Page 12 — Thursday, June 10, 2021 — The Hastings Banner
Vikings take district at TK in 13 innings
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Morgan Stahl thought she was safe, leaving
a gallon or two of water in the big, plastic
orange Gatorade jug after soaking head coach
Brent Hilley by surprise Saturday on the
infield at Thornapple Kellogg High School.
A dripping Hilley got his senior pitcher
back, to her bewilderment, moments after she
left the container sitting in the dirt. It was a
wonder Stahl’s arms had the strength to douse
her head coach in the first place.
Stahl threw 20 innings, adding 35 more K’s
to her Lakewood single-season strikeout
record that now sits at 458, as the Lakewood
varsity softball team took two one-run victo-
ries in the Division 2 District Tournament in
Middleville. The Vikings bested rival Ionia
1-0, in the third one-run ballgame of the sea-
son between the two teams, and then knocked
off the host Trojans 6-5 in 13 innings in the
championship game.
Thornapple Kellogg took a 3-0 lead into the
fifth inning of the district final, only to see the
Vikings rally to tie it. The two teams played
through the eighth, ninth and tenth extra-in-
nings and then into the 11th, when tie-breaker
rules start each half inning with a runner on
second base, knotted at three. Lakewood
struck first in the 11th, scoring a pair of runs
on a two-run single off the bat of freshman
lead-off hitter Lily Federau.
Thornapple Kellogg senior catcher Moriah
Sprague almost ended the ballgame with a
two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of
the 11th, but her shot to left centerfield
clanged off the top of the fence as the specta-
tors behind it ducked and covered and the
Vikings watched with anxiety in their hearts.
Instead of a 6-5 walk-off win for the Trojans,
it was a game-tying, RBI double and the two
teams went to the 12th and then the 13th tied
at 5-5.
Nearly everyone at the field thought
Sprague’s blast was gone, but there was just
enough wind coming in from the left field
corner to keep it in the fence.
“I thought it was out,” Sprague said. “I
thought it was the hardest one I hit all year
and then the wind kept it from going. I
thought, why?”
TK head coach Ashley Garrett said in her
mind she was halfway home when the ball left
Sprague’s bat.
The Viking battery of Stahl and Federau
thought it was gone too. Federau said her
heart dropped.
“I instantly was like, ‘are you kidding?,”
Stahl said. “I thought it was going to be over
the fence. That first instinct when they hit itclean off the bat like that, that is my first
instinct. I was just like, ‘oh, no, this is it and I
got really scared, but then it hit the fence and
I knew that my outfield would be able to get
it in. After that it was like okay we just need
one more out and then we can go back in and
then it is our turn.”
Claire Behnam scored what would prove to
be the winning run for the Vikings in the top
of the 13th inning. She opened the inning on
second base, went to third on a sacrifice bunt
by Maryssa Goble and then scored on a wild
pitch.
TK couldn’t advance its runner from sec-
ond in the bottom of the 13th. Stahl struck out
the lead-off batter, the Vikings held the TK
runner at second on a bunt to third, and then
Stahl scooped up a ground ball and tossed it to
first as the Vikings’ district championship
celebration began.
“That last inning, we were not going to let
that run score,” Hilley said. “I was like, no
more. It gets to the point where it is almost a
little dangerous for a kid to be throwing that
many innings. I told them before the inning,
that run is not going to score. No matter what.
If we would have had to load the bases up or
whatever we were going to do, we were going
to hold that one-run lead.”
Goble was 3-for-4 in the win, with a walk.
She scored two runs. Behnam singled and
scored two runs too. Cora Giffin was 2-for-
with two RBI for the Vikings. Federau was
2-for-6 with a walk, a run and three RBI.
Audrey Hillard and Emilie Yonker had the
Vikings’ other two hits.
Sprague’s RBI double was the only extra-
base hit all ballgame. She was 2-for-5 with
two RBI and a run scored. TK also got two
hits from Eliana O’Riley, who scored two
runs. Paige VanStee was 1-for-3 with a run
and an RBI. Sophie Haveman singled once
for the Trojans too.
Stahl had a final line in the district final of
13 innings pitched. TK score two unearned
runs. She struck out 21 and walked two.
Maleah Bailey, the Trojans’ senior pitcher,
was outstanding too. She struck out three and
walked six, while giving up three earned runs
on ten hits.
“Maleah is the reason we are where we are
today,” Garrett said. “She gave everything she
had out there. She pitched good enough to
win. It just didn’t go our way today.
“Maleah never stopped working. They have
got a pole barn at their house and she pitched
almost every day with her dad during the off-
season, and during quarantine. She and Mo
[Sprague] both worked all year, and it showed.
Those two are going to be hard to replace. So
is Paige [VanStee].”
Hilley said the Trojans’ middle infield
defense was one of the toughest his team has
faced all season, along with the Ionia girls
they faced earlier in the day and the Olivet
girls they’ll face Saturday.
Lakewood will take on GLAC rival Olivetin the Division 2 Regional Semifinals at
Fowlerville High School Saturday at noon,
following the tournament’s opener between
Owosso and Haslett. The Olivet girls closed
the GLAC season by sweeping their three
ballgames with the Vikings, leaving the
Lakewood ladies a win shy of a conference
championship.
TK beat Hastings 21-0 in three innings in
its district semifinal contest Saturday.
