good pitcher and we would need to have someone run into (it) and win 1-0,” Eagles coach Tom Vruggink said of Mercy ace Kaitlyn Pallozzi, who entered this week with a 0.44 ERA this season and has been nearly unbeatable over her first three seasons. “That’s what we were playing for, but once the floodgates opened, it just opened up. We’ll take it; it was awesome.”
Pallozzi held the Eagles hitless and recorded eight strikeouts before running into trouble in the fifth inning. Hudsonville snapped the scoreless game, thanks in part to a couple Mercy miscues and a string of clutch hits.
Lauren Luchies reached on an infield pop fly that Mercy lost in the sun. She advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a Mercy throwing error.
Later in the inning, sophomore Tessa Heffelbower walloped a long shot off the wall that resulted in a bases-clearing triple and 4-0 lead.
“I haven’t had a big hit like that before,” Heffelbower said. “I knew it was deep enough to score one run, but didn’t realize how far it actually went. I think we realized after we scored those four runs that she was hittable, and we kept it rolling.”
Ava Gardner followed with a RBI double off the wall, and then Autumn Dennis slapped an RBI single to left field. Luchies’ RBI double completed the inning.
Heffelbower added a two-out RBI double, and senior Elly Koopman slugged a two-run home run in the sixth inning.
“We were at the top of the order, which is where we love to live, and that's where we eat,” Vruggink said. “Megan Beemer walked, Heffelbower hit the triple, and all of a sudden we’re up 4-0.
“We have three or four kids that totally love fast pitching, and they just thrive on fast pitching.”
Koopman had a no-hitter going until giving up a two-out single in the final inning.
She was thrilled to see the bats break out and give her a cushion.
“That was so amazing because then there’s not as much pressure on me and my defense,” Koopman said. “We can just play freely and do our thing.
“For us, this is really special because we tried to make this run two years ago and got this close and lost. This year it’s just meant to be, and we’re taking it one game at a time.”
The Marlins (38-2) couldn’t recover from the fifth-inning barrage by the Eagles and lost for only the second time all season. They had reached the Semifinals with three consecutive shutouts.
“We didn’t move on the ball, we got a little rattled and weren’t able to come out of that,” Mercy coach Corey Burras said. “It was compounded errors, and that affected our confidence. It’s unfortunate, but part of the game.
“It was one or two bad innings out of maybe 250 (innings). Keep it in perspective. We have a very powerful team, but we didn't click today. We made good contact, but their pitcher pitched great and it just didn't happen. Kudos to them.”
Lake Orion 5, South Lyon 4
Lake Orion is headed to its first Final after upsetting third-ranked South Lyon. The Dragons (38-5) took advantage of a key injury to South Lyon ace Ava Bradshaw to rally from an early 4-0 deficit.
Bradshaw, who’s headed to Duke, reaggravated a prior knee injury in the top of the second inning after smacking a three-run homer.
She returned to the mound in the bottom of the frame, but faced only two batters before departing.
“Obviously we knew we were going to be facing slower pitching,” Lake Orion senior Grace Luby said. “All of us were like, ‘We just have to capitalize on this moment. We have to do the best of our abilities to score these runs.’ We did it, we scored five runs, and it was a great feeling.
“This team is amazing, and the girls work hard in the offseason and during the season. Our coaches do everything for us, and our hard work paid off.”
Lake Orion loaded the bases in the second inning and scored a pair of runs on RBI singles by Madison Eckert and Addy Dukas to trim the South Lyon lead to 4-2. Sydney Bell’s sacrifice fly made it 4-3.
Lake Orion grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third inning. A leadoff double from Luby, and then a pair of sacrifice flies from Anna Gardner and Alexis Hazen gave the Dragons a 5-4 edge.
Junior pitcher Rylee Limberger settled down after the second inning and limited the Lions to no runs and two hits the rest of the way.
“We played really good defense, that’s our signature, and our pitching was solid,” Lake Orion coach Joe Woityra said. “I think we would've gotten to her (Bradshaw) a little, but being down four runs is tough.
“I knew we would have chipped away and played 21 outs and would not have quit, but we took advantage of the situation right away.”
Bradshaw helped South Lyon (33-7-1) win the 2021 Final as a freshman, and was hoping to close her career with a chance to win another.
The Lions had recorded four shutouts over their last five games.
“I was really happy that it was a 4-0 game, and I knew that our pitcher could come in and pitch to contact and get a lot of outs,” South Lyon coach Dave Langlois said. “It was a matter of how we responded and how Lake Orion responded, and to their credit, they came in, saw that opportunity, and pounced on it.
“On the flip side, I’m very proud that this wasn't a 12-4 situation. We had a chance to stay in the game all seven innings.”
Lake Orion played in the Semifinals for the second straight year after losing to eventual champion Hartland a year ago.
Dukus, Eckert and Ellie Britt each had two hits for the Dragons.
“We preach win the little battles, and that’s what we’re doing and have been doing all year,” Woityra said. “One more battle.”
PHOTOS (Top) Hudsonville’s Lauren Luchies yells to her teammates after reaching third base during Thursday’s Division 1 Semifinal win. (Middle) Lake Orion’s Anna Gardner makes a throw to first base during her team’s victory.