EAST LANSING — When Walled Lake Northern senior ace pitcher Lyla Turmell faced Northville in a tournament at New Baltimore Anchor Bay on April 25, things didn’t go as planned in a 6-3 loss. 

Getting another chance at Northville in a Division 1 Semifinal at Michigan State’s Secchia Stadium on Thursday, Turmell said there were plenty of mental notes to recall from that first meeting.

“We played them earlier in the season, so I kind of knew some of them,” Turmell said. “I knew the hitters, (that) I had to move the ball out more or in more. It 100 percent helped.”

It certainly did, as Turmell limited a powerful Northville offense to just five hits in a 2-1 Northern victory. 

In doing so Turmell, who has signed with Toledo, also helped guide the Knights to their first state championship game, where they will meet Grand Haven at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Northern head coach Kristen Woodard said she didn’t offer any special advice to Turmell before the game – other than to just be herself.

“To hit her spots, and I know she’s tough and can do that,” Woodard said. 

While Turmell led the Knights in the run-prevention category, sisters Aubrey Kresbaugh and Makenna Kresbaugh provided the offense.

A sophomore, Aubrey Kresbaugh opened the scoring, leading off the game with a home run to right field to give Northern a 1-0 lead.

Northville countered with a run in the bottom of the first inning, tying the game at 1-1 on an RBI single by sophomore Jocelyn Burns after senior Kendall Heron had tripled. 

It was the predictable pitcher’s duel from that point between Turmell and Northville senior ace Mary Gugala, until Northern broke through in the sixth.

With Aubrey Kresbaugh on third base and two outs, Makenna Kresbaugh hit a liner to right that ended up dropping for an RBI single that gave the Knights a 2-1 lead.

Northville got its leadoff hitter on base in the seventh inning on an error, but a double play on a popped up bunt, plus a strikeout, ended the game. 

Gugala was just as brilliant in defeat for Northville, tossing a four-hitter and striking out 10.

The Mustangs (35-5-1) were making their first Semifinal appearance as well.

“That’s been Mary Gugala for three-plus years,” Northville head coach Scott DeBoer said. “She’s been somebody that just digs deep, and things don’t bother her. She’s only 5-foot-3, but she’s got a heart that’s bigger.” 

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Grand Haven 8, Macomb Dakota 3

It’s not a formula that Grand Haven head softball John Hall coach wants to consistently follow, but it has sure worked for his team thus far in the MHSAA Tournament. 

The Buccaneers have consistently fallen behind in games, but rallied for victories, which happened again against Dakota in the first Division 1 Semifinal.

Grand Haven spotted Dakota a run in the bottom of first inning, but once again roared back in advancing to its first championship game.

“To me, we’re the hunters,” Hall said. “We were down 1-0 to Reeths-Puffer. We were down 4-0 to Rockford. We were down 1-0 to Hudsonville, we were down 1-0 to Traverse City Central and came back to win every game. It wakes them up. I’m not saying we want to go down 1-0 in every game. But it fires them up and wakes them up.”

After Dakota took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by senior Kiley Phelan, Grand Haven responded with a run in the top of the second on an RBI groundout by senior outfielder Claire Sova to tie the game at 1-1. 

The Buccaneers then plated two runs in the third inning on an RBI sacrifice fly by senior Lorelei Chiciuk and an RBI single by junior Makenna VandenBrink. Grand Haven then broke the game open in the fifth, scoring four times to take a 7-1 lead. VandenBrink had an RBI single and Sova another RBI groundout during the rally that was aided by a Dakota error. 

The run support was more than enough for Chiciuk, the team’s ace who settled down after a rocky first inning. 

Chiciuk didn’t allow a hit in the second, third and fourth innings and pitched out of some trouble, most notably in the sixth when she got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam with two strikeouts. Sova also made a diving catch to end the fifth inning and save a run.

Chiciuk finished with 15 strikeouts as she moved toward 400 on the season. 

“I’ve noticed through every game, the first inning is always the ice-breaker where I go through rocky stuff,” Chiciuk said. “There’s going to be something that happens. But it’s the comeback that happens.

Grand Haven (34-7-1) collected 10 hits.

“We hit all our metrics today,” Hall said. “We love 8 to 10 hits, we love to score four or five runs, and you need about one or two ESPN plays (defensively).” 

Dakota made somewhat of an unexpected run in the tournament, with the signature win a 7-5 triumph over No. 2 New Baltimore Anchor Bay in a District Final. 

The Cougars advanced to the Semifinals for the first time since finishing Division 1 runner-up in 2022.

“We applied pressure, we got runners in scoring position,” Dakota head coach Shelby Weeks said. “We just couldn’t come up with those key hits today. That’s just how it was for us. The girls fought the whole seven innings.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Walled Lake Northern players celebrate after their Semifinal win over Northville on Thursday at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) A Grand Haven hitter drives a pitch during her team’s Semifinal victory.