Grace Zube and Bailey had three hits each
in the win over the Saxons for TK. VanStee,
Eliana O’Riley and Natalie O’Riley had two
hits each. Natalie, Eliana and Paige had two
RBI each. Bailey, Kate Caldwell, Sprague,
Rachel Shoemaker, Ellie Vandefifer, Haveman
and Zube had one RBI apiece. Sprague, Carly
Snyder, Shoemaker, Vandefifer and Ellie
Rogers each had one hit for the Trojans.
Rogers, Zube and Bailey scored three runs
each, and VanStee and Natalie O’Riley bothscored twice in the four-inning game.
Bailey threw three innings, striking out
seven while not allowing a hit or giving up a
walk. Peyton Stahl threw as perfect inning of
relief for TK, striking out two.
Lakewood managed its one run against
Ionia in the first district semifinal ballgame of
the day in Middleville in the bottom of the
third inning.
Back-to-back singles by Federau and Liv
Woodman got things started with one out for
the Vikings in the bottom of the third, and
then Slater delivered a single into left to load
the bases with two out. Federau came home to
score on an error by the Bulldog catcher,
before Ionia managed to get the final out on
the base-paths.
Federau was 2-for-2 in the win, and Slater,
Woodman, Bella Lab and Goble had the
Vikings’ other hits.Thornapple Kellogg senior pitcher Maleah Bailey throws for her team during the
Division 2 District Final in Middleville against Lakewood Saturday afternoon. (Photo by
Brett Bremer)
Lakewood freshman Lily Federau claps
at first base after knocking a two-run
single to put her team up 5-3 in the top of
the 11th inning of its Division 2 District
Final at Thornapple Kellogg High School
Saturday. The TK Trojans would score
twice in the bottom of the inning to tie the
ballgame back up, with Lakewood
eventually scoring a 6-5 win in 13 innings.
(Photo by Brett Bremer)The Lakewood varsity softball team collects its district championship trophy at the
end of a 6-5, 13-inning win over host Thornapple Kellogg in the Division 2 District Final
in Middleville Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Brett Bremer)Lakewood’s Liv Woodman celebrates as she accepts her district championship
medal following her team’s 6-5, 13-inning win over Thornapple Kellogg in the Division
2 District Final in Middleville Saturday. (Photo by Brett Bremer)Pewamo-Westphalia beats up
on district foes at Saranac High
Every game in last week’s Division 3
District baseball tournament hosted by
Saranac ended with the mercy rule going into
effect.
That included the district final in which
Pewamo-Westphalia scored a 21-2 win over
host Saranac in a five-inning ballgame.
Pewamo-Westphalia improved to 28-3 on the
season with its win in the district final.
Delton Kellogg defeated Potterville 11-1 in
a pre-district ballgame, only to fall to the P-W
Pirates 27-2 in three innings in the first dis-trict semifinal of the day Saturday back in
Saranac.
Host Saranac reached the district final with
a 14-3 win over the Maple Valley Lions in the
second district semifinal of the day. It was a
4-2 ballgame after the Lions scored twice in
the bottom of the fourth inning.
Saranac answered with ten runs in the top
of the fifth to end the ballgame early.
Maple Valley had six hits in the loss. Lane
Morris was 2-for-3 at the plate. Gregg
Richardson and James Wiser each doubledonce, and Nick Osborne and Camden
Carpenter both had a single.
Osborne, Carpenter and Wiser notched the
Lions’ three RBI. Richardson, Osborne and
Carpenter scored the three Lion runs.
Morris started on the mound and took the
loss, giving up five earned runs on five hits
and two walks. He struck out two and was
charged with five unearned runs as well.
David Hosack-Frizzell threw an inning of
relief, giving up four runs on five hits. He
struck out one.17
th
AnnualBill Porter
Memorial Charity Golf Classic
Est. 2004
Friday, June 18, 2021 at The Legacy at Hastings
Event Details
- Four-person scramble
- Start time: 9:00 a.m. Shotgun
Start (or 8:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.
if more than 36 teams)
- Cost: $265 per team, or
$65 per individual
- Entry fee includes:
o Greens fees
o Golf cart
o Meal
o Door prizes
o Four ballots for charity vote
Hole games and prizes
Charities Competing for
the Top Cash Prize:- YMCA Summer C.A.T.C.H.
Playground - Nashville Route 66 Business
District - Next Gen Giving Network
- Barry County Junior Golf
Association
Questions? Contact Kylee Nemetz at 269-908-
or [email protected], or the
Legacy at Hastings at [email protected]Be sure to follow our Facebook page
for regular updates: Bill Porter
Memorial Charity Golf ClassicSignature Sponsorship
Levels
- Albatross: Three golf teams,
banner and tee sign—$2,
- Eagle: Two golf teams,
banner and tee sign—$1,
- Birdie: One golf team and tee
sign—$
- Par: Tee sign with
company logo and public
recognition—$
- Four-Person Golf Team
Registration—$
In Memory of Bill Porter
William Porter was elected as the
President of the Hastings Country
Club in 2004. Bill had a vision for
the Country Club to give back to
the Hastings Area. In March 2004,
the Charity Golf Classic was
approved by the Country Club
Board of Directors. In the summer
of 2004, Bill suddenly passed away.
The Charity Golf Classic Committee
quickly renamed the outing to
include Bill’s name. We thank you,
Bill. You are missed.