Grass Lake Wins Matchup of Aces, Rosel Pitches Ravenna to Historic Semifinal Win
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2026
EAST LANSING – The highly-anticipated matchup between the previous two Division 3 champions, Evart and Grass Lake, lived up to the billing Friday.
A clutch go-ahead hit in the fifth inning and a solid pitching performance from senior Morgan Conrad helped Grass Lake upset top-ranked and the previously-unbeaten Wildcats 3-2 in the morning’s first Semifinal at Secchia Stadium.
Fourth-ranked Grass Lake (36-5) will attempt to finish a repeat run at 3 p.m. Saturday against Ravenna.
Evart had won the Division 3 championship in 2024 and entered Friday with a perfect 42-0 record.
“Evart is a very solid team, and I’ve followed them for years,” Warriors coach Roger Cook said. “They have a very good tradition, so coming in we kind of talked about the other team, but it was about us and the ball and we try not to look at everything else. The less they have to think about, the better. To be with this group of wonderful human beings for another day is a blessing.”
Grass Lake, which returned five starters this spring from a year ago, relied on its youngsters to deliver a pair of timely hits.
In the third inning, freshman Mikayla Jurek scorched a ball to the base of the wall to score Ava Hemp and give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.
Evart answered in the bottom of the inning when starting pitcher Kyrah Gray ripped a solo home run over the left field wall to even the score.
But Grass Lake sophomore Chloe Hollifield produced the biggest moment of the game in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and a full count. She laced a shot up the middle to score the eventual game-winning runs.
“I was just thinking bat on ball,” Hollifield said. “Get a hit, or just get on base in general to score a run. Whatever I could do to help my team.”
Added Cook: “Chloe struggled at the beginning of the year, but she has really come through. She’s a great kid who has listened and grinded, and to have her in the spotlight with some of the other girls coming through was phenomenal.”
Evart closed the gap in the bottom of the fifth inning on an RBI double from senior Keira Elder, but Conrad closed the game with two shutout innings.
The Wildcats tried to rally in the seventh after a throwing error by Grass Lake put the leadoff batter on base. After an intentional walk to put two on with one out, Conrad retired the final two batters.
“I wasn’t stressed because I trust my team so much,” said Conrad, who had two of Grass Lake’s six hits. “We’ve been in many situations where we’ve had close games, and I know to stay calm. Getting worried doesn’t help my team, and I knew with a young team the girls could be nervous, but everyone was so positive and so ready to play.”
Mattisen Tiedt went 2-for-4 for Evart, while Gray struck out 10 and scored two runs.
“I don't remember how many times two girls that have won a state championship have faced each other but that happened today with these two starting pitchers,” Evart coach Shaun Gray said. “I thought both pitchers did awesome. But unfortunately, somebody had to win and somebody had to lose and we were on the wrong side of it today.
“They know they lost the game and they are disappointed, but disappointment is the farthest thing on my mind right now. I’m very proud of these girls. We’d never been down here once, so to be here three times in the last five years has been very special and something that can never be taken from us.”
Ravenna 7, New Lothrop 0
It took a while for Ravenna’s bats to wake up Friday. But once they did, it allowed the third-ranked Bulldogs to make school history by becoming the first team to advance to a Final.
Junior pitcher Natalie Rosel tossed a two-hitter, and Ravenna (38-1) exploded for six runs in the final two innings. It was Ravenna’s first Semifinal win after losses in their previous two trips.
“Ravenna softball has never been in a state finals game, so this is a huge accomplishment,” Ravenna coach Dave Sherman said. “I feel good about it, our coaching staff feels good about it and our girls obviously feel really good about it. It’s a compliment to our coaching staff because they do a great job, and the girls leaned on what they’ve been working on for a long time.”
Rosel’s complete-game shutout included 13 strikeouts. She didn’t walk a batter.
“This is amazing,” Rosel said. “We’ve worked really hard for this for years. Ever since we were little it’s all we’ve worked toward. It’s exciting to finally be here.”
The Bulldogs struck early with an RBI triple by Emily Postema in the first inning to make it 1-0. However, New Lothrop senior hurler Mallory Heroux silenced Ravenna over the next four innings before the Bulldogs’ potent offense came alive.
Ravenna scored three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings. Sydney Morrissey plated three runs with a bases-loaded triple in the sixth to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 4-0, and Reese Herremans blasted a two-run home run in the seventh.
“Give credit to their pitcher because she did a good job of keeping us off balance, but we made some adjustments and the two big innings we had we just hit the ball hard,” Sherman said. “A lot of girls contributed, and it’s been a team effort all year long. Today it was our top and middle.”
Unranked New Lothrop (33-11) was making its first Semifinal appearance since winning the Class C title in 1982.
The Hornets started five freshmen.
“Ravenna was tough, but this was a good thing to start the tradition of getting down here,” New Lothrop coach Chad Henige said. “Ravenna has been here, this is routine for them, so getting down here was great and it’s good for the girls and good for the program.”
Postema, Herremans and Riley Homoly combined for seven of Ravenna’s 10 hits.
