DeWitt vs. Leslie – – Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame Softball Classic Final – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 26, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft
Tonight, the DeWitt Panthers and the Leslie Blackhawks will compete for the Hall of Fame Softball Classic title.
DeWitt earned its berth in the finals with these two wins:
Leslie made it to the finals by winning these two games:
While we wait for the game to start, we can enjoy these Good Vibrations from my You Tube Page!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3482fQh0Rdo
I would like to salute the Hall of Fame Director Bob Every and Board Member Jeff Kegler for all they do to make this happen. Bob and Jeff do all the painstaking lawn maintenance and field maintenance necessary to make Ranney Park the beautifully groomed monument to Lansing softball that it is. They also do all the work necessary to schedule the teams for the games and to keep them running during the games. Every year, Jeff lends his dulcet tones to the task of announcing the games and is fantastic!
DeWitt will be the home team and Leslie will bat first.
Here are the starting lineups!
LESLIE BLACKHAWKS:
Gabby Waldofsky cf
Jalen Fossitt ss
Ada Bradford p
Sarissa Jones 2b
Adrianna Fogg dp
Myah Fletcher c
Kay Adair rf
Ella Bugbee 3b
Payton Boyer lf
Sahara Burley will play first base, but not bat.
DEWITT PANTHERS:
Natalie Donaldson cf
Gabbie Brya 2b
Kyra Shadduck p
Madeline Torrence 3b
Maddie Bekkering c
Lily Utrup lf
Megan Scaccia rf
Rudy Puck ss
Jaydin Jubeck dp
Kennedy Goerge will play first base, but will not bat.
There was a bit of a ceremony before the game. Jeff Kegler introduced all the players on both teams and Bob Every said a few words to explain what is happening tonight and to praise the quality of play in the Hall of Fame Classic. He then introduced Pitcher Morgan Shoemaker and Catcher Katie Howard from Crown Sports Club 14 and Under Travel, who threw out and caught the first pitch.
Let’s look at the events of this game through the occasionally alert eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was not able to make much of a mark in the baseball or softball worlds. It took him way too long that he should not watch blooper films to try to learn how to perform baseball skills. (However, he did manage to learn a comic way to throw to the wrong base will making an effective face to blame the throw receiver for his own error. Unfortunately you need more than that to make the major leagues. Sigh. Who knew????)
Gabby Waldofsky crushed a triple to the left field fence to open the game for the Blackhawks and scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Jalen Fossitt. Ada Bradford drew a walk and was replaced at first base by Courtesy Runner Eliana Terierweiler. Sarissa Jones was safe at first and Eliana Trierweiler advanced to second base on an unsuccessful fielder’s choice grounder. Panther Pitcher Kyra Shadduck struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
Leslie scored one run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.
Blackhawk Pitcher Ada Bradford retired the first two Panther Hitters on a strikeout and a fly to center field. Kyra Shadduck lined a single to left field. Briala Lopez entered the game as a courtesy runner for Kyra Shadduck. Ada Bradford struck out the next hitter to end the inning.
DeWitt Pitcher Kyra Shadduck retired the three Blackhawk batters in the top of the second inning on a bunt to the pitcher, a popup to second base and a grounder to third base.
Maddie Bekkering led off the bottom of the second inning with a double off the center field fence. Eliana Logan entered the game as a courtesy runner for Maddie Bekkering. Blackhawk Pitcher Ada Bradford retired the next three Panther hitters on a popup to first base a bunted fly to third base and a liner to right field.
After two innings, Leslie had a 1-0 lead.
Gabby Waldofsky beat out an infield single to open the top of the third inning for Leslie. Jalen Fossitt was safe at first base when Gabby Waldofsky was out for colliding with a a fielder as she ran to second base. Kyra Shadduck retired the next two Blackhawk hitters on a fly to right field and a grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.
Jaydin Jubeck was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the third inning for the Panthers. Jaydin Jubeck advanced to second base on a grounder to the pitcher by Natalie Donaldson. Jaydin Jubeck took third base on a sacrifice bunt by Gabbie Brya. Jaydin Jubeck scored when Kyra Shadduck beat out an infield single.
Briala Lopez entered the game as a courtesy runner for Kyra Shadduck and advanced to second base when Madeline Torrence singled to center field. Ada Bradford retired the next Panther hitter on a grounder to shortstop to end the inning.
DeWitt scored one run in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game at 1-1.
DeWitt Center fielder Natalie Donaldson made a nice running catch of a drive to center field by Adrianna Fogg to record Leslie’s first out of the top of the fourth inning. Kyra Shadduck retired the next two Blackhawk hitters on a strikeout and a popup to third base to end the inning.
Ada Bradford retired the three DeWitt batters in the bottom of the fourth inning on two strikeouts and a fly to the shortstop.
Kyra Shadduck struck out the first two Leslie batters to open the top of the fifth inning. Panther Center Fielder Natalie Donaldson made a great catch running in to record the third Blackhawk out!
DeWitt made its first out in the bottom of the fifth inning on a popup to first base. Natalie Donaldson beat out an infield single. Ada Bradford struck out the next Panther hitter. DeWitt made its third out when Leslie Third Baseman Ella Bugbee reacted quickly to make a nice grab of a foul fly.
After five full innings, the score remained at 1-1.
Jalen Fossitt blistered a double to the center field fence to lead off the top of the sixth inning for Leslie. Jalen Fossitt advanced to third base on a fly out to deep right field by Ada Bradford. Kyra Shadduck struck out the next Blackhawk batter. Adrianna