Softball Clinches Region XII Tournament Bid with Day Series Sweep Over GRCC
The Lakers came into possibly their biggest day series of the season, playing at Belknap Park against the Grand Rapids Community College Raiders. The Raiders held a narrow lead over the Lakers for second place in the MCCAA Northern Conference. The Lakers held a conference record of 8-6 while the Raiders held a conference record of 10-6. With just a few conference games remaining after the day series, the series was as big for the Lady Lakers as any series to date.
Game one was a battle of the pitchers, with neither giving in. Despite 9 combined hits in the first four innings, it remained scoreless heading into the fifth inning. The Raiders manufactured a run with a stolen base, and would eventually score by way of error to take a 1-0 lead. A scoreless sixth inning would set up a big seventh inning. The Lakers needed at least one run to play the bottom of the seventh and avoid a 1-0 shutout loss to kick off the series. With two outs in the inning, Grace Piggott singled to center field to keep their hopes alive. Janelle Yarnell then followed up the 2-out single by reaching via error. Alexis Mielke, the Lakers leading hitter on the season, stepped up to the dish with runners on first and third. Mielke ripped a 2-2 pitch to left field for a double, driving in Piggott and Yarnell to take a 2-1 lead in the seventh! The Raiders had a chance to walk it off in the seventh inning, when their first two batters of the inning singled on first pitch swings. A come backer to Addysen Gray got the lead runner at third base to get the first out of the inning. A lineout, and then a strikeout by Gray put the game on ice, as the Lakers held on to win the rollercoaster of a game 2-1 to open the series. Alexis Mielke had the big hit in the game for the Lakers, as part of her 2-hit game in which she drove in the tying and go ahead run. Rylie Shafer also had a 2-hit game. Addysen Gray scattered 7 Raider hits in the game while striking out 6 in her complete game win. The one run to cross the plate for the Raiders was unearned.
Game two, the Lakers jumped out in front in the third inning. Janelle Yarnell singled to shortstop to drive in the first run of the game. Alexis Mielke hit a sacrifice fly to right field to tack on the second run. Phoenix Shaw hit a grounder to first base, and reached by error, driving in the third run of the inning. They held a 3-0 lead after three. The ladies weren't done, and the bats stayed hot in the fourth. Zoey Bacon tripled to center field to bring home Allie Hawkins. Averi Hall kept the line moving with an RBI double to drive in Bacon. Hall would score on an error, and Adria Reed would score on an RBI groundout from Janelle Yarnell, putting the Lakers out front 7-0. Back-to-back RBI singles from Zoey Bacon and Averi Hall in the fifth inning pushed the Lakers ahead 9-0, which would prove to be the final score. The Lakers collected 13 hits in the game, while scoring 9 runs. Seven Lakers entered the hit column, including four ladies accumulating multiple hits in the game. Averi Hall led the charge with a 4-4 game at the plate with a double and 2 RBI. Zoey Bacon, Allie Hawkins, and Adria Reed each had 2 hits in the game. Janelle Yarnell drove in 2 runs. Heidi Nagel twirled a complete game, no-hit gem in her five innings of work. Nagel struck out 11 Raiders and allowed just one baserunner, a walk in the first inning.
The win pulled the Lakers record to 18-17 on the season, and 10-6 in conference play, propelling them to second place in the MCCAA Northern Conference. The top three teams from each conference earn a bid to the Region XII Tournament. The Lakers have punched their ticket to the tournament, and are now playing their last four conference games to determine seeding in the tournament.
The Lakers travel to Delta College for a doubleheader on Tuesday, 4/30 and return home for the conference season finale with Grand Rapids on Wednesday 5/1. The home game will be played at Shepherd High School, and will also be sophomore day. Both gamedays first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM.