Ithaca at Millington – – Softball Doubleheader – – Game 1 – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 15, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft

In my You Tube Video of an at least somewhat rollicking version of “Red River Valley” I let my listeners know that you never know where the Red River Valley will lead you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w03AhhNk1M8

Unfortunately, the Red River Valley does not lead to Millington High. However, M-15 gets you pretty close, so your Bleacher Denizen was able to get to Millington to watch as the Cardinals host the Yellowjackets from Ithaca in a Tri-Valley Conference softball doubleheader!

The last time I had the pleasure of watching the Cardinals, they were winning the 2022 State Softball Championship! Here is a report of that exciting game! https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2022/06/18/millington-vs-evart-mhsaa-division-3-softball-final-the-bleacher-denizen-june-18-2022-by-chuck-krafft/

It was a nice day and the drive from Frankenmuth, where I grew up and where I am staying, was a really nice one!

Here are the starting lineups:

ITHACA YELLOWJACKETS:

Kennedi Ryan ss

Ivy Davenport p

Lauryn Humphrey 2b

Megan Mankey cf

Emmalee Shankel c

Madison Carmen 3b

Myah Maurer lf

Faith Fisher rf

Alyssa McPherson 2b

MILLINGTON CARDINALS:

Morgan Matusik p

Kendall Payne cf

Lillia Sherman 1b

Lilly Damm ss

Karlie Sherman c

Kennedy Frahm lf

Leila Damm 3b

Reese Holmes rf

Kamryn Blackmer 2b

It is now time to review the events of this game through the aging eyes of an ancient Bleacher Denizen who will always treasure the memory of the only fair ball he ever hit in little league. (In my defense, I was a right handed batter and the grounder went to the shortstop, so at least for my own purposes, I’ll say I pulled it!!!)

Kennedi Ryan led off the game by beating out a squibber near the catcher for a single. Kennedi Ryan went to second base on a wild pitch. Ivy Davenport grounded a single up the middle to drive in Kennedi Ryan. Hayden Whitmore entered the game as a courtesy runner for Ivy Davenport. Morgan Matusik retired the next batter on a fly to second base.

Megan Mankey singled to right field and Hayden Whitmore advanced to second base. Emmalee Shankel singled to right field; Hayden Whitmore took third base and Megan Mankey second base. Madison Carman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Hayden Whitmore scored; Megan Mankey went to third base and Emmalee Shankel to second.

Cardinal Pitcher Morgan Matusik struck out the next hitter. Cardinal Shortstop Lilly Damm reacted quickly to catch a hot line drive off the bat of Faith Fisher to end the inning.

Ithaca scored two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.

Morgan Matusik hit a bloop single to open the bottom of the first inning for Millington and advanced to second base on a bad throw to the infield. Morgan Matusik advanced to third base on a wild pitch and scored when Kendall Payne lined a single to left field. Kendall Payne went to second base when Lillia Sherman was safe at first base on an error. Ithaca Pitcher Ivy Davenport retired the next batter on a popup to first base.

Karlie Sherman was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Kennedy Frahm was safe at first on a throwing error. Kendall Payne scored on the play. Ithaca Catcher Emmalee Shankel backed up the throw and shoveled the ball to Pitcher Ivy Davenport, who retired the runner trying to score from second base. Karlie Sherman ended up at third base and Kennedy Frahm at second base. Leila Damm walked to load the bases. Ivy Davenport struck out the next batter to end the inning while holding the Cardinals to two runs.

After one full inning, the game was tied at 2-2.

Alyssa McPherson walked to lead off the top of the second inning for the Yellowjackets. Morgan Matusik struck out the next batter. Alyssa McPherson advanced to second base when Ivy Davenport was safe on an error. Morgan Matusik retired the next two hitters on a fly to right field and a grounder to the pitcher to end the inning.

Kamryn Blackmer singled to right field to lead off the bottom of the second inning for the Cardinals. Kamryn Blackmer was out at second base and Morgan Matusik safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Kendall Payne singled and Morgan Matusik went to second base. Lillia Sherman singled to center field; Morgan Matusik scored and Kendall Payne went to third base.

Lilly Damm singled to center field. Kendall Payne scored and Lillia Sherman went to third base. Lilly Damm advanced to second base on a throw to home plate. Karlie Sherman walked to load the bases. Kennedy Frahm was out on a sacrifice fly to center field. Lillia Sherman scored, Lilly Damm advanced to third base and Karlie Sherman went to second base; Lilly Damm scored on an overthrow back to the infield. Ivy Davenport struck out the next Cardinal hitter to retire the side.

Millington scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning to take 2-0 lead.

Morgan Matusik retired the three Ithaca hitters in the third inning on a groundout to the shortstop and two strikeouts.

Hayden Whitmore went out to play left field for Ithaca.

Ivy Davenport started out the bottom of the third inning by striking out Millington’s leadoff batter. Kamryn Blackmer beat out a slow roller for an infield single. Ivy Davenport got the next two Cardinal batters to fly out to right field to end the inning.

Faith Fisher led off the top of the fourth inning for Ithaca with a single up the middle. Alyssa McPherson singled to the center field fence. Cardinal Center Fielder Kendall Payne got the ball back to the infield extremely quickly to hold Faith Fisher at third base and Alyssa McPherson at first base. Alyssa McPherson stole second base. Faith Fisher scored and Alyssa McPherson went to third base on Kennedi Ryan’s RBI groundout to second base. Morgan Matusik retired the next two Yellowjacket hitters on a popup to the pitcher and a strikeout to end the inning.

Ithaca scored one run in the top of the fourth inning to trim the Millington lead to 6-3.

Ivy Davenport retired the Cardinal leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fourth inning on a fly to left field. Lilly Damm singled to left field and advanced to second base on Karlie Sherman’s groundout to the pitcher. Kennedy Frahm singled to left field to drive in Lilly Damm. Leila Damm walked and pushed Kennedy Frahm to second base. Ivy Davenport struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Millington scored one run in the bottom of the fourth inning to extend its lead to 7-3.

Ithaca’s first two hitters in the top of the fifth inning were out on grounders to the shortstop. Madison Carman walked and went to second base when Hayden Whitmore was safe on an error. Morgan Matusik struck out the next Yellowjacket hitter to end the inning.

Ivy Davenport struck out the Cardinal leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fifth inning. Morgan Matusik lined a double off the third baseman’s glove. (It took great, hustling base running to get to second base.) Ivy Davenport retired the next two hitters on a fly to first base and a grounder to second base to end the inning.

Morgan Matusik retired the first two Ithaca batters in the sixth inning on a strikeout and a fly to center field. Ivy Davenport was safe at first base on an error. The next Yellowjacket hitter lined out to second base to end the inning.

Millington’s first two batters in the bottom of the sixth inning were out on a bouncer to first base and a foul fly to right field. Kennedy Frahm rifled a double down the left field line. Ivy Davenport struck out the next batter to end the inning.

After six full innings, the Millington lead remained at 7-3.

Morgan Matusik struck out Ithaca’s leadoff batter to open the seventh inning. Emmalee Shankel drew a walk and advanced to second base on Madison Carman’s groundout to the pitcher. Hayden Whitmore singled to center field to drive in Emmalee Shankel. Morgan Matusik struck out the next Ithaca batter to end the game.

Millington won the first game of this doubleheader by the score of 7-4.

Alyssa McPherson had two singles for Ithaca. Kennedi Ryan, Hayden Whitmore and Ivy Davenport each had a single and one RBI. Megan Mankey, Emmalee Shankel and Faith Fisher each had one single. Madison Carman had one RBI.

Ivy Davenport pitched the complete game for Ithaca and struck out six batters.

Kennedy Frahm had a single, a double and two RBI for Millington. Morgan Matusik had a single and a double. Kendall Payne had two singles and an RBI. Lilly Damm and Kamryn Blackmer each had two singles. Lillia Sherman had a single and one RBI. Karlie Sherman had one RBI.

Morgan Matusik pitched the complete game for Millington and struck out nine batters.

Here is a link to the second game of this doubleheader. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2023/05/16/ithaca-at-millington-softball-doubleheader-game-2-the-bleacher-denizen-may-15-2023-by-chuck-krafft/