Trenton, Lakeshore Emerge with 1-Run Semifinal Wins, Advance to Saturday

By Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com

June 16, 2022

EAST LANSING – Trenton and Essexville Garber are not used to making long runs in softball.

In fact, most of the players on both teams weren’t even born the last time their schools reached the Softball Semifinals.

The newcomers put on a show Thursday on the state’s biggest stage, with Trenton holding off Garber, 2-1, in a classic pitcher’s duel at sunny, windswept Secchia Stadium.

“We just told them to believe,” said third-year Trenton coach Rick Tanguay. “Believe it’s going to happen and believe you’re going to put the ball in play. I’ve had a lot of these kids since they were 9 or 10 years old, and I’m proud of them.”

Trenton (34-10), which lost in the Division 2 Final in 2005 and had not been back to the Semifinals before this season, will play perennial power Stevensville Lakeshore in Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. championship game. Lakeshore defeated Escanaba, 2-1, in Thursday’s last Semifinal.

The Trojans had to come from behind to advance, after Garber jumped out to a 1-0 lead during the first inning.

Kortney Kotenko, a junior catcher, belted an RBI double to bring the big crowd from Essexville to its feet. The Dukes previously lost in the Class B Final in 1997, but hadn’t been back to the state’s Final Four until Thursday.

Garber would keep that 1-0 lead until the fifth inning, as junior pitcher Sarah Basket kept the Trojans off-balance.

Trenton finally broke through by manufacturing single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Pinch-runner Jordyn Emery scored on a fielding error in the fifth, then sophomore shortstop London Williams singled to left in the sixth inning to score Maddie Dobbs.

Those two runs would prove to be just enough as Trenton senior pitcher Aila Johnson turned back Garber’s last-chance, seventh-inning rally.

The Dukes put the pressure on, as Basket singled and then Jacqueline Brinkman was hit by a pitch. After a double steal, Garber had runners on second and third with two outs, before Johnson was able to shut the door with a strikeout.

“I have to be confident out there for my team, but that last inning was rough,” Johnson said with a smile. “I was trying to hide it, but I was nervous out there.”

Johnson may have been battling nerves on the inside, but it didn’t show in her stellar performance. The Siena Heights commit finished with just four strikeouts, but she kept the Dukes guessing for most of the game and allowed just four hits and one walk.

Tanguay said it was a classic performance by the battery of Johnson and her senior catcher, Olivia Hickman, who are two of just four seniors on the Trojans’ 16-player roster.

“Aila doesn’t get a lot of love; she doesn’t get a lot of press,” said Tanguay. “She’s not one of the top 10 (ranked) pitchers in the state, but she comes out and she’s a workhorse and she does it.”

Matching her every pitch along the way was Basket, a junior, who finished with a five-hitter, no walks, one earned run and nine strikeouts.

Garber (35-9) is an even younger team than Trenton, with just three seniors on the 16-player roster. The Dukes relied on their stellar junior class to pull out several come-from-behind victories in Districts and Regionals en route to MSU.

“You know, this is the first time we’ve been this far in 25 years – and 25 is a long time,” said second-year Garber coach Chris Kokaly. “Losing by one run is hard because you think about all of the opportunities we had where we just needed a key hit. We’ve been getting those hits all season and today, it just didn’t happen.”

Click for the full box score.

Stevensville Lakeshore 2, Escanaba 1

Lakeshore advanced to the championship game despite having just two hits in the Semifinal, both of them singles.

The Lancers (39-4) played small ball and took advantage of Escanaba miscues to manufacture single runs in the first inning and the sixth inning, and that proved to be just enough.

Lakeshore/Escanaba softball“The girls believe in their pitchers and their defense,” said 43rd-year Lakeshore coach Denny Dock, who ranks third in state softball history with 1,055 victories. “If we could get our bats out of the deep freeze, we’d be pretty good.”

Lakeshore’s pitching combination of junior Ava Mullen and sophomore Avery Atwood was outstanding, combining on a three-hitter.

Mullen set the tone by getting the first five outs of the game by strikeout. She kept cruising until the top of the sixth inning, when Escanaba used a walk and a solid single to right field by senior Lizzy Silva to tie the game, 1-1. After McKayla Mott singled, Dock decided to make a pitching change – bringing in Atwood with two runners on and two outs.

To say the decision turned out good is an understatement.

Atwood got the next hitter to pop out to the catcher on her first pitch, then struck out the side in the top of the seventh to get the win.

“I knew that Avery would do great, and she did,” said Mullen, who finished with 10 strikeouts. “I’m super proud of this team. We’ve worked on our attitudes and staying positive, and I really think that was a big reason why we won today.”

Gianna Kerschbaum and Gabby Solloway had the lone hits for Lakeshore, which has scored just five runs over its last three games – all wins – including a 2-1 victory over Wayland in the Regional Final and a 1-0 win over Jackson Northwest in Tuesday’s Quarterfinal.

Dock, also the longtime football coach at Lakeshore, has led Lancers softball to seven Finals championships, the most recent in 2015. Lakeshore finished runner-up in Division 2 in 2019.

Escanaba (30-6), which won Division 2 titles in 2018 and 2019 and made the Semifinals for the fifth time in six seasons, was out of sorts from the start Thursday. Mott relieved the starting pitcher after two walks and a wild pitch and threw most of the game, before freshman Grayson LaMarche relieved her in the fifth inning and took the loss.

“When two great teams play it comes down to a couple of plays, and that’s what happened today,” said second-year Escanaba coach Andy Fields. “Overall, this season was a phenomenal ride.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Trenton’s Jordyn Emery scores her team’s first run in the fifth inning Thursday. (Middle) A Lakeshore runner gets across the plate just before the tag by Escanaba’s Carney Salo.

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.”

Click for the full box score.

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.

Lake Orion’s Anna Gardner makes a throw to first base during her team’s victory.“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.”

Click for the full box score.

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.