Marathon, Redemption Make Franklin's 1986 Softball Run Eternally Unforgettable
By
Ron Pesch
MHSAA historian
May 14, 2026
Tracy Lectka is celebrating a victory.
In Steve Fecht’s image found on the front page of the June 1986 Observer newspaper’s sports section, she is riding on the shoulders of ecstatic Livonia Franklin fans. Lectka’s arms are raised, and teammate Maria Vasseliou grabs at her jersey. The shot radiates the postgame celebration that came with the Patriots’ 1986 MHSAA Class A softball state championship – an honor that had slipped away a year previous.
Just as powerful is a photograph from the Observer’s Dan Dean from the 1985 run to the title game. Within, Lectka’s father Ron embraced his daughter, comforting the pain of what might have been.
“My Dad was a huge part of my life and taught me everything I knew,” recalled Tracy. “He coached girls softball for Redford Thurston for years. … That was the most hits and runs I had given up all year. That picture speaks volumes to say the least.
“The woman next to me was our outfielder Cherie Mascarello’s mom. She was a huge supporter of the team. Never missed a game, like my mom.”
The Spring of 1985
In just his second year of coaching Livonia Franklin, Joe Epstein had built confidence among his players stressing focus and fundamentals. Lectka, a junior, emerged as an outstanding pitcher, and Epstein featured her constantly as she tossed more than 200 innings. Among Franklin’s victories were three over cross-town rival Livonia Stevenson and the state’s top pitcher, all-state senior Lisa Bokovoy. Franklin finished fourth in the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association (MHSSCA) weekly Class A regular-season rankings.
During the tournament, Lectka tossed three consecutive four-hit shutouts, but, according to Observer staff writer Brad Emons, “was roughed up for 11 hits” in a 5-0 loss to Mount Clemens L’Anse Creuse North in the 1985 state title game. Played at Lansing’s Ranney Park, North’s star pitcher – right-hander Chris Harms (21-5) – twirled her sixth shutout of the tournament. During that Saturday lockdown, she had allowed seven hits but was “tough in pressure situations.” The Patriots had loaded the bases in the second and fifth innings but could not score.
“We just didn’t hit in the clutch,” Epstein told the Observer, “and they made it count when they had people on.”
North, 22-6 on the year, had opened the season among the state’s top-ranked teams. Harms earned second team all-state honors from MHSSCA, while Lectka was an honorable mention all-state selection. She finished the season with a 22-3 mark.
With an impressive 25-4 record, and one of the state’s top pitchers returning the following spring, Epstein vowed the team would be back.
A Shot at Redemption
With Lectka – one of three seniors – and top players Vasseliou, Cherie Mascarello, Rose Obey, Sue Ritz, Patty Wixson and Karen Schoeninger, the team was the MHSSCA’s Class A preseason favorite entering 1986. That quickly changed within the rankings when the Patriots lost their second game, 12-3, to Walled Lake Central, then dropped a double header to Garden City. A year earlier, Franklin had defeated the Cougars three times, including in a 21-inning pitching duel between Lectka and sophomore Shelly Malone, which Franklin won 1–0.
After some experimenting with the lineup, Epstein was able to right the ship. From there, things progressed with relative ease, as his team dropped just two more games against quality opponents, splitting a double header with Westland John Glenn, then dropping one of three games with a solid Plymouth Salem squad, a conference rival. The Patriots finished the regular season fifth in the final Class A rankings and eased their way through the District. They shut out both John Glenn and Belleville in the Regional to earn a trip back to Lansing for the final rounds.
Speaking just prior to their MHSAA Semifinal game with South Lyon, Coach Epstein was asked by the Observer about his squad’s chances.
The Lions, one of nine teams earning honorable mention in the MHSSCA’s rankings, were led by junior ace Andrea Nelson. They had trounced Salem, 19-4, beneath sweltering heat in their District Final. Following that win, Franklin upset fourth-ranked East Kentwood and then downed Lansing Eastern to continue the postseason run.
“I feel confident that if we beat South Lyon, we can go all the way,” said Epstein, “and I don’t go on a limb very often. … I understand there were a bunch of walks and errors (in Salem’s game with the Lions). I’ve seen some good teams have bad days.”
On the opposite side of the Class A bracket stood Waterford Kettering, a scrappy unranked squad Franklin had beat, “in an invitational tournament, 10-5,” and Grosse Pointe South, which, behind the pitching of University of Michigan-bound Lynn Vismara, had shocked both top-ranked Utica Ford and No. 2-ranked Fraser in Regional play.
“(We’re) a better hitting team than last year,” said Epstein, convinced strong pitching from other teams would not deter his crew from their quest. “And I’ve got some other kids who can swing the bat.”
Epstein’s belief would be severely tested.
The Marathon
“The game began innocently enough at 5:30 p.m.,” wrote the Observer’s Chris McCosky about Franklin’s battle with the Lions. “At 8:30 p.m. in the 17th inning, it was still scoreless. Despite the run shortage, the game (had) produced high drama. South Lyon loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 12th. The Lions put together back-to-back hits in the 13th, but the lead runner was thrown out at third …
“Franklin had its chances, too,” continued McCosky. “The Pats put together three hits in the fifth, but a potential run was tagged out at third. They put runners on first and third in both the fifth and 17th and came away empty.”
Drew Sharp, writing for the Detroit Free Press, covered what happened next.
“… Amid growing darkness at Michigan State, the umpires asked South Lyon coach Jeff Gale and Franklin coach Joe Epstein whether they wanted to continue playing at nearby Ranney Park, which (had) lights or wait until 10 a.m. Saturday.”
Epstein stated he had three players scheduled to take the ACT college entrance exam the next morning and requested the game be moved and continued. Gale wanted to wait. Because the coaches couldn’t come to a solution, the umpires were put on the spot. While the choice wasn’t an easy one, they decided play would resume at MSU in the morning.
Earlier in the day, Kettering sophomore Julie Vachon ripped a long line drive just beyond the reach of the left fielder for a game-winning grand slam, sealing a 4-3 comeback win over Grosse Pointe South.
Title Time
Come daylight, all three test-takers were ready, having skipped their scheduled appointment back home. With two outs in the top of the 20th inning, Vasseliou, the Patriots’ junior shortstop. tripled in a pair of runs to end the deadlock, sealing a 2-0 victory and sending Franklin back to the title game played later in the day at Ranney.
The Lansing State Journal’s Tom Gantert beautifully summarized the Patriots’ weekend in the paper’s Sunday edition. “Livonia Franklin High softball pitcher Tracy Lectka doesn’t ask much from her teammates. Just that they score …”
Kettering’s Vachon allowed two walks, struck out a pair, and gave up just three hits during the championship game. But Vasseliou, again facing two outs, drove in Kris Roman who had led off the first inning with a single. That gave the Patriots a 1-0 lead they would not increase or relinquish.
Lectka notched just a single strikeout, but, defensively, her teammates were nearly perfect. Outside a single error, her infield scooped up everything it faced from the Captains. Only three balls tossed by the senior left the infield during the title game. She finished the day with a no-hitter, extending her streak of scoreless innings allowed to 44. Franklin ended the season with a 31-5 record and the school’s second MHSAA state championship in any sport. Ten years previous, the Patriots had won the 1975 Class A football trophy.
“‘We played awesome. I love it,” a teary-eyed Lectka told the Observer. “This is it.” It was her final game on the diamond. A year earlier, she had accepted a college scholarship to play basketball – not softball – at Wayne State.
Soon after, Sports Illustrated visited the family to snap a photo of Tracy for publication in their weekly sidebar, “Faces in the Crowd.” Over 35 years later, in mid-September 2023, the softball squad, along with that football team, were inducted into Franklin’s inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame.
Epstein, who had passed away in 2012, was also honored individually that evening. He had taught in the Detroit Public Schools from 1957 to 1966 before moving to Franklin. A long-time physical education teacher, he also led Franklin’s softball team to a runner-up finish in 1990. His wife Linda joined three others to cut the honorary ribbon for the Hall.
The induction celebration brought back wonderful memories. But it was noted that a few of the team’s achievements during their runs to the Finals were missing from the MHSAA state record book.
Happily, that has now been corrected.
PHOTOS (Top) The Observer reported on Livonia Franklin’s 1986 Class A championship, including a memorable photo. (2) Ron Lectka, far left, comforts his daughter Tracy after her team’s 1985 title game loss. (3) The cover of the 1986 MHSAA Softball Finals program sets the scene for the weekend to come. (4) The Patriots celebrate. (5) Franklin poses for a team photo after the 1986 win. (Photos gathered by Ron Pesch from Observer archives and Tracy Lectka.)
More Big Moments Ahead as Midland's Schloop Caps Career District Sweep
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 5, 2024
Grace Schloop has thrown the final pitch in four straight District Finals for the Midland softball team. But that doesn’t mean the lead-up to them got any easier.
“Absolutely not,” the Midland senior said. “I think, as I get older, I get more nervous for these games. As an upperclassman, there’s more expected of you. You have to do what people have seen you do, and you don’t want to fail.”
This past Saturday, Schloop did again what people have seen her do her entire career, striking out 14 batters in Midland’s 7-2 Division 1 District Final against arch-rival Midland Dow, adding to her school record total and keeping her senior season and tremendous Midland softball career alive.
Schloop has been a four-year star for the Chemics, re-writing the record books both as a pitcher and a hitter. Her 801 career strikeouts tops Midland’s list, as does the 294 she’s accumulated this season. She’s also set the school mark for home runs in a career (29) and season (11 as a sophomore) for the Chemics.
This spring, Schloop is hitting .426 with a .496 on-base percentage, 13 doubles, three home runs and 40 RBI for Midland. In the circle, she has a 1.01 earned-run average to go along with those 294 strikeouts in 145 1/3 innings pitched. She had a 19-strikeout game against Division 3 No. 4 Evart, which is also a school record.
“We knew there was a lot of talent there and that she had a high ceiling,” Midland softball coach Matt Starling said. “But I don’t know if we saw this coming. She worked her way to becoming the pitcher that she is. We knew she was going to be good, but this good – I’d love to tell you we knew this was going to be a thing. She’s put in the extra time to be this good. She’s really earned this.”
Schloop entered high school as someone the Chemics were almost immediately counting on to deliver, as – thanks to the pandemic wiping out the previous season – they didn’t have a pitcher on staff who had recorded an out in a varsity game.
Luckily for her, she had help when it came to transitioning to a higher level: her older sister Gabby, who was a senior on that 2021 team.
“I knew that it was very intense, and that I was going to have to take on a very different role than I had in middle school,” Grace Schloop said. “But I had my sister there with me, and I kept looking to her, and I had one of my best friends there, and they had so much faith in me. I honestly don’t think I would be where I am today had I not had (Gabby), or the other senior, Taylor Sanborn. They were both very intense and hard-working, great athletes. To be able to look up to that, we were able to push ourselves to be like them. I wanted to be like how they were.”
Gabby Schloop is playing shortstop at Northwood, while Grace has signed to play at Saginaw Valley State. The two are scheduled to meet next season.
“We have had many dinner talks – rivalry dinner talks – already,” Grace said. “The games are scheduled to be played at Northwood, and we have discussed it many times. Throughout the entire winter, I pitched to her, so she pretty much knows my weakness, and I know her weakness. She thinks I’m going to hit her. But I’m not going to.”
While her big sister has been away, Grace has taken on the task of being a role model for younger players, something she doesn’t take for granted.
“I help do pitching lessons with the little girls, and people around me say they look up to me,” she said. “It makes your heart so warm. That’s probably the coolest thing ever, that people look up to you.”
She’s providing an excellent example, not only with her in-game performances, but the work that goes into them. When Schloop entered high school, she was a power pitcher. Now, she has a full arsenal of pitches to get hitters out.
“She’s certainly a power pitcher, for sure, but she’s developed her secondary pitches now,” Starling said. “She has an element of changing her speed and has just become more refined with her pitches. Her movement has improved a lot since her ninth-grade year. As a ninth-grader, she could throw the ball hard, and you really can’t teach that. Her development of the other skills has been off the charts.”
The result has been plenty of wins for the Chemics, including the four-straight District titles, which was the goal; and the long list of records, which is a nice addition.
“Half of them, I didn’t even realize I was close to until it happened,” Schloop said. “Sometimes, I’d go home after a game and be like, ‘Oh my gosh, that was me. I did that.’ It feels very out of body. I’m just there to pitch and do what I need to do.”
Next on the to-do list is a matchup with Saginaw Valley League rival Grand Blanc in Saturday’s Regional Semifinal. The teams split their season series and shared the conference title along with Dow.
While Schloop is sure to be dealing with those same nerves heading into Saturday, history tells Starling that she’ll be more than ready for the moment.
“Her competitiveness, as with all kids when they get older and mature, she certainly has it,” Starling said. “She seems to relish those big moments.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Midland pitcher Grace Schloop begins her windup during a game this season. (Middle) Schloop makes her move toward the plate. (Photos courtesy of the Midland athletic department.)