Mourning Those Who Contributed Much

EAST LANSING — Saline head coach Rebecca Suiter said her team hadn’t been in a situation where it had to rally during its last at-bats much this season.

But that didn’t stop her from feeling confident when the situation arose in Thursday’s Division 1 Semifinal against Hudsonville. 

“This team, they stay composed and they don’t get nervous,” Suiter said. “Before that inning, I told them, ‘Let’s fight. Let’s do what we do for the seniors. This is our last chance.’”

Saline made good in that last chance, scoring two runs in the top of the seventh inning and then holding off Hudsonville in the bottom of the inning to earn a 5-4 victory and a meeting with South Lyon in Saturday’s championship game. 

In the top of the seventh, Saline put runners on second and third base with one out and tied the game on a sacrifice fly to center field by sophomore Gracelyn Waldrop. 

Then junior Madison Bellus came to the plate, and after a lengthy battle, delivered an RBI triple to the wall in left field to make it 5-4 Hornets. 

“Lately, I’ve been working on outside pitches and fouling them off because that’s what I’ve struggled with sometimes,” Bellus said. “That at-bat, I was just focusing on my pitch, and when I got it, to swing all the way through. Yeah, I had to make something happen there.”

It will be the first title game appearance for Saline (38-3-2). 

The Hornets did a good job limiting a powerful Hudsonville offense that entered the Semifinal having scored a combined 26 runs over its previous three games. Abigail Curtis allowed four runs over five innings before junior Ainslee Tomaszewski pitched two scoreless innings to close it out.

“We watched a ton of film this week, and we knew their hitters were aggressive hitters,” Suiter said. “We knew they were going to chase outside. I talked to my pitcher and catcher and said, ‘Let’s start outside and see if we can chase.’”

Saline broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning, plating two runs on RBI singles by senior Ava Stripp and junior Jessica Phelps. 

Hudsonville responded in its half of the fourth, tying the game at 2-2 with a solo home run to right-center by freshman Kamryn Stankus and on a Saline infield error that plated another run. 

The Hornets regained the lead at 3-2 in the fifth inning, scoring on a Hudsonville throwing error. 

Hudsonville answered again, this time taking a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth on a 2-run home run with two outs by senior Ava Gardner, who hit a rope over the wall in left-center. 

Last year’s Division 1 champion, Hudsonville finished its season 35-4.

Click for the full box score.

South Lyon 1, Utica Ford 0 

This was quite a 180-degree turnaround for South Lyon junior pitcher Havanna Bissett.

Last year during a Division 1 Semifinal game, Bissett pitched on the rubber at Michigan State’s Secchia Stadium, but it was under unfortunate circumstances. 

She had to come in during the second inning for injured ace Ava Bradshaw, being thrown into the fire for five innings in what turned out to be a loss to Lake Orion. 

But Bissett returned Thursday to the Secchia Stadium rubber for the first MHSAA Division 1 Semifinal against Utica Ford, this time as the team’s ace and fully comfortable after her experience last year. 

“I definitely felt a lot less nerves than last year,” Bissett said. “This year, I was ready to go and ready for anything. No matter what, I was throwing. So I was ready.”

Bissett certainly was, as she tossed a 2-hit shutout to lead South Lyon to a 1-0 win and its second appearance in a championship game over the last five seasons. 

Mixing a rise and a changeup beautifully all game, Bissett struck out four and walked only one. 

“It definitely gave her experience,” first-year head coach Jerry Shippe said of what Bissett experienced last year. “Knowing it was her game to pitch and she was going to do it from the start, it definitely gave her the confidence.”

Utica Ford head coach Matt Joseph said Bissett did a masterful job of keeping his lineup off-balance. 

“She was mixing in that changeup,” he said. “I thought we were anxious today and a little bit excited. We never really settled down. We sat out on that front foot and hit fly balls and popups.” 

South Lyon (32-7) got the only run it needed in the top of third inning on a 2-out RBI single by sophomore Isabella Bracali, who blooped a hit in front of the centerfielder. 

The Lions collected nine hits, with Izzy Nooe, Avery Bourlier and Bracali each producing two. 

Unranked when the playoffs started, South Lyon hopes to cap its improbable run by duplicating the Division 1 title it won in 2021. 

Ford ended its season at 30-11-1, but caught fire after starting 10-8 to make its first Semifinal trip since 2014.

“This team has come miles,” Joseph said. “At the start of the year, we were not a very good team, I will tell you that. I think our seniors started it with a lot of leadership, grit and determination. We got contributions from a lot of different players.” 

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Saline's Madison Bellus, right, slides toward the plate as the ball bounces away during her team's Division 1 Semifinal win. (Middle) South Lyon's Havanna Bissett (4) makes her move toward the plate.