Bluestreaks' Run Thrilling, Unforgettable
June 29, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Dawn Forter will never forget Brooklyn Woelmer’s knowing smile with Ida’s championship hopes one strike from being dashed.
The senior shortstop faced reigning champion Richmond and a two-strike count, her team down 3-1 with two outs in the seventh inning of the Division 2 championship game June 17 at Secchia Stadium.
If Ida’s run would’ve ended there, it still would’ve been worth celebrating. Seeking their first MHSAA title in the sport since 1994, the Bluestreaks had advanced to their first Final since 2006 despite entering the playoffs unranked and overlooked.
“I don’t know how many she fouled away. That last one barely touched (the bat),” Forter, her coach, said of Woelmer’s crunch time effort. “She stepped out of the box, took a deep breath, looked in the dugout and smiled.
“I’ll never lose that image. I knew when I saw her face that she was going to get on base.”
Woelmer ended up driving a double down the right-field line that brought in a run, and she crossed the plate as well on an error to tie the score at 3-3. The teams traded runs in the eighth inning before Ida put up four runs in the ninth to finish off the Blue Devils in the most thrilling conclusion from a tournament season packed with them.
There were a number of strong candidates for the final MHSAA/Applebee’s Team of the Month award for the 2016-17 school year. But it was impossible to look past Ida, which downed No. 10 Carleton Airport on the way to Michigan State, then No. 6 Stevensville Lakeshore in the Semifinal and the No. 2-ranked Blue Devils to earn a title at least a decade in the making.
Forter, who took over the program in 2004, had been part of an MHSAA runner-up finish as a player at Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in 1989, and enjoyed a nice share of accolades playing shortstop at University of Detroit Mercy before also coaching at the college level and then returning to guide the Bluestreaks.
She has led the program to 349-131 record over 14 seasons and three league titles over the last four springs. This Ida team enjoyed something special from the beginning – although Forter had only 12 players, she said all could’ve started at any time – and together with three junior varsity call-ups, they won the program’s first District title since 2010 and first Regional title since 2009.
She said after the Semifinal win she was proud of all 15 of her players, and she meant it. All three of those call-ups had contributed in the Quarterfinal shutout of Flint Powers Catholic, 10 players saw the field in the Semifinal and 12 played in the championship game.
Ida had only three seniors and seven underclassmen on the postseason roster. But they showed they belonged at that late stage in the tournament – and showed some impressive poise conquering it.
“We were down a couple times during the postseason, after the other team scored first, but we chipped away,” Forter said. “We did what we do, we didn’t lose our minds, we stayed cool. We had confidence all along that we could battle back. We have extremely powerful bats, and we relied on the fact that that carried us all year. So there was no panic, even down 3-nothing in the seventh inning of the state finals. My assistant coach (Cheryl Hoffman) and I were more freaked out than they were.
“Where did they get that (composure)? I don’t know. We were a nervous mess.”
Ida had a little extra juice entering the postseason thanks to the rankings slight. Like many coaches in many sports, Forter said she doesn’t pay much attention to the weekly coaches association polls. But some of her players and their parents do. And when the Bluestreaks didn’t crack even the honorable mention list at the end of the regular season, Forter found herself a little irked too.
No doubt, that fueled the fire a little bit. “But I’d take that path again if it happens,” she admitted.
Ida finished 37-7, and after the season Woelmer, junior outfielder Karlee Lambert and junior second baseman Hannah Tuller made the all-state team. But their talents and contributions extend farther than the foul lines. Woelmer and senior outfielder Ashlyn Brososky claimed academic all-state individual honors as the Bluestreaks earned team academic all-state recognition. This year’s group boasted a grade-point average above 3.6, with no player below a 3.2. Forter also noted the group’s well-roundedness, with a number of her players active in Ida’s Young Life club and several participating in peer tutoring at the district’s elementary school.
This was a banner softball season for the southeastern corner for the state. Not only did Ida win in Division 2, but Monroe County neighbor and Forter’s alma mater St. Mary won its third straight Division 3 title. Ottawa Lake Whiteford, from bordering Lenawee County, was runner-up in Division 4.
Of that original 12 players on Ida’s roster, eight had been playing together since they were about 8 years old. They usually teamed up for the annual age-group tournaments that are part of the Monroe County Fair, coming away with at least four championships over the years against tough competition.
Those no doubt also prepared them to hang tough when their dreams rested on one more possible strike two weeks ago.
“How things played out, I don’t think I’ve ever been on an emotional rollercoaster like that as a player or a coach,” Forter said. “I was part of a state runner-up and I played college ball as well, and this didn’t compare to anything else I’ve experienced on a ball field.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2016-17
May: Whittemore-Prescott boys track & field - Report
April: Frankfort baseball - Report
March: Flushing girls basketball - Report
February: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central girls skiing - Report
January: Powers North Central boys basketball - Report
December: Dundee boys basketball - Report
November: Rockford girls swimming & diving - Report
October: Rochester girls golf - Report
September: Breckenridge football - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Ida coach Dawn Forter and her players celebrate Brooklyn Woelmer (14) scoring the tying run during the seventh inning of the Division 2 Final. (Middle) The Bluestreaks, after winning an earlier round of the MHSAA Tournament.
Reigning Champ Mendon, 1st-Time Finalist Brown City Set to Match Aces
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2026
EAST LANSING – A pitching duel broke out between Mendon’s Rowan Allen and Hillman’s Gretchen Weiland in Friday’s first Division 4 Semifinal.
