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Softball’s Season Ends at Region XII Tournament, Finishes Postseason Play 3-2
Posted: May 13, 2024

Softball’s Season Ends at Region XII Tournament, Finishes Postseason Play 3-2

Softball qualified for the Region XII Postseason Tournament. The winner of the double-elimination tournament would earn their bid to the NJCAA National Tournament.

The Lakers began their quest for a national tournament bid with the Jackson College Jets in the first round. Alexis Mielke got the scoring going in the first inning on an RBI single. The next inning, Rylie Shafer cracked a solo homerun over the fence to give the Lakers a 2-0 advantage. The Jets answered with a run in the third, and two runs in the fourth to inch ahead 3-2. Alexis Mielke struck again, this time in the bottom of the sixth. Mielke lined a 2-run homerun over the fence to put the Lakers on top 4-3. The Jets would be held scoreless in the top of the seventh, and the Lakers won game one! Averi Hall had a 2-hit game. Mielke turned in a 3 hit, 3 RBI game, including her go ahead 2-run homerun. Addysen Gray tossed 6 innings, allowing 5 hits and 3 earned runs, earning the round one win. Heidi Nagel came in to close out the game, striking out two batters in her lone inning of work.

The win over the Jets earned them a date with the Hocking Hawks in the second round. The Hawks were the 1-seed from the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC). This game would be a pitcher's duel, with just one run being scored in the first six innings. The Hawks hit a solo homerun in the second inning to go up 1-0. This was the only run scored until the seventh inning, when Janelle Yarnell singled in the tying run. After a scoreless bottom of the seventh inning, the Lakers earned some bonus softball. Averi Hall flew out to drive in Zoey Bacon in the eighth inning, pushing the ladies out in front 2-1. The Hawks answered with a run of their own in the eighth to even things up at 2-2. After a scoreless ninth inning, the Hawks hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth inning. The Lakers fell 3-2 in ten innings. Averi Hall, Grace Piggott, Olyviah Hanson, and Adria Reed all had multi-hit games. Heidi Nagel tossed all 9.2 innings of the ballgame, allowing just 3 earned runs.

The loss dropped the ladies down into the loser's bracket portion of the tournament. This set up a matchup with another OCCAC opponent, the Edison State Chargers. The game started out slow with Edison State scoring a single run in the first inning, and nothing else crossed the plate through the first three innings. The Chargers put up a 6-run inning in the fourth, jumping ahead 7-0. In the fifth inning, with their backs against the wall, the Lakers bats woke up. Gabriella Martinez jumpstarted the offense with a solo homerun. A few batters later, Adria Reed doubled in a pair of runs. The Lakers were inching their way back into the game, down 7-3. Alexis Mielke ripped a double to left field, plating two more runs. Mielke would score later by way of error, and suddenly it was a 7-6 game. They weren't done yet, as Hanson singled back up the middle to center field to tie the game 7-7. A few batters later, Averi Hall singled to left field driving in two more Lakers. After entering the inning trailing 7-0, the Lakers 9-run fifth inning put them out in front! A scoreless sixth and seventh inning for both teams resulted in the Lakers winning the game, staying alive in the tournament! Hall, Mielke, and Martinez each had a 2-hit game. Addysen Gray and Heidi Nagel combined to pitch the game. Nagel came in relief, throwing 3.1 innings of shutout ball.

The win over the Chargers setup a rematch with the Jackson College Jets. This time, the loser's season would end, and the winner's pursuit of a national tournament bid would stay alive. The Lakers got off to a quick start, when Alexis Mielke hit a 3-run homerun in the first inning, putting the Lakers up 3-0. The Jets responded with a run in the second inning, the score was 3-1. Olyviah Hanson got the run back with an RBI groundout to plate the Lakers fourth run. The Jets inched closer in the fourth inning with a 2-run homerun. The score was 4-3 Lakers heading into the bottom of the fourth. After a couple of Jets errors, the Lakers plated three runs. Hanson capped off the scoring in the inning with an RBI single, extending the Lakers lead to 8-3. In the fifth, Averi Hall hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the ninth run for the Lakers. In the sixth inning, the Jets stole a run back, but it wouldn't be enough, as the Lakers would hold on to win 9-4 over the Jets. Hall, Mielke, and Phoenix Shaw each had a 2-hit game. Heidi Nagel pitched all 7 innings, allowing just 2 earned runs while striking out 7 Jets batters.

The win over the Jets setup a rematch with the Hocking Hawks in the final four of the tournament. The winner would advance to championship Saturday to face off with the 4-seed Macomb Monarchs, and the loser's season would come to a close. The Hawks jumped out in front in the first inning, scoring two runs. After a few scoreless innings, Hocking struck again with an RBI double, and Lakers found themselves in a 3-0 hole. Phoenix Shaw stepped up to the dish in the fifth inning, and cleared the bases with a 3-run single. The game was tied up at 3-3. In the bottom half of the inning, the Hawks offense blitzed the Lakers for four runs. They held a 7-3 lead. Another run crossed the plate in the sixth for the Hawks, they held an 8-3 lead. Alexis Mielke singled in a pair of runs in the seventh inning, cutting the deficit to 8-5. That would be the final runs the Lakers scored in the game, and on the season. The Lakers fell to the Hocking Hawks, eliminating them from the Region XII Tournament. Grace Piggott turned in a perfect 4-4 game from the dish, including scoring two runs. Mielke was the other Laker to turn in a multi-hit game. Addysen Gray and Heidi Nagel combined to throw the game for the Lakers on the mound.

The Lakers qualified for the NJCAA Region XII Postseason Tournament for a second consecutive season. After going 0-2 in the tournament in the program's first appearance last season, the ladies went 3-2 in the tournament this season, reaching the semi-final round. The team finished with a 24-20 record on the season, good for a second-place finish in the MCCAA Northern Conference.