Unionville-Sebewaing's Dominance on Diamond Continues with 3rd-Straight Title
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
June 18, 2022
EAST LANSING – Macy Reinhardt made the most of her final at-bat in a Unionville-Sebewaing uniform.
The senior standout helped create breathing room late in Saturday’s Division 4 Final en route to her team’s 4-1 win over Ottawa Lake Whiteford at Secchia Stadium.
Reinhardt launched a shot to the top of the wall on a 3-2 pitch in the sixth inning to drive in a pair of runs and extend the Patriots’ advantage.
“I knew it was probably going to be the last at-bat of my career, so I put a lot of heart and soul into it,” Reinhardt said. “‘I’m just glad I could pull it together for my team. Honestly, this never gets old and it’s special to win another one to end my high school career.”
The Patriots continued their dominance in Division 4 and won their fifth Finals championship over the last seven years.
The title also was their third in a row.
USA coach Isaiah Gainforth felt like his team’s experience played a major role in the victory.
“If you get down here for the last weekend, it’s anyone’s tournament and we have experience,” he said. “That’s the one thing we have going for us, and I thought we used that to our advantage a little bit.
“This isn't just a three-month sport at our school. It’s all year, and they’re committed. When you're driven to win a championship, they'll do anything if they trust you – and our girls trust us.”
After three scoreless innings, the Patriots capitalized on a two-out throwing error by the Bobcats in the fourth inning. USA scored twice on the play to go ahead 2-0.
The narrow margin remained that way until Reinhardt’s clutch hit doubled the lead.
“Reinhardt getting those two insurance runs in the sixth inning was huge, just huge for us,” Gainforth said. “And once you go up four going into the last two innings you feel good, but always prepare for them to get a hit so you try to stay a step ahead.”
Senior pitcher Laci Harris pitched well for the second-straight day. She struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter.
“This means a lot to me because the seniors are leaving history at our school by winning three in a row,” Harris said. “I wanted to win this last one as a senior, and Macy helped me a lot today. That was good for her, and I was happy for her because this was her last softball game.”
The Bobcats answered in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Junior Patrina Marsh doubled and sophomore Unity Nelson singled her in to trim the deficit to 4-1.
Whiteford had the game-tying run at the plate in its last at-bat, but Harris got a flyout to left to end the game.
The Bobcats were hoping to win their first Finals championship since 1987, but couldn’t break through despite out-hitting the Patriots 9-5.
“Two best teams in the state, without a doubt, and I felt like we were putting the ball in play and hitting it hard,” Whiteford coach Matt VanBrandt said. “To make it this far, you have to be really good. It takes a lot of talent and you just need a pinch of luck sometimes, too, and we just didn’t have it today.
“The girls fought hard all the way to the last out, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Marsh, Alyssa VanBrandt and Kaydence Sheldon each had two hits to lead Whiteford, while Nelson fanned 11.
PHOTOS (Top) The Unionville-Sebewaing softball team piles onto the field after the final out of Saturday’s Division 4 championship game at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) Whiteford catcher Kaydence Sheldon watches play unfold as USA’s Jenna Gremel crosses the plate.
JoBurg 3-Sport Great Capping Career Filled with All-State Honors, Team Trophies
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
April 5, 2024
It won’t be hard for Jayden Marlatt to remember opening day on the softball field from any of her four years at Johannesburg-Lewiston.
As a freshman, she missed the opener due to needing to quarantine. Her sophomore and junior years started on the road because the Cardinals’ field was under construction.
This season the Cardinals will open up — weather permitting — on their brand-new field, hosting Mio on Monday, April 8. Marlatt is slated to be the starting pitcher again and add to her school record collection.
While Johannesburg-Lewiston is looking forward to playing on the new diamond, Marlatt and her teammates have high hopes of finishing the season almost 200 miles south. They’re looking to get back to Michigan State University – the site of the Division 4 Semifinals and Final.
The Cards have had their sites on that goal since they fell 4-2 to Mendon in last year’s Semifinal at Secchia Stadium. The loss ended a 30-4-1 campaign that saw the Cardinals play every game on the road for a second consecutive year, but come up only one victory short of a first championship game appearance.
The trip to East Lansing also came after the Cards won the program’s first District title since 2008 and advanced to the Semifinals for the first time since 1981.
“It has been a long two seasons on the road,” said eighth-year head coach Kim Marlatt, noting the team utilized a Little League field for practices during the stretch. “They’ve been putting in a lot of work in the offseason, so it is excited to get going.”
The new field isn’t the only new things this spring. The Cardinals will have a junior varsity team for the first time during the Marlatt’s tenure. The JV squad is coached by Ryan Marlatt, who has been serving the program the past eight years as assistant coach. He also has been the head girls basketball coach at JoBurg the past two seasons.
