The Hastings Banner — Thursday, May 27, 2021 — Page 17Saxon soccer
team shuts
out Corunna
Val Slaughter
Contributing Writer
The lady Saxon varsity girls’ soccer scored
a 6-0 win over Corunna at Baum Stadium at
Johnson Field on Monday night in a non-con-
ference match.
Hastings took an early lead, scoring the
first goal within the first 60 seconds of the
game starting, and then scored two additional
goals before half, going into the second half
with a 3-0 lead.
Hastings’ defense played strong throughout
the game with Corunna managing zero shots
on goal. However, Saxon goalie, Dekota
Blough, still got in on the action providing an
assist for her team. Lauren Lamphere, Raegen
Morrison and Bri Barnes each added an assist
in the game.
Lamphere, a sophomore, led her attack
with three goals. Morrison added two goals
and Molly Patton added the final goal for the
night.
The Saxons were scheduled to host
Thornapple Kellogg for a Division 2 District
opener last night (May 26). The winner of that
match will play in the district semifinals host-
ed by Harper Creek Tuesday, June 1, against
Gull Lake.Pair of Saxons among I-
individual award winners
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
A victory Thursday at the Interstate-
Athletic Conference Tournament hosted by
Bedford Valley Golf Club propelled Marshall
into the second place spot in the final confer-
ence standings.
Jackson Northwest managed to hold onto
the top spot despite placing sixth on the day.
Hastings number one Will Jensen fired an
83 Thursday to earn a spot as a first team
all-conference honoree.
Collin Fouty had the low round for the
Saxons, shooting an 82.
“This certainly was a topsy turvy season,”
Hastings head coach Kristen Laubaugh said.
“The league jamboree winners varied a lot
throughout the season and the conference
tournament was no different. I was very
pleased with how some of the guys played at
the conference championship. Collin Fouty
put together his best round of the season at
just the right time.”
Fouty’s score put him among the honorable
mention all-conference award winners in the
I-8 this spring.
The Hastings team also got an 88 from
Owen Carroll and a 94 from Joey McLean.
The Marshall Redhawks took the victory
Thursday with a score of 338, finishing ahead
of Pennfield 342, Hastings 247, Lumen
Christi 352, Parma Western 358, Coldwater
365 and Harper Creek 396.
Marshall teammates Collin McLane and
Harrison Chapman had the day’s two lowest
rounds. McLane shot a 74 and Chapman a 76.
Pennfield was led by a 77 from Ryne
Petersen and Harper Creek got a 78 from Ty
Peet.
The Saxons close the season third overall in
the conference standings.
The Hastings boys will be back in action
Tuesday, June 1, at the Division 2 Regional
Tournament hosted by Thornapple Kellogg at
Yankee Springs Golf Course.Saxons take Game 2 from Pennfield for first I-8 victory
After falling in their first 13 Interstate-
Athletic Conference contests this spring, the
Saxons made the best of their last chance
Tuesday.
Hastings varsity baseball team earned a
split in its I-8 doubleheader with visiting
Pennfield Tuesday, scoring a 10-5 win in
game two despite being outhit 15-11 by the
Panthers.
Carter Hewitt made his way through the
first five innings on the mound for the Saxons
as his team built an 8-2 lead before the
Pennfield struck for three runs in the top of
the sixth to make things interesting. Hewitt
got the win, going 5.1 innings. He struck out
three and walked one while being charged
with five runs on 13 hits.
Mitchell Rafter came on in relief for the
Saxons, and allowed a couple of the runners
on when Hewitt left to score but then shut
down the Pennfield bats. He gave up two hits
and one walk in 1.2 innings, striking out three.
Hewitt, Rafter, Matthew Thompson and
Kaiden Shumway had two hits each for the
Saxons in the win. Rafter was 2-for-4 at the
plate with two RBI. Shumway had a single
and a double, a run and an RBI. Drew
Markley tripled, drove in a run and scored
twice.
Ethan Caris singled and scored two runs for
the Saxons. Thompson scored twice too.
Drew Gleeson also scored a run for the
Saxons.
Hastings ends the conference season with a
1-13 record.
Pennfield won the opener 16-2 in five
innings.
Harrison Smalley doubled, drove in a run
and scored a run, and Hewitt, Rafter and
Braden Vertalka had the other three Saxon hits
in the game one loss. Vertalka scored a run.
Pennfield is 10-2 in the conference after
split and has two I-8 ballgames at LumenChristi Friday to close out the conference sea-
son.
The Saxons were bested in two non-confer-
ence ballgames with visiting Plainwell last
Thursday. The Trojans took 5-3 and 11-wins.
Plainwell scored two runs in the top of the
sixth and two in the top of the seventh to pull
ahead of the Saxons in an error free game one.
Hastings had six hits in the loss, including
a double by Rafter and singles from Markley,
Thompson, Smalley, Ashton Benson and
Aiden Benson. Canton Pederson, Ashton
Benson and Smalley each had an Rbi for the
Saxons in the loss. Thompson, Smalley and
Caris scored the team’s three runs, all in the
bottom of the fourth to make the score 3-1 at
the time.Plainwell blew open game two with six
runs in the top of the third inning and four
more in the fourth.