PHOTOS (Top) Grass Lake pitcher Morgan Conrad makes her move toward the plate during Friday’s Semifinal win over Evart. (Middle) A Ravenna runner slides into third base while New Lothrop's Leigha Eagan awaits a throw.
Senior Ace Adding to Whiteford Legacy
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
May 17, 2019
OTTAWA LAKE – You could call Lindsey Walker a 10th-year senior for the Ottawa Lake Whiteford softball team.
Walker is one of seven seniors on a 20-3 Bobcats softball team that has climbed to No. 2 in the coaches association Division 4 rankings and is a win away from clinching its second Tri-County Conference title in three years.
The pitching ace began learning the finer points of fast-pitch softball from veteran Whiteford coach Kris Hubbard when she was in the second grade.
“I would come in the mornings for pitching lessons,” Walker said. “I’d show up before school, we’d go in the high school gym while she was coaching JV girls basketball. She’d walk back and forth and teach me how to pitch at the same time.
“She taught me the basics, how to warm up and some of the mechanics of pitching. It was all new to me then.”
With Hubbard’s help, Walker has blossomed into a star in the circle for the Bobcats. She’s already holds Whiteford career records for games pitched, decisions, innings-pitched and wins (82) and she’s within a couple starts of setting the Bobcats’ record for strikeouts. She’s also an outstanding hitter and has made a remarkable impact on Whiteford’s hitting record book, too. She is the Bobcats’ all-time leader in at bats, hits, doubles, RBI and home runs.
“She’s going to have a lot of records,” Hubbard said of the 5-foot-10 Walker. “She’s a good player.”
Besides pitching mornings for Coach Hubbard, Walker began playing travel softball at a young age. When she was still in elementary school, Hubbard invited her to be a manager for the varsity. It’s a time-tested method for Hubbard, who has coached the Bobcats for all 41 years of its softball existence. She brings on multiple managers to begin training them for the varsity squad at a young age. By the time they reach the varsity as a player, they are engrossed in the program, knowing the ins and outs of how things are done the Bobcat way.
Walker has been solid all four of her seasons in the circle, but there was a time when she considered giving up pitching.
“I was in the fifth grade, and I was about to give up pitching,” Walker said. “I couldn’t throw a strike. Everything was crazy. She just told me to keep going and that I would get my location, and my accuracy was going to come with time. She pushed me.”
Walker batted .429 as a freshman and hit .371 as a sophomore when Whiteford reached the Division 4 championship game. She hit .513 last year with eight home runs and 14 doubles. The Bobcats made it to the Quarterfinals. Although she won 15 games as a freshman pitcher, it was her sophomore year in which she showed her dominance – winning a school-record 29 times.
Walker recently committed to play in college at Ave Marie University in Florida. She wasn’t sure she wanted to pitch in college until just before this softball season began and she realized if she didn’t, this would be her final season of the sport.
“I just don’t want it to end,” she said. “I realize how much I would miss it.”
This season the Bobcats have steadily climbed up the state rankings as the senior-laden team looks to embark on yet another tournament run under Hubbard. The Whiteford coach already has announced this year will be her final one as the Bobcats’ head coach. She has more than 855 wins and three MHSAA Finals championships with six title game appearances during her career.
Senior Karsyn Berns-Moore leads the team with a .561 average and has six triples. Baylee Baldwin is hitting .455 with 36 runs scored, and Milly Iott is hitting .434 with 10 doubles and 27 RBI. Pinch-runner deluxe Anna VanBrandt has scored 35 times, one off the team lead, despite having just eight at-bats.
“You can do so much with speed,” Hubbard said.
In the circle, Walker is 15-3 with a 1.62 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 95 innings pitched. She’s also hitting .434 with six home runs and 36 RBI. Other seniors on the team include Madison Durden, Jessica Link and Katie Lipp. All seven seniors on the club’s roster are four-year regulars.
Hubbard credits the deep crew of assistant coaches for helping the Bobcats this season. That includes former Whiteford baseball coach Matt VanBrandt and his wife, Audra VanBrandt, a former Temperance-Bedford softball coach; ex-Whiteford volleyball coach Sandy Clark and the newest member of the Whiteford coaching staff, John Morningstar. Morningstar coached Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central to three straight Division 3 championships from 2015-2017 and became an assistant at Whiteford this year.
“It helps when you have so many former head coaches,” Hubbard said. “We are really hitting the ball this year.”
Hubbard said the seniors are still trying to get better.
“This whole senior class always wants to get better,” she said. “You usually don’t have that. Usually kids lose interest over the year. Even now, those seniors, when I send out a text saying what day I’m going to be at the school, my phone blows up. They know. They still want to get better. They’re not going through the motions. They are working on the batting tee or the catch net. They are driven, and they keep getting better. It’s nice.”
Walker said Hubbard never forgets to tell her players – and dugout full of managers – to have fun.
“She teaches you a lot about life and softball,” Walker said. “She lets you develop your own skills, but she pushes you. Some coaches just want to win. She always wants us to have fun first.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Ottawa Lake Whiteford’s Lindsey Walker unloads a pitch this season. (Middle) Walker, a four-year varsity senior, will attempt to lead the Bobcats to their second Division 4 Final in three years. (Photos by Cari Hayes.)