USA Fearlessly Eludes Scare in D4 Repeat
June 18, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — Another pitcher might have backed down and avoided the threat altogether.
But Nikki Bauer of Unionville-Sebewaing isn't just an ordinary pitcher.
One day earlier, Cloe Mallory of Indian River Inland Lakes was intentionally walked in her next two at-bats after hitting a two-run homer that produced the game's only runs in an MHSAA Division 4 Semifinal victory over Holton.
The thought of pitching around Mallory never crossed Bauer's mind, not even when the possibility that one swing of the bat in the final inning could cost the Patriots a second straight MHSAA championship.
"I struck her out the time before," Bauer said. "I try not to be afraid of hitters, because it just messes with my mind."
Bauer went right at Mallory, and got more than she bargained for. Not only did she strike out the Central Michigan University commit for the third straight time, but catcher Sara Reinhardt caught Precious Delos Santos trying to steal second base for an unorthodox double play. Shortstop Marisa Morton stayed with the tag after Delos Santos overslid the base.
One groundout later, and the Patriots repeated as Division 4 champions with a 1-0 victory over Inland Lakes on Saturday at Michigan State University.
It's the fifth championship in 11 years for Unionville-Sebewaing, which also won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.
"I never actually thought this day would come, where I would be in the position to represent our town and represent our school," said senior Kayla Gremel, who scored the game's only run in the top of the sixth inning. "I'm proud. This is what we've worked for since we were little girls. The goal was to get to Battle Creek, then it changed to MSU. We showed everyone we can do it."
One game after Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central’s Meghan Beaubien threw only the second perfect game ever in an MHSAA Final, Bauer took a perfect game into the sixth inning. A lead-off single up the middle by Makayla Henckel in the sixth broke it up, but Bauer retired the next three batters.
"I don't really think about that," Bauer said of the perfect game. "I guess no runs is my goal. I was just thinking that every hit is a run; that's what my mindset was. I needed to keep that off the field."
Mallory, who has 15 homers, figured she would have to earn the Patriots' respect.
"Coming into this game, I didn't think they were going to intentionally walk me," she said. "Every game you have to prove yourself. I didn't do that much in this game."
It was the second year in a row that Bauer pitched a one-hit shutout and struck out 11 in the championship game. She started the 2014 Division 3 title game against Gladstone, but was pulled after four innings of a 2-1 loss.
"I know what losing here feels like, and I know what winning here feels like," Bauer said. "I know which one I want to feel."
Bauer is not only a dominant pitcher, but she has a 4.006 GPA and scored 33 (36 is perfect) on the ACT college entrance test. The combination of athletic and academic prowess earned her a softball scholarship to Stanford.
"The thing of it is, she's such a special person, just in terms of being a person, also," Patriots coach Steve Bohn said. "She's a great representative of Unionville-Sebewaing, a great representative for Stanford University. Everything she does is top-notch."
After battling with Mallory through five scoreless innings, Bauer got all of the support she would need in the top of the sixth.
Gremel led off with a single to center field, was bunted to second by Alexis Cady and advanced to third on a wild pitch. She beat the throw home when Marisa Morton bunted the ball to third base.
"I'm not the fastest girl on the team, but I knew I had to run my butt off in order to win," Gremel said. "That's just what I did, I guess. I knew that Nikki was on fire. I knew that their offense was slow, our offense was slow, so one run was going to put us ahead and get us the win."
The Patriots loaded the bases after Gremel scored, but couldn't add to their lead.
While Bauer pretty much cruised through the game, Mallory pitched with runners on base in all seven innings, but battled out of some tough situations to keep her team in the game. She gave up six hits, walked four and hit a batter one day after pitching a shutout against Holton.
The Patriots stranded nine runners.
"It's definitely hard, especially coming from yesterday when there was barely anyone on base to today when everyone was on base," Mallory said. "It's like you have to be perfect with every pitch and just know you've got to make this one or it's not going to end well."