Hastings outhit the Trojans 9-6 in game
two, but Plainwell managed three unearned
runs.
Rafter was 2-for-3 at the plate with a dou-
ble and three RBI in game two. Mason
Denton was 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs
scored. Markley singled and scored two runs,
also walking twice. Mitchell Eldred,Thompson and Tyler Morris each also singled
for the Saxons. Thompson and Morris had one
RBI each.
The Saxons are scheduled to close the reg-
ular season with a ballgame against Wayland
at Cornerstone University Tuesday (June 1),
and will be at lakewood for its Division 2
District Tournament June 5, taking on
Charlotte in an opening round ballgame.
Lakewood and Olivet meet in the district tour-
nament’s other semifinal match-up that day.Hastings’ Mason Denton drives the ball during game two of his team’s non-
conference doubleheader with visiting Plainwell Thursday. (Photo by Perry Hardin)Mitchell Eldred pitches for the Saxons during their non-conference doubleheader
with Plainwell at Johnson Field in Hastings Thursday afternoon. (Photo by Perry
Hardin)Pennfield and Hopkins each
take two from DK ball team
A talented Pennfield squad took a pair of
14-3 wins over the visiting Delton Kellogg
varsity baseball team in Battle Creek Monday
afternoon.
It was a good start for the DK boys though.
Blake Thomas singled to lead off the first
ballgame and Mason Nabozney drilled a two-
run home run to right field to put their team in
front 2-0.
DK managed just two hits the rest of the
game though, a single by Nabozney and one
by Matthew Fales. Nabozney finished with
three RBI as he also plated teammate Jacob
Kemp in the top of the third.
Pennfield scored 11 runs in the bottom of
the fourth inning of game one to finish off that
victory.
Cullen Reed was 3-for-3 with a double out
of the lead-off spot for Pennfield and CamReichel was 2-for-2 with a double, two runs
and two RBI. Treyvon Fettes also drove in
two runs for Pennfield. Seth Clothier had two
RBI and Cody Jultink three.
A group of three Pennfield pitchers limited
DK to one hit in game two, a single by Kemp.
Hopkins took two from the DK boys in
Delton last Friday, scoring 8-7 and 14-4 wins.
The Delton Kellogg boys are scheduled to
visit Schoolcraft for two Southwestern
Athletic Conference Valley Division ball-
games this afternoon (May 27) and will be
back in action Tuesday taking on Saranac in a
Division 3 Pre-District ballgame in Potterville.
The DK schedule also has a double header
with SAC foe Galesbursg-Augusta planned
for June 2.Delton Kellogg shortstop Blake Thomas
battles a tough hop during his team’s non-
conference ballgame with visiting Hopkins
Friday afternoon. (Photo by Perry Hardin)Delton Kellogg third baseman Brit Stevens snags a roller along the third baseline
during his team’s doubleheader with visiting Hopkins Friday (Photo by Perry Hardin)Golfers (from left) Ryne Petersen (Pennfield), Harrison Chapman (Marshall), Collin
McLane (Marshall), Ty Peet (Harper Creek), Will Jensen (Hastings), Isaac Anuszkiewicz
(Northwest) and Logan Baum (Parma Western) are honored in the clubhouse at
Bedford Valley for earning spots among the nine all-conference medalists in the
Interstate-8 Athletic Conference this spring at the conclusion of the conference cham-
pionship tournament. Missing from photo are first team all-conference award winners
Mitchell Bair Pollard (Harper Creek) and Owen Campbell (Lumen Christi).
Catholic Central puts all six in
top ten at Gold golf tourney
Grand Rapids Catholic Central finished off
an OK Gold Conference Championship spring
by dominating the conference championship
meet at Thornapple Pointe Golf Club Monday.
The Cougars scored a 305 to finish 25
strokes better than runner-up Forest Hills
Eastern which closed the day with a score of
330.
South Christian was third with a score of
342, ahead of Kenowa Hills 359, Thornapple
Kellogg 365, Wayland 370 and Cedar Springs
400.
Connor Newland continued his strong fin-
ish to the season by shooting an 89 to lead the
TK team. He had birdies on the par-4 number
two and number 17 at Thornapple Pointe.
Drew Nathan scored a 90 for TK, Austin
Pitsch a 91 and CJ Crabtree a 95. Teammate
Christian DeBruin was right behind with a 96.Newland’s 89 had him in 17th place indi-
vidually.
Catholic Central had all six of its guys fin-
ish among the top ten scorers, led by Will
Preston and Matthew Sokorai who each shot a- The Cougars also got a 78 from Andrew
Armock, a 79 from Luke Preston, an 80 from
John Harmon and an 84 from Thomas Grile.
Forest Hills Eastern earned the runner-up
spot with Alex Emerine third overall with a
78, Joey Brown sixth with an 80 and Ben
Abare eighth with an 83. The other member of
the top ten on the day was South Christian
senior Thys Vink who scored an 84.
The TK boys return to action Tuesday, June
1, at the Division 2 Regional Tournament
they’re hosting at Yankee Springs Golf
Course.