Shuboy Caps Memorable Richmond Run by Pitching Blue Devils to 3rd Finals Title
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 14, 2025
EAST LANSING — Spending her entire life in the Richmond community, Katie Shuboy can pinpoint exactly when she wanted to become part of the tradition-rich softball program at the high school.
“I’ve always gone to Richmond schools, and I remember watching my cousin (Erin Shuboy) win a state championship (in 2016) and watching the 2021 team win it,” Shuboy said. “I knew I wanted to do that one day.”
That one day turned out to be Saturday, as Shuboy helped guide Richmond to its third Finals title with a 3-0 victory over Paw Paw in the Division 2 championship game.
A senior pitcher who has signed to play next for Ferris State, Shuboy tossed her second 1-hit shutout of Finals weekend, striking out 12 and walking two.
It was also her third-straight shutout to end the season after a 6-0 win over Goodrich in a Quarterfinal and a 2-0 blanking of Escanaba during the Semifinals.
“I decided I wanted to pitch when I was about 10,” Shuboy said. “I really wasn’t that great. But my Dad has really helped me with everything. We throw every single day, and I wouldn’t be here without him.”
Paw Paw entered the game with one of the state’s most potent offenses, with five players batting .434 or higher.
Shuboy and her coaches went over scouting reports and tendencies of Paw Paw’s hitters, but the plan was pretty much doing what she has all year.
“You can only overthink it so much,” Shuboy said. “You just really have to go out and do what you normally do.”
Howard Stuart, who just completed his 47th year as Richmond’s only softball coach, said Shuboy definitely ranks as one of the all-time greats at the school.
“I’ve had some pretty good pitchers that won state titles in 2016 and 2021,” Stuart said, referring to the Division 2 title in 2016 and the Division 3 crown in 2021. “She’s like them. All of them have a lot of speed and a lot of movement.”
Paw Paw head coach Mike Mottl certainly was impressed with Shuboy’s performance.
“She was really good at painting the corner,” Mottl said. “She had good control of her fastball, and she also had a nice rise ball that didn’t really start high or finish high. When a rise ball is at the middle and then finishes up, it’s really hard to lay off of. She did a phenomenal job.”
The silver lining for Mottl and the rest of the Paw Paw community though was looking at the roster when peeking ahead to next year.
“No seniors,” Mottl said with a wry smile knowing his squad should be a title contender again in 2026.
But 2025 belonged to Shuboy and Richmond, which jumped on Paw Paw early with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. After hitting a leadoff triple to left field, freshman Kendall Nader scored on an RBI bunt single by junior Audrina Nader.
Following a double by Shuboy that put runners on second and third, junior Anna McKiernan scored Nader with an RBI infield single to make it 2-0 Blue Devils.
The game remained that way until Richmond got some insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single by junior Emma Bambrick that made it a 3-0 game.
In addition to her pitching dominance, Shuboy finished with two doubles to lead Richmond’s seven-hit output.
PHOTOS (Top) Richmond’s Katie Shuboy looks to her dugout after one of her two doubles Saturday. (Middle) Paw Paw’s Elizabeth Vanderburg makes a play.
Richmond's Ace, Paw Paw's 'Ms. Walk-Off' Send Teams Into Saturday
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2025
EAST LANSING — You might as well dub Paw Paw sophomore Elizabeth Vanderburg as “Ms. Walk-Off” this season.
Paw Paw head coach Mike Mottl noted Thursday that Vanderburg has had four game-winning walk-off hits this season for the Red Wolves. But none were as important or dramatic as how she finished her team’s Division 2 Semifinal against Carleton Airport.
With her team down to its final out, Vanderburg delivered a 2-run home run inside the foul pole and over the left-field fence to give Paw Paw a 3-2 victory and its first trip to an MHSAA championship game. The Red Wolves will face Richmond for the Division 2 title at 10 a.m. Saturday at Secchia Stadium.
Vanderburg most recently had hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to advance her team past Otsego in their District Semifinal two weeks ago.
