Carrying Heavy Hearts, Wayland Soars
June 13, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — It should have been one of the happiest moments in Leigha Morse's young life, but she couldn't keep from breaking down in tears.
Morse apologized several times for crying while talking about her two-homer performance in Wayland's 11-0 victory over Frankenmuth in the MHSAA Division 2 softball championship game Saturday at Michigan State University.
She was hardly alone. In a surreal celebration scene, the Wildcats struggled to balance the joy of winning a championship with the sorrow of losing a close member of the Wayland softball family.
Bill Merchant, the father of Wayland assistant coach Nicki Cardosa, was killed in an automobile accident two days earlier. His death came before the Wildcats took the field to play in their MHSAA Semifinal, but the players and coaches weren't notified until after the game.
On Saturday, they returned to the same field with the knowledge of Merchant's tragic death still fresh in their minds.
"We made sure that, even with the heartbreak of the Merchant family, we knew we had to pick them up and stay with them," senior pitcher Mallory Teunissen said. "We prayed for them. We made sure that, even though it was a hard loss, that we sang the song we always sing and everybody was still pumped up for this game."
Wayland coach Cheri Ritz said Friday's practice went well until she broke down. Local pastors were brought in to talk with the players. A T-shirt from Wayland's 2006 championship team, on which Merchant had two daughters, and one of his hats were found in his house. They hung in Wayland's dugout for the championship game.
"It was pretty emotional for Nicki and I," said Ritz, who was Merchant's sister-in-law.
The Wildcats (36-2) put their sorrow aside once they stepped between the lines, turning in a dominant performance that saw Morse set one record and Teunissen nearly tie another.
Morse became the first player to hit two homers in an MHSAA Final, sending a solo shot over the 220-foot mark in center field in the second inning and lining a three-run homer over the left field fence in the seventh to cap the scoring.
"I just went up and said, 'Do it for him,'" Morse said. "(Cardosa) has not only been my coach in this, but volleyball as well. She's like a second mom to me."
Teunissen struck out 17 batters, one shy of the MHSAA Finals record for a seven-inning game shared by Kalamazoo Christian's Keri DeJong (1996) and Galesburg-Augusta's Jackie Bowe (2008). Only three other pitchers, including DeJong in 1998, had 17 strikeouts in a seven-inning game.
Teunissen had a no-hitter until Frankenmuth's Ivy Holland singled with two outs in the fifth inning. She allowed four hits and walked three, including the first two batters of the game.
"I just get out there and try to do my thing, make sure my pitches are working," Teunissen said. "In the beginning I walked a few batters, but I had to shake it off."
Frankenmuth had runners on second and third with one out after the two walks in the first inning, but didn't score.
Wayland scored in each of the first three innings to build a 5-0 lead.
Morgan Teunissen, one of three sisters on the team, led off the game with a single and scored on a two-out single to short center field by Hailey Houck to open the scoring.
Morse made it 2-0 by blasting her first homer in the second inning.
The Wildcats broke it open with a three-run third during which they had three extra-base hits. Doubles by Abby Merice and Houck, and a single by Mallory Teunissen scored one run apiece.
After stranding a runner on third and failing to score in the fourth, Wayland tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning when Morgan Winger lined a double over the left fielder’s head.
Frankenmuth's best chance to score came in the sixth when Amariah Wright headed for home on a single by Kayla Brooks, only to be thrown out by center fielder Abby Merice.
Morse's three-run homer capped a four-run seventh inning for Wayland. The first run of the inning scored on a home run by sophomore Bethany Teunissen, an all-stater last season who nearly missed this entire season with a knee injury. Teunissen didn't start Saturday.
"I just get one at-bat normally a game," she said. "It was difficult. I just loved cheering on the team while I was out. It was a great opportunity to come back."
"My little sister Bethany came back from an ACL and she finally got that hit," Mallory Teunissen said. "I can't say how proud I am of her. She tore her ACL in basketball. We weren't sure if she'd be back for the tournament or not. She's an incredible player. I'm so glad she got to get back and I got to play with her my senior year."
Frankenmuth finished with a 37-4-1 record, reaching an MHSAA Final for the third time in school history.
"We played so well all year, then we laid an egg a little bit," Frankenmuth coach Brad Walraven said. "Their pitcher beat us up. That was a good team. You feel lousy for losing the game, but there's 130 other schools who would love to be in our shoes. It was a tough loss, but a great season. It was a wonderful team that I have. I'm going to miss my seven seniors."
PHOTOS: (Top) Wayland players and coaches hoist their MHSAA championship trophy after claiming their first title since 2006. (Middle) Pitcher Mallory Teunissen struck out 17 Frankenmuth batters Saturday.
Grass Lake Caps 2025 Softball Season with Classic Title Clincher
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 14, 2025
EAST LANSING — The last high school softball game of the 2025 season was played by Grass Lake and Clare, and fittingly the old adage “saving the best for last” applied in what was a thrilling finish between two teams making their first championship game appearances.
Grass Lake ultimately got to celebrate its first title by holding off Clare for a 5-4 win in the Division 3 Final. But it was the seventh inning that had the overflow crowd buzzing, even long after the final out was made.
Clare entered the top of the seventh up 2-1 after scoring a run in the sixth, and Grass Lake had its 7-8-9 hitters coming up.
But Grass Lake head coach Roger Cook wasn’t worried.
“It seems like the bottom of order has been coming through quite a bit,” Cook said. “One through nine, we’re comfortable with the next person.”
Sure enough, freshman Kennedy Collins walked, sophomore Reese Late reached on a bunt single and junior Addalynn Hensen walked to load the bases for the top of the order.
Grass Lake then tied the game at 2-2 when Collins beat a throw to the plate on a ground ball hit to second base.
With the bases still loaded and nobody out, Grass Lake took a 4-2 lead on an infield error, which scored two runs. Grass Lake then went up 5-2 on a sacrifice fly by senior Bree Salts.
Then, it was Clare’s turn to mount a comeback.
In the bottom of the inning, senior Addison McMillan tripled and scored on a single by senior Tessa Kelly to make it 5-3. With two outs, Clare cut the Grass Lake lead to 5-4 on an RBI double by sophomore Breez Yarger.
The Pioneers eventually had a runner on first and third base with two out, but Grass Lake junior pitcher Morgan Conrad ended the game by inducing a flyout.
Whew. What an ending.
“I was definitely nervous, but over the years I’ve learned how to handle those nerves,” said Salts, one of the team’s seniors and catcher. “So I just knew this was the only place in the world I wanted to be in this moment.”
An alum and current teacher at Grass Lake who is in his 24th year as head coach, Cook said he walks by pictures in the school of past Finals championship and runner-up teams.
“I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I’ve been thinking, ‘Gosh, just one time for us to get up there,’” Cook said. “Today is the day.”
Much like it did during its Semifinal win, Clare scored in the bottom of the sixth inning to grab a 2-1 lead.
With runners on first and second and one out, senior catcher Savannah Buzzelli hit a hard ground ball that deflected off the pitcher and went to the left side of the infield. That gave enough time for pinch runner Sophia Buzzelli to score from second base and put Clare ahead.
Grass Lake opened the scoring in the third inning, grabbing a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Salts. Clare tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth inning when a run scored on a wild pitch.
“We got the ground balls we wanted, we just didn’t capitalize,” Clare head coach Shane Kelly said. “We were in that situation against Gladstone (in a Quarterfinal), got a double play and got out of it. I every bit thought we were going to do the same thing. We just didn’t capitalize.”
PHOTOS (Top) Grass Lake players hoist their championship trophy Saturday at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) Morgan Conrad (11) yells after arriving at second base.