The Marlatt coaches are the proud parents of Jayden, who continues to garner recognition as perhaps the greatest athlete in Johannesburg-Lewiston’s history.
The three-sport star had a huge hand in all that JoBurg accomplished last season leading the team in batting average (.670), home runs (13) and runs batted in (61). As the team’s ace pitcher, she collected 249 strikeouts and compiled a 1.32 ERA.
“Jayden has put in the hard work,” Kim pointed out. “She is a very humble athlete. ‘She doesn’t like to talk about herself. She likes to compete, and she likes to be on the top of her game for her teammates.”
Jayden has been named all-conference and all-state in softball, basketball and volleyball nearly every season over her four years at JoBurg. She’s led her teams to Ski Valley Conference, District and Regional titles along the way.
She’s also been named Player of the Year by multiple publications. And she’s a front runner to be voted the Most Valuable Player of the Ski Valley Conference in softball. Earlier this year, league coaches voted her the MVP for both basketball and volleyball.
“The Ski Valley never used to vote on an MVP,” Ryan Marlatt said. “Hopefully she can add the triple crown and get softball this year.”
Jayden Marlatt, who has played all three sports all four years, acknowledged softball is perhaps her most treasured, and she’ll continue in that sport at Ferris State. Her career total of more than 500 strikeouts, and her 14 home runs last season, are both JoBurg school records. "I like them all but probably softball,” she confirmed when asked to name her favorite sport.
She averaged 12 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and four steals per game this winter helping the Cards basketball team to a conference runner-up finish. She was key to JoBurg's ability to put a 12-game winning streak together, and she topped the 1,000-point career mark along the way.
Her outstanding senior year on the basketball court and this spring’s possibilities nearly vanished as the volleyball season ended.
She suffered what looked to be a serious lower-leg injury in the final game of the JoBurg volleyball season. “She finished in the emergency room,” Kim Marlatt said.
Diagnosed a high ankle sprain, it was an aggravation to an injury from her junior year in basketball. She wasn’t quite at 100 percent on the basketball court this season until the holiday break. She’s starting the softball season healthy, though.
Before the injury, Jayden led the Cards to their third volleyball conference championship over the last four years. After becoming JoBurg's all-time kills leader during her junior season, and with many of her teammates from her first three seasons graduating, Jayden had to fill a variety of roles while anchoring the offense from her outside hitter spot.
She ended up leading the team in both kills with 421 and digs, with 431, in her final season on the volleyball court. And she is listed among MHSAA’s all-time leaders in kills for a single match and career.
It’s more than Marlatt’s stats that stand out for Kristine Peppin, the school’s volleyball coach the past 15 years.
“It is not about the size of the school or the size of the player, it’s the heart that they have inside,” she proclaimed. “This girl would be a successful player on whatever team she was on.
“Yes we’re a small school, small town,” she continued. “That kind of leadership and heart and drive to be the best is what’s given her that success.”
Marlatt’s work ethic is second to none, Peppin noted. She never saw Jayden give less than a “1,000” percent in practice or games in her career.
“She’s a super hard worker and extremely modest for the kind of skill she possesses and the success she’s had,” Peppin said. “Her teammates think it’s amazing to be on her team.”
Marlatt’s volleyball skills caught the eye of at least one of her conference opponents’ coaches back in junior high. Ron Stremlow was performing one of his many coaching duties for Fife Lake Forest Area when he first saw Jayden on the volleyball court.
“I could tell then this girl was somebody special,” said Stremlow, who became one of the winningest coaches in state volleyball history with the Warriors. “When she got in high school, it just took off.
“She puts the time into it, and she works hard,” Stremlow continued. “Kids like that get what they deserve – they work for it.”
Stremlow, now retired, also acknowledged he’s enjoyed being able to watch the hard-throwing Marlatt on the softball field the last couple of seasons as Forest Area hosted the Cardinals consecutively due to JoBurg’s lack of a home field.
It’s something he’ll have to travel to do this year though, as JoBurg is scheduled to host the Warriors on April 15.
The Cardinals also will host a Regional on their new field June 8. The winners of District play at Rogers City, Harbor Springs, St. Ignace and Gaylord St. Mary will participate.
To play in the Regional, the Cards will have to emerge from the Rogers City District featuring the host Hurons, Atlanta, Hillman, Onaway, and Posen.
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Johannesburg-Lewiston’s Jayden Marlatt drives a pitch during softball season. (2) Cardinals’ 1,000-point scorer Marlatt sets up for a free throw attempt. (3) Also a standout in the fall, Marlatt prepares to connect during volleyball season. (4) Marlatt celebrates a trophy win during last season’s Semifinals softball run with parents (and coaches) Kim and Ryan Marlatt. (Action shots by Dylan Jespersen/Petoskey News-Review; family photo by Breya Domke.)