Ms. Walk-Off indeed.
“I got pitched outside all game, so I was going to wait on the outside pitch and take it to right field,” she said. “It was a high, inside pitch, so I just took it that way. I knew off the bat it was gone.”
Mottl said, at the very least, he felt Vanderburg was going to make hard contact.
“I had no doubt whatsoever she was going to do that,” he said. “She’s just an amazing athlete and for a sophomore, I don’t think she has blood in her body. It’s all ice.”
🚨WALK-OFF. GONE. FINALS BOUND!⁰Paw Paw’s season-saving blast over the fence to walk it off and send the Red Wolves to the Division 2 Final with a 3-2 win over Carleton Airport!🔥🥎⁰#Softball #WalkOff #PawPaw #RoadToTheFinal #MHSAA pic.twitter.com/wm9H8bNK4B
— MHSAA (@MHSAA) June 12, 2025
It was an unusual Semifinal matchup in that neither team had a senior on the roster. As crushing of an ending as it was for Airport, knowing everyone will be back next year was something that allowed Jets head coach Jessica Irwin to smile.
“Just being here is good for them to see,” she said. “Just the pressure of it, and you can come in a little more relaxed next year.”
Airport (33-9) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a 2-out, 2-run double to left field by junior Peyton Zajac.
Paw Paw (37-3) got on the board in the fifth, cutting Airport’s lead to 2-1 on a single to left by Vanderburg.
Red Wolves sophomore pitcher Lauren Mackellar also starred. She didn’t allow a run after the first inning and finished with a 6-hitter, striking out 11 and not walking a batter.
Mottl knows not many people will be expecting his team to win the Final against Richmond, but his squad is fully capable of delivering the program’s first title.
“Don’t worry about next year,” Mottl said of what will be his team’s mindset. “You don’t know what’s going to happen next year. The opportunity is here. You’ve got to take opportunities when they are presented.”
Richmond 2, Escanaba 0
It was an all-state pitchers’ duel as No. 1-ranked Escanaba met No. 7 Richmond in the second Semifinal, with Richmond senior Katie Shuboy getting the better of Escanaba senior and Michigan signee Grayson LaMarche.
Shuboy tossed a one-hitter, striking out 12 and walking one batter. LaMarche threw a three-hitter, striking out 13, walking one, while not giving up an earned run.
“You can’t overthink it,” Shuboy said of facing the Escanaba lineup. “You just have to trust your stuff, go out there and throw.”
Richmond scored the only two runs of the game with two outs in the top of the sixth inning. The Blue Devils put runners on second and third base with one out following a passed ball after a strikeout, a bunt single and a sacrifice bunt.
Following a groundout, an Escanaba throw aimed at getting the Richmond runner at third went into left field, allowing both runners to score.
That was all the run support needed for Shuboy, who has tossed back-to-back shutouts beginning with a 6-0 win over Goodrich in a Quarterfinal.
“I just trust my defense,” Shuboy said. “When we got those two runs, I knew it was going to be game because my team made amazing plays in the field. I trust myself, and I knew that we were going to win that game.”
Escanaba (38-5) was seeking its first Finals title since winning the second of back-to-back crowns in 2019.
The Eskymos got their leadoff hitter on in the bottom of the fifth inning on their only hit of the game, but the rally fizzled quickly.
“She mixed it really well,” Escanaba head coach Andy Fields said of Shuboy’s performance. “It was nothing we haven’t seen this year. She did an excellent job locating. It was just tough to get a gauge on what she was doing."
On the other side, Richmond will go for its third title during the 47-year tenure of head coach Howard Stuart.
Richmond’s most recent Finals championship came in 2021.
“She was moving the ball, and we were really struggling,” Stuart said of LaMarche. “But we were OK in the end.”
PHOTOS (Top) Paw Paw players greet teammate Elizabeth Vanderburg after her game-winning home run Thursday at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) Richmond catcher Ashley Stafford frames a pitch during her team’s win over Escanaba.