Allen got the best of it, and her strikeout to end the game sent Mendon to the championship game and a chance to repeat.
The Hornets (31-3) survived to edge Hillman 2-1 at Secchia Stadium and will play Brown City in Saturday’s Division 4 Final at 5:30 p.m.
“As soon as I got it, and I knew we were going back-to-back (to the championship game), it was the best feeling,” said Allen, who scattered five hits over seven innings of work and struck out eight.
“As a senior it feels awesome to be able to play for another state title.”
Mendon entered the final inning up 2-0 after single runs in the first and fourth innings, but Hillman closed the gap.
Allen struck out two of the final three batters to secure the win.
“It was a big stressful situation, but I knew I just had to take some deep breaths and do my job because I knew my team was going to back me up,” Allen said.
The matchup pitted the top-two ranked teams in Division 4 and was a rematch of last year’s Semifinal, which Mendon won 4-2 en route to the championship.
Hillman senior pitcher Gretchen Weiland was dominant Friday and kept the Tigers in the game with 14 strikeouts.
She allowed only three hits and one earned run.
“If you ask me, you just watched the best two pitchers in Division 4,” Mendon co-coach Mike Smith said. “Gretchen is a stud, and she's done a fantastic job all four years. And Rowan's body of work speaks for itself. Just unbelievable.
“A lot of stress in that last inning, but these girls have battled all year and they had nerves of steel.”
The Hornets prevailed despite managing only three hits.
A first-inning RBI single from Cienna Nightingale put Mendon up 1-0. The Hornets tacked on another run in the fourth when Nightingale tripled and scored on a ground out.
“As a team we think ‘win the inning,’” Allen said. “We wanted to get on top early and then just win each inning. We did the best we could, and we wouldn’t give up.”
Hillman didn’t go away quietly in the final frame.
Madelyn Oswald smacked a one-out triple and then scored on an error to make it 2-1.
A two-out single from Payton Banks put two runners on base, but they were stranded after the final strikeout.
Hillman, which outhit Mendon 5-3, was making its third-straight trip to the Semifinals and finished 33-10.
“Mendon is a good team,” Tigers coach Jason Weiland said. “But I think we are a little more than just up-north good. These girls came hard, and we just fell short offensively. We came back at the end and tried to manufacture some runs, but I couldn’t be more proud of these girls and the team and the sisterhood we’ve created these years.
“The girls are going to remember this for a lifetime, and the bar is raised for these girls now that we’ve been here three years in a row.”
Mendon has the opportunity to join its football and volleyball programs among those that have won back-to-back championships for the school.
“To add softball would be very special,” Smith said.
Brown City 7, Fowler 1
Senior pitcher Maddie Hohne has been a standout player all season for the Brown City softball team.
However, in Friday’s second Division 4 Semifinal, she played like Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani with her two-way performance.
Hohne shined on the circle and at the plate in helping lead the Green Devils to a resounding win over Fowler.
“She’s played a lot of good games this year, but she played her best game of the year today,” Brown City coach Scott Parr said. “She was phenomenal, and I will say flawless. She hit her spots better than she has all year, and I’m proud of that kid for her pitching and what she did at the plate.”
Hohne allowed one run on two hits over seven innings while striking out 13 batters.
At the plate, she went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
“Honestly, I think it was my best game,” said Hohne, who didn’t issue a walk and threw 95 pitches. “It was a different feeling today. It was like, ‘You deserve to be here so show that you deserve to be here.’ I’ve been struggling at the plate, so it feels better to have the confidence back.”
The Green Devils will make their first appearance in a Final.
“This is surreal, and this is an unbelievable feeling right now,” Parr said. “My girls were just pumped and they never get down. I can’t say enough about these kids, and their energy is contagious. The way these girls are playing right now … there’s not a doubt in my mind we can win.”
Junior Sydney Maybee homered in the top of third inning to put Brown City on the board, but Fowler rebounded with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning on a two-out RBI single from senior Selena Stump.
From there it was all Brown City, as it scored four runs on five hits in the fourth inning.
The Green Devils, who banged out 14 hits, added two more in the fifth on a throwing error.
“I knew as soon as we hit the home run that this was our day,” Parr said. “They just kept hitting the ball, and we knew they were going to hit well. They wanted to be here. They wanted to win Regionals, they wanted to win Quarterfinals and so why not win a Semifinal game. That’s where we are at.”
Hohne, who returned this season from a torn ACL, appreciated the run support from her teammates.
“Pitching without a cushion is just hard and you’re more stressed, so when these girls started getting on base I knew we had this,” she said. “I love them so much, and I was so excited to come back this year after my injury and be with these girls.”
The Eagles returned to the Semifinals for the first time since 2014 and also were looking to play in the program’s first Final.
Stump had both of Fowler’s hits.
“As soon as they (Brown City) won I jumped right into my coaching duties and scouted them,” Eagles coach Brian Miller said. “I watched three different games and in all three games they were solid, so I knew when we came in here they were going to be a tough team.
“They have a great pitcher, and we just had an off day at the plate and had a couple errors in the outfield. But it’s a huge accomplishment to come back here, and they can be proud of that.”
PHOTOS (Top) Mendon’s Rowan Allen makes her move toward the plate during her team’s Division 4 Semifinal win over Hillman on Friday. (Middle) Brown City pitcher Maddie Hohne winds up to throw a pitch.