Powerful Pitching Sends Owosso, Marysville to Saturday
By
Jason Schmitt
Special for MHSAA.com
June 17, 2021
EAST LANSING — Something had to give Thursday morning.
And if Macy Irelan had anything to do about it, it wasn’t going to be her and her Owosso teammates.
Irelan threw seven stellar innings, striking out eight while allowing just a single run in the Trojans’ 2-1 victory over Gaylord in a Division 2 Semifinal at Secchia Field in East Lansing.
Prior to this season, the Trojans had never made it past a Regional. Now head coach JoEllen Smith’s team is a win away from the program’s first-ever Finals championship.
“Everything beyond Regionals is a first, first, first for us, and the girls are handling it unreal,” said Smith, who’s in her 38th year leading the program. “The girls are coming in upbeat, not nervous. Today we came in and knew we were facing a younger team, and we had to show them that we’re not nervous.”
In fact, it was Smith’s game plan to put all the pressure on the Blue Devils, who were also attempting to reach their first trip to the Final. Owosso did just that, scoring a pair of runs in the second inning.
Sophomore Jamie Maier and senior Karley Kincaid opened the inning with back-to-back singles. After a sacrifice bunt from junior Kendall Anderson moved the runners to second and third base, Maier scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0. Sophomore Sydney Somers then had an RBI single, scoring sophomore Brielle Sovis who was on as a courtesy runner.
“We don’t usually score early. It usually takes us two, three times through the lineup,” Smith said. “That was huge for us to get those two runs.”
They proved to be more than enough for Irelan, who didn’t allow a base runner until the fourth inning and a hit until the fifth. The junior, who has committed to Kent State University, allowed just three hits while improving to 35-3 on the season.
The only run she allowed came in the seventh inning, when the Blue Devils had the game-tying runs on base with just one out. Kincaid, the Trojans’ catcher, threw out a runner at second base for the second out. Freshman Braleigh Miller scored on the play to make it a 2-1 game.
“The run didn’t mean anything,” Smith said. “We throw through, get the out and there’s two outs with nobody on. We don’t run that play too often. Karley doesn’t throw much, so that (play) is bigger than you think.”
Gaylord had also put two runners on in the sixth inning, but Irelan pitched her way out of trouble. Blue Devils freshman Avery Parker’s one-out bloop single got things going for her team. A two-out fielder’s choice error gave Gaylord runners on first and second base. But the threat came to an end when Owosso’s Reese Thayer pulled in a deep fly to left field.
“When I get a runner on, I get up. I’m more focused,” Irelan said. “I want to get the batter out. And I know the girls behind me will make the play. In pressure situations, I work hard for my team because I know they’re working hard for me. I don’t want to let them down.”
Somers finished with a pair of hits to lead Owosso (36-3), who will now face Marysville (30-6) in Saturday’s Division 2 Final. Senior Reyn Tuttle and freshman Lexi Hemker also had two hits each in their team’s win.
The future looks bright for Gaylord, which had six freshmen in its starting lineup. That group includes the pitching duo of Avery Parker and Jayden Jones, who each had earned-run averages under one and combined for a 28-2 record this season. The pair allowed just two runs while scattering nine Owosso hits. Parker and fellow freshmen Addison Wangler and Taylor Moeggenberg collected Gaylord’s hits in the loss.
“It was a great performance for seven innings, but the jitters showed up in the second inning,” Gaylord head coach Abe Cruz said. “We fought, we fought and we fought but we just couldn’t manufacture that run until the last inning. They were there for us, we just came up one short.”
The Blue Devils have no seniors on the roster and 11 of the 15 players are just freshmen and sophomores.
“We’re looking forward to coming back already,” said Cruz, whose team finished the season 41-2. “There’s going to be more years to come, where this stage isn’t as big as it was today. We’ll get used to it. They’ll grow with maturity and be ready to come back next year.”
Marysville 7, Chelsea 1
Marysville entered the Division 2 Semifinals as the only unranked team left in the MHSAA Tournament. But the Vikings put forth a brilliant display in all three phases of the game against eighth-ranked Chelsea and earned a spot in the Final.
Aided by a five-run third inning, senior pitcher Kirsten Smith pitched a complete game, three-hitter to help her team reach its first title game since 1991. Smith struck out 11 while walking just a single batter.
“She’s got the heart of a champion inside her,” Marysville head coach Ryan Rathje said. “She’s not afraid of challenging hitters. She works nice and fast, and our defense is ready behind her. When they did put the ball in play, our defense did a great job backing her up.”
The Vikings scored one run in both the first and fourth innings, but it was a five-run outburst in the third that broke the game wide open. They had six hits in the inning, including RBI singles by senior Calle Perrin, juniors Kaitlyn Cain and Anna Oles and an RBI double by freshman Avery Wolters. Marysville stretched its lead to 6-1 and never looked back.
