Caledonia, Hartland Earn Finals Return
June 14, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Welcome back, Caledonia and Sammie Gehrls.
Three seasons after finishing her freshman year at Secchia Stadium, the Fighting Scots’ ace once again has her team one more win from its first MHSAA softball championship.
Gehrls tossed a three-hitter and struck out nine to kick off the Division 1 Semifinals on Thursday, and also drove in the game’s lone run in Caledonia’s 1-0 victory over Warren Regina.
The Fighting Scots will face Hartland in Saturday’s 10 a.m. championship game, their second in four seasons. Gehrls as a freshman pitched the Scots to the Division 1 Final, where they fell that time to Regina 5-0.
“As a freshman I just had little experience, and to see how much it really takes to get here, you just begin to appreciate it that much more,” Gehrls said. “Every year we’d come with the intent to try to get back to this big stage. But at the same time, you know that every pitch matters. These last couple of years, we didn’t win those pitches. And so to come out and win these pitches and be able to get to this point is incredible.”
Caledonia (28-6) won the few that counted most Thursday, particularly during the third inning when sophomore shortstop Emmalee Hamp tripled and Gehrls drove her home with a ground out to second base.
Senior third baseman Melina Livingston singled to lead off the game for Regina and had two of her team’s three hits, but the Saddlelites (25-8) never advanced a runner past second base.
Regina junior Marisa Muglia similarly was stellar in the pitching circle, allowing only seven hits and walking one while striking out three. Junior Jadon Huyser had two of Caledonia’s hits during a fast-moving game dominated by the aces.
Gehrls, who will continue next season at Grand Valley State, moved to 21-2 pitching this spring. She also entered this week hitting .495 with 13 home runs.
“She didn’t hit the ball (today) like she can normally, but I told her think right field, and she got (the RBI) down that right side to get that run in and that was the difference in the game,” Caledonia coach Tom Kaechele said. “That’s what she does though. She does those little things to help our team win, and that’s all she really wants. She says, ‘You know what Coach, stats, awards, that type of thing, I don’t care about those. I want to win. I want to win for this team, I want to win for you and I want to win for our community.’
“And when you have that kind of player, it’s hard not to love her.”
VIDEO: Samantha Gehrls gets her ninth strikeout to end Caledonia's 1-0 Semifinal win.
Hartland 6, Howell 4
Hartland had swept Howell earlier this spring on the way to winning the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Gold title, while the Highlanders came in second.
They met again in Thursday’s second Division 1 Semifinal, and the Eagles held off a late charge to finish the season sweep and earn their first MHSAA championship game appearance since 1996. Howell was playing for its first appearance in a Final.
“What it means is it’s really hard to get to this point,” Hartland coach Bob Greene said. “This is a tough tournament to win, and we’ve been blessed so far and things are falling our way. We’ve got a great group of kids really riding the wave right now. Everything’s falling into place at the right time.”
Howell opened with two runs in the top of the first inning. Hartland took the lead with four in the fourth and added two more in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Highlanders (29-11) gave Hartland one final scare, scoring a run in the top of the seventh and putting two more runners on before Hartland freshman pitcher Rachel Everett got a flyout to end the game.
Junior catcher Brooke Cowan was 3 for 3 with a double and two RBI, and senior second baseman Bri Robeson was 2 for 4 with a double and drove in a run for the Eagles (33-5).
Sophomore Maddie Heilner was 2 for 4 and scored twice for Howell, and junior AJ Militello was 2 for 4 with a double and RBI. Freshman first baseman Avery Wolverton was 2 for 3 and drove in three runs for the Highlanders.
VIDEO: Brooke Cowan had three hits and two RBI for Hartland including this sixth-inning double.
PHOTOS: (Top) Caledonia's Sammie Gehrls prepares to unload a pitch during Thursday's first Division 1 Semifinal. (Middle) Hartland's Delaney Robeson heads to second base during her team's Semifinal win.
'Good Enough' Turns Great as Warriors Advance
June 14, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BATTLE CREEK — Hannah Leppek pitched a one-hit shutout Friday, not an easy achievement against a hot-hitting softball team playing on the opposite side in an MHSAA Semifinal.
Yet the Bay City Western junior wasn't thrilled with her performance, which just reaffirms that the great ones all have a bit of a perfectionist streak in them.
Leppek struck out eight but walked five and hit a batter, as Western beat Garden City 1-0 in Division 1 at Bailey Park.
The Warriors won on a walk-off sacrifice fly by senior Hannah Batschke.
"Actually, I didn't feel that my pitching was on, but it was good enough to obviously get the win," Leppek said. "Tomorrow I can tell you it will be on. It's going to be a big game.
"I have higher standards for myself. I just felt like my pitches weren't moving as much as they usually were, and I wasn't as accurate as I usually am. In my opinion, it wasn't a perfect shutout."
Her 19th shutout of the season put Western in the MHSAA Final for the first time and against Mattawan, which beat Romeo 3-2 in the other Semifinal.
"It's surreal," Leppek said. "I feel like it hasn't hit me yet, the immensity of it. I feel like next week I'll wake up and it will hit me: 'Oh, I was in the state championship game.'"
Western coach Rick Garlinghouse concurred that it wasn't a vintage performance by Leppek.
"She normally doesn't walk five, and she gets a few more strikeouts than that," he said. "What I'm proud of is she kept her focus, and she was still able to give us a chance to win the game."
Leppek pitched out of a bases-loaded two-out jam in the sixth when she got Julene Pummill to strike out swinging at a high pitch.
Western's best chance to score before the seventh came in the second inning when Pummill ran down a fly ball heading for the gap in right-center off the bat of Batschke with two outs and a runner on second.
The winning rally began when Kelsie Popp led off the seventh with a double. Ashtyn Decatur reached on an error on a bunt attempt and advanced to second. With the outfield drawn in, Batschke hit it deep enough to force left fielder Allie Lynn to backpedal to make the catch, giving her no chance of throwing out Popp at the plate.
"I just want to go out and make my team proud, no matter what we do," Batschke said. "I just go out every at bat like it's an average game, not any big game or anything. I'm relaxed. It sounds bad, but I really do bad under pressure. So I just go out and have fun."
The title game will be a rematch of a 2011 Semifinal that Mattawan won, 3-0.
Mattawan 3, Romeo 2
The Wildcats reached the championship game for the third straight year on the strength of a three-run fifth inning.
Romeo took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth before Mattawan erupted for the winning rally.
Emma Toner started the inning by reaching base on an error, then scored the tying run on an error. A single by Kyla Nickrent broke the tie, and a double by Abby Stoner made it a 3-1 game.
"Sometimes it's just the second or third time through the lineup that it will happen," Mattawan coach Alicia Smith said. "I knew it was going to happen, because we put base runners on in every inning but the fourth. They were there in scoring position. We were just one hit away from breaking it open. It was just a matter of time."
Romeo scored a run in the sixth, but was set down 1-2-3 in the seventh by Allie Havers. Havers allowed only three hits, struck out 10 and didn't issue a walk.
Mattawan won the Division 1 title two years ago, outscoring three opponents by a combined 27-0 in the final round, before losing 2-1 to Hudsonville in last year's title game.
"In 2011, it was fairly easy for that group," Smith said. "They breezed right through the tournament and never had any close games. These kids have to battle every game, every inning, every pitch. It makes it very special."
PHOTOS: (Top) Bay City Western rightfielder Madison Brewer holds up the ball as evidence off a catch in the Warriors' 1-0 win over Garden City. (Middle) A Mattawan hitter makes contact during the Wildcats' Semifinal win over Romeo. (Click to see more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)