Ravenna Ends Grass Lake's Reign to Become Finals Champion for 1st Time
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
June 13, 2026
EAST LANSING – Ravenna softball coach Dave Sherman didn’t worry after his team fell behind 1-0 in the first inning of the Division 3 championship game Saturday at Secchia Stadium.
“If you look at the outs we made, we scalded a couple of them, so I had a pretty good idea we would score enough runs,” he said.
His faith was rewarded in the third inning when the Bulldogs, sparked by two-run singles by Reese Herremans and Sydney Morrissey, scored four times en route to a 4-2 victory over 2025 champion Grass Lake.
It was the first softball title for Ravenna, which also has won the Division 4 girls bowling title the past two seasons.
“It’s awesome to see these girls have success in these sports,” Sherman said.
Ravenna’s softball title came in part due to the left arm of junior Natalie Rosel, who walked two, struck out 11 and allowed only four hits Saturday.
“My changeup felt good in warmups,” she said.
It deserted her temporarily in the seventh inning, when Grass Lake scored and had runners on second and third base with two outs.
But Rosel got a strikeout to end the threat and seal the win.
"It's amazing. It’s what we’ve been working for this entire year," she said. "Since January, our mindset was getting the state championship. It’s beyond golden. It's really nice to finish."
The Bulldogs (40-1) had 10 hits off two Grass Lake pitchers, with Rosel totaling three hits from the leadoff spot.
“We ran out of magic,” Grass Lake coach Roger Cook said. “We gave up 10 hits to our four, and you’re not going to win many games like that.
"I’m proud of the girls," Cook added. "We may have lost the game, but they left their mark on Grass Lake."
Grass Lake (36-6) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by starting pitcher Morgan Conrad. Catcher Chloe Hollifield had an RBI single in the seventh.
While Saturday’s championship game was Ravenna’s first, the Bulldogs were finishing a second-straight trip the championship weekend and third over the last four seasons.
Their only loss this spring came during a split with Morley Stanwood – which Ravenna avenged in the Regional Final.
PHOTOS Ravenna catcher Emily Postema and her teammates plant their school down on the bracket after clinching the Division 3 title Saturday at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) Taylor Nutt (9) drives a pitch for the Bulldogs.
Elementary School Rivalry Set Stage for Clio's Climb Into Statewide Elite
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
May 22, 2026
Players on the Clio softball team credit their togetherness for their success this season.
The Mustangs are 28-4 this year, ranked No. 4 in Division 2, and feel their close bond on and off the field can elevate them to a third-straight District title, and hopefully much more.
But things weren’t always so friendly, as many of the players started as fierce rivals on either side of the Orange Crush vs. Aftershock rivalry.
Like any good Under-10 matchup, those games were played for the ultimate prize: elementary school bragging rights.
“We always wanted to be the best team,” said senior Kelcy Sperling, a former member of the Orange Crush. “Then we could go to elementary school and say that we’re the best.”
The epic matchups … were actually kind of one-sided, and ultimately played between friends.
“We weren’t very good,” said junior Veronica Tate, a former member of the Aftershock. “They kicked our butts every single time. We just hated them, but we were all friends in the end.”
While the vitriol may not have been there, clearly the talent was, even if eventually banding together to win at the high school level was the furthest thing from their minds.
“I think back then we were just so in the moment,” said junior Addie Taylor, another Orange Crush member. “We were with our best friends, our parents were the coaches, it was just so much fun.”
The Mustangs are still having plenty of fun as they’re rolling to another successful season under coach Kevin Coombe.
Now in his seventh season, Coombe has Clio softball among the contenders in Division 2. The District title in 2024 was the program’s first since 2016, and now they’re looking to get beyond the Regional for the first time since 2004.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Coombe said. “This year, we took the extra step and we’re a little bit better than we’ve been in the past. Year after year of being a solid team has led to the girls buying in.”
As he was building the program, Coombe knew what was coming up and that it could be special. While the team is mostly comprised of upperclassmen, Coombe starts as many freshmen (three) as seniors.
“Oh yeah, we knew what we had coming in as a younger group,” Coombe said. “And they had a good solid core they were going to be joining with. We had a good hope this was going to be the season we would have. We have a pretty dominant pitcher that we can rely on to keep us in games, and we hit from one to nine in the lineup.”
Pretty dominant might be underselling Taylor, who has already committed to play at Wayne State. The junior has an earned-run average below 1.00 and four no-hitters on the season. She’s quick to give credit to those around her, though.
“It makes me a lot more confident knowing that if I make a mistake or miss a spot, something small like that, my teammates are going to pick me right back up,” Taylor said. “I can smile and laugh about it, and make sure I don’t do it again. I love having good coaches and teammates that will pick me up.”
It’s not just the defense helping pick Taylor up, it’s also an offense that is averaging more than 10 runs per game.
“If somebody is having an off day, we just be sure to pick up our teammates with a hit,” Tate said. “We don’t let our energy fall. It’s really important to stay positive and pick up your teammates. As soon as someone’s energy is down, we try to pick up the whole team.”
The hope is that combination of pitching and hitting can lead to extending the District title streak and a historic Regional run. Of course, to accomplish those, the Mustangs will likely have to get through Frankenmuth and Goodrich. It was the Eagles that had long stood in their path to a District title, and again this year look formidable, ranked No. 6 in Division 2.
And it’s Flint Metro League rival Goodrich that has ended each of their past two seasons in the Regional Final. Clio is 1-2 against the Martians this season, splitting their regular-season doubleheader and losing 3-2 this past Tuesday in the conference tournament.
“I think (having rivals standing in their way) makes us want to work hard,” Sperling said. “I know that in practices before those games, we work really hard, and we work hard all the time. But for practices and even warm-ups before those games, we’re locked in and we want to go play our best.”
Knocking off rivals to do something the program hasn’t done in so long would be a moment Sperling and her teammates would never forget, mostly because they’d be doing it together.
“It would mean so much to me,” Sperling said. “This group of girls, I’ve been playing with them since I was 8 years old. So being able to accomplish that with my team would mean so much to me.”
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) Clio’s Kelcy Sperling waits on a pitch during a game this season. (Middle) From top, Evey Wagner, Addie Taylor and Veronica Tate also have been among significant contributors during the Mustangs’ surge. (Photos courtesy of the Clio softball program.)