“The difference was that five-run inning,” Chelsea head coach Jeff Connelly said. “They did a great job. They put the ball in play, and their pitcher did a fabulous job of keeping us off balance all day. The shots we did hit, they were always right at people.”
Junior Kate Westmiller had three hits and Wolters and Perrin each had two to lead Marysville (31-6), which will face Owosso at 10 a.m. Rathje said he’s excited to have an opportunity to face the Trojans, but knows it’ll be a challenge for his team to face Owosso’s Irelan in the circle.
“Their pitcher is terrific,” Rathje said. “From everything I saw, they’re a really solid team at the plate, with a dominant pitcher and a great defense. We’re definitely looking forward to that matchup. You’ve got to be able to play all three phases of the game. We’re definitely looking forward to the challenge.”
Chelsea finished with a 37-5 record. Junior Margaret Olaveson collected a pair of hits to lead the offense.
“Our kids didn’t quit. We had one rough inning, or it’s a different game,” Connelly said. “We came in with the attitude that the girls have done as much in our community as we’ve done in 15 years. It was kind of our goal to get the program back, and the kids did it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Owosso’s Macy Irelan winds up during her team’s Division 2 Semifinal win over Gaylord on Thursday. (Middle) Marysville’s Emma Curtis enjoys a moment during her team’s Semifinal victory.
Jokela Caps LL-H Career As 3-Sport Star, Among Track's Most Accomplished Greats
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 26, 2025
ESCANABA — It would nearly be an understatement to say Emily Jokela has enjoyed a stellar high school athletic career.
The recent Lake Linden-Hubbell graduate earned a dozen victories at the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Track & Field Finals during her prep career, winning the 400-meter dash and 300 hurdles four times apiece, taking the 100 dash three times, adding a 200 title as a sophomore and 100 hurdles championship this spring.
Jokela also owns the all-time U.P. Finals record in the 300s at 44.8 seconds and the UPD3 record in the 400 (58.61) set a year ago – with school records in those events as well.
“I started running in fifth grade and fell in love with hurdling,” she said. “All my events were close together. I do weight training four times a week and sometimes go to the Michigan Tech track to get a break from our asphalt surface. The asphalt track is harder on the legs. It’s nice to get on a rubberized track.”
She concluded her prep basketball career here June 12 by leading the West All-Stars past the East, 50-41, at the 39th Annual Upper Peninsula All-Star Basketball Game.
Jokela, who scored 18 points in her final prep hoops appearance at Bay College, was selected Most Valuable Player. She finished her Lake Linden-Hubbell basketball career with a school-record 2,010 points, leading the Lakes through a 17-7 season this winter and earning an all-U.P. Division 4 first-team honor.
Jokela did double-duty this spring, also as a pitcher in softball. Lake Linden-Hubbell went undefeated in the Copper Mountain Conference (10-0) and finished 28-7 overall after dropping a 2-0 decision to Gogebic (Bessemer/Wakefield-Marenisco’s cooperative team) in their Division 4 Regional Final.
“I started playing basketball and softball at a young age,” she said. “I made some of my best friends in basketball. I’m going to miss all the girls I played with for four years. I’m so proud of how far we went in softball. I’m also very happy with how basketball went and quite happy with the way our track & field season went.”
LL-H brought home the Division 3 runner-up trophy from the U.P. Track & Field Finals at Kingsford by scoring 76 points, just eight fewer than Newberry. The Lakes were crowned U.P. champions last season and shared the title with Stephenson in 2023. Jokela was four-time all-state selection and three-time CMC MVP, and scored more than 1,000 points during her career. As a junior she won the 100, 200, 400 and 300 hurdles at the UPD3 championship meet and remains one of only seven girls to win four individuals events at a Finals.
On the basketball court, she was a two-time conference MVP and four-time member of the CMC’s elite team, and selected twice to The Associated Press, Basketball Coaches Association and Detroit Free Press all-state teams. In softball, Jokela was a two-time conference MVP and named CMC Pitcher of the Year.
Jokela earned another high honor in late May, being named her school’s Outstanding Female Athlete. She is bound for Grand Valley State University, where she’ll become a member of the women’s track & field team.
“I met my roommates, and they seem nice,” Jokela said. “It will be a lot more intense in college. I’m really going to have to work hard for everything. I need to work on my endurance. It was a challenge balancing track with softball, but I like being busy.”
Jokela also was a two-time all-state academic selection and a National Honor Society member. After carrying a 3.79 grade point average in high school, she plans to major in health science at Grand Valley.
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTO Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Emily Jokela (5) leaps the final hurdle on the way to an impressive win in the 300 at last month’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals in Kingsford. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)