SN 6.12.2021

Page 6/The Sun and News, Saturday, June 12, 2021

Vikings take district at TK in 13 innings

Brett Bremer

Sports Editor

It was a matter of inches.

The Trojans were inches

from being the ones bounc-

ing up and down in a mob-

scene at home plate, hug-

ging, smiling and crying,

pouring icy water on their

coach’s head and lifting the

district championship trophy.

Instead, it was the

Lakewood Vikings living out

that scene on the Trojans’

diamond.

Morgan Stahl thought she

was safe, leaving a gallon or

two of water in the big, plas-

tic orange Gatorade jug after

soaking Lakewood head

coach Brent Hilley by sur-

prise 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 var-

sity softball team took two

one-run victories in the

Division 2 District

Tournament in Middleville.

The Vikings bested rival

Ionia 1-0, in the third one-

run ballgame of the season

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-innings and then

into the 11th, when tie-break-

er rules start each half inning

with a runner on second base,

knotted at three. Lakewood

struck first in the 11th, scor-

ing 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 spec-

tators 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 dou-

ble 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 it clean

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 second in the

bottom of the 13th. Stahl

struck out the lead-off batter,

the Vikings held the TK run-

ner 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 lit-

tle 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-6 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-

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 quaran-

tine. 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

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Thornapple Kellogg senior pitcher Maleah Bailey fires

the ball towards home during the Division 2 District Final

against Lakewood Saturday afternoon in Middleville.

(Photo by Brett Bremer)

Thornapple Kellogg shortstop Paige VanStee collides
with second baseman Emily Offringa as she grabs a
pop-up near the bag at second during her team’s
Division 2 District Final against Lakewood Saturday in
Middleville. (Photo by Brett Bremer)

Thornapple Kellogg senior Moriah Sprague watchers

her RBI-double fly towards the left centerfield fence in

the bottom of the 11th inning of the Division 2 District

Final against Lakewood in Middleville Saturday.

Sprague’s blast tied the game at 5-5 and missed being a

two-run walk-off home run by inches in a ballgame the

Vikings eventually won 6-5 in 13 innings. (Photo by Brett

Bremer)

See DISTRICT, page 11