It was only the second appearance ever for Inland Lakes in an MHSAA championship game in any sport. The 1998 baseball team lost in the Division 4 final to Southgate Aquinas. The school's only MHSAA title is in the nonbracketed sport of girls track and field (1979, Class D).
PHOTOS: (Top) Unionville-Sebewaing’s Nikki Bauer prepares to fire a pitch during the Division 4 Final. (Middle) The Patriots celebrate their latest championship at Secchia Stadium.
Richmond Finds Stride, Brings Championship End to 2021
By
Jason Schmitt
Special for MHSAA.com
June 19, 2021
EAST LANSING — Richmond senior Makayla Revord did what she’s been taught since first lacing up the cleats as a young ball player.
Keep your head down and run hard.
So when she blooped a double down the right field line during the sixth inning of her team’s Division 3 Final against Buchanan on Saturday, she missed all the exciting action.
“I saw the ball land, and I kept going. I didn’t look at anybody else running. I just wanted to keep going to get more runs,” said Revord, whose hit drove in what turned out to be the game-winning run in her team’s 2-1 victory over the Bucks. “When I popped up (at second base), I had no worries anymore. I knew that we had this.”
Indeed they did. The Blue Devils scored twice in that sixth inning to rally from a run down and capture the second Finals championship in school history. The first came back in 2016 — also under current head coach Howard Stuart.
Richmond struggled against Buchanan starting pitcher Sophia Lozmack for the better part of six innings. The senior allowed just four hits while striking out six through five innings.
“She’s a great pitcher. You can’t take that away from her,” said Revord, speaking of Lozmack. “She’s got a great rise ball. She hits outside corners like nobody’s business. We don’t see a lot of that, so it took us a minute to catch up to that.”
Eventually, the Blue Devils did catch up in the sixth. Sophomore Piper Clark started things off with a one-out double and moved over to third on a single by junior Lauren Creon. Senior Jaelyn Amhdar then singled down the left field line, scoring Clark and tying the game up at 1-1. One out later, Revord came up with the eventual game-winner.
“The first half of the game, we were scared to death, which is not like us at all,” Stuart said. “(Revord) was shaking, she made two errors. It just wasn’t us. Finally, we got our act together and said, ‘Hey, we’re Richmond. Let’s do something.’”
Buchanan scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning. Freshman first baseman Hailee Kara took a 1-2 pitch deep to right, clearing the fence while hitting the fair pole to give her team an early 1-0 lead. But from that point on, hits were hard to come by for the Bucks.
Richmond senior Shea VanScoter locked things down, retiring eight of the next nine Buchanan batters and 10 of the last 11 she faced. She had a complete game, allowing just one run on three hits while collecting nine strikeouts.
“She stymied us for seven innings, and that hasn’t really happened all year,” said Buchanan head coach Rachel Carlson, whose team finished with a 36-5 record. “So congratulations to her. She pitched great.”
Offensively, Clark led Richmond with three hits, including a double. She also had a stolen base.
“She’s a star. She’s a great sophomore who can run like the wind,” Stuart said. “And she’s a great pitcher too. She’s just a great kid.”
Stuart said Saturday’s win was a great way to cap off a season that may not have started off exactly the way he had hoped. It took a few weeks for the Blue Devils to get things going.
“The first week, I was like, ‘We’re terrible.’ We were making six errors a game. We were pathetic,” Stuart said. “All of a sudden we went from a fielding percentage of .700 to a fielding percentage of .900, which is just huge. I felt like in the middle of the season we had a really good team. We didn’t show it that first week, but we started getting better, and better and better.”
Buchanan was making its first appearance in an MHSAA Final game. The Bucks were coming off a 9-4 win over Standish-Sterling in Friday’s Semifinal. Carlson said she couldn’t be any more proud of the way her team competed this season.
“They made a commitment to play as a team and as a unit. That’s what I’m most proud of today,” said the fourth-year head coach. “They cheered each other on all day. They never stopped. That is a success in itself.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Richmond's Olivia Theut pulls in a fly ball during the Division 3 championship game Saturday evening. (Middle) The Blue Devils’ Piper Clark (10) shows some excitement after reaching second base.