USA Triumphs with Pitching, Fielding Gems
June 15, 2019
By Perry A. Farrell
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – What a way to win a championship.
In a top-play moment, Unionville-Sebewaing turned a triple play in the seventh inning to secure a 3-1 victory over Kalamazoo Christian in the Division 4 softball championship game at Michigan State’s Secchia Stadium.
With runners on first and second base, the Comets’ Sammy Gano lined a shot off USA pitcher Brynn Polega’s arm. The ball ricocheted in the air to shortstop Rylee Zimmer, who touched second base and threw to first to complete the gem. (Click for video.)
Polega, a sophomore, had 15 strikeouts and a bruise on her arm.
“It hit me right in the elbow, and I just turned around and I said, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Polega said. “I said please get this, and I saw (Zimmerman) step on second. The runner on first was halfway to second, and I said that’s it. I was so excited when that happened. To win this as a sophomore is incredible.’’
“Chaos. I’ve never seen an ending like that,’’ added Patriots coach Isaiah Gainforth. “Whether in the Major Leagues, college baseball. I played a lot of different things, and I’ve never seen anything transpire the way that last inning did. I’m just glad we’re on the winning end of it.’’
Polega kept the Comets hitters at bay for most of the game.
“My curveball was working good,’’ she said. “My drop ball was good. Right before the game, my pitching coach and I were over there working on it. He said stay tall, keep my arm long and snap hard. That’s what I did all game.’’
She had six strikeouts through the first two innings, and by the end of the fifth she had racked up 12.
Staked to a 3-0 lead after the third inning and tossing a one-hitter, Polega never gave a young Kalamazoo Christian team a chance to get back into it before the seventh-inning dramatics.
Chants of “USA, USA, USA’’ rang through the Patriots crowd. It was the sixth Finals title for the Patriots (31-9) since 2009.
The teams finished with identical records, and it would be no surprise if they met again in next year’s Final with USA losing just three seniors and the Comets losing two.
“We’re a young team and so are they, so it could happen,’’ said Polega.
USA had a first-inning threat as Zimmer tripled with one out, but she was left on base.
Polega mowed through Kalamazoo Christian hitters, striking out eight through three innings and getting out of a jam in the third with a strikeout.
The Patriots got on the board in the third inning when Maci Reinhardt singled and scored on a throwing error with Maci Montgomery at the plate. Polega bounced out, scoring Montgomery, and Delanie Pavlichek doubled in another run to make it 3-0.
The Comets finally got to Polega in the sixth inning on a single by junior second baseman Megan Snook, who eventually scored on a single by freshman Reagan Broekhuizen to make it 3-1.
Polega ended the threat with another strikeout, her 15th of the game.
“She was zoned in,’’ said her catcher, Montgomery. “Everything was right on the spot. She made a couple of mistakes, but the defense supported her.’’
Especially in the seventh inning.
PHOTOS: (Top) USA's Brynn Polega works through an inning on the way to pitching her team to a Division 4 Final win. (Middle) Macy Reinhardt (14) connects with a Kalamazoo Christian pitch.
Mattawan, Havers Write Winning Story
June 15, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BATTLE CREEK — Allie Havers is an overpowering presence on the softball field. But the situation called for finesse.
Mattawan’s 6-foot-5 senior was perfectly capable of switching gears.
She dropped down a perfect suicide squeeze to bring home the tying run in a two-run sixth inning that carried the Wildcats to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Bay City Western in the MHSAA Division 1 championship game Saturday at Bailey Park.
Two batters later, freshman Genny Soltesz drove in what proved to be the winning run by slapping a two-out single to center field.
Havers had a dominant performance in the pitching circle, striking out 11 batters and allowing only two hits. One of those hits was a home run to center field by Kaylynn Carpenter in the fourth inning.
Havers had five home runs and only one sacrifice all season, but she didn’t flinch when coach Alicia Smith called for a squeeze with one out and runners on first and third.
“She came up to me and was like, ‘Squeeze,’” Havers said. “I was like, ‘Let’s go.’”
Havers laid down a bunt that didn’t even draw a throw home. By the time third baseman Diondra Heading got to the ball, Sarah Johnson was almost to the plate with the tying run. Johnson began the rally with a one-out single.
“I knew she was ready,” Smith said. “I’ve got seniors on the corners and a senior at bat. We can’t ask for a better storyline.”
Mattawan (35-8) won the 2011 Division 1 championship by outscoring three final-round opponents, 27-0.
The Wildcats had to battle nearly every step of the way during this postseason run. They trailed Portage Central 4-2 in the fifth inning of the District Final before winning 5-4. They were down 2-0 to Saline in the Quarterfinal before forcing extra innings and winning 7-3. They trailed Romeo 1-0 before a three-run fifth inning in the Semifinal carried them to a 3-2 victory.
“We’ve played under pressure many times,” Havers said. “When there’s pressure on, then we’re on. It was a wake-up.”
Mattawan needed to rally once again because Western’s first hit of the game was a home run over the center-field fence by Carpenter on the first pitch of the fourth inning.
The Warriors (37-3) were in a position to win a third straight 1-0 decision. Hannah Leppek was just as dominant in the circle for Western, striking out 10 and giving up only six hits. She had thrown 40 straight shutout innings until Mattawan scored twice in the decisive sixth inning.
“Ahead 1-0, I knew we had six outs to go. But we also had to go through the top of their lineup,” Western coach Rick Garlinghouse said. “That was the third time seeing our pitcher. They have a strong top of the lineup, and they got to us.”
Singles by Johnson and Abby Stoner with one out gave Mattawan runners on first and third for Havers. After her game-tying bunt, Soltesz slapped a single to center field to score courtesy runner Sarah Hillsburg for the winning run.
“I knew the ball was moving around a lot and I knew I had to square up on it and make sure I got all of the ball,” Soltesz said. “She threw me the perfect pitch. It’s amazing. I can’t really believe it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Mattawan players celebrate after winning their second Division 1 championship in three seasons. (Middle) Mattawan’s Allie Havers winds up on a pitch during her team’s 2-1 victory over Bay City Western. (Click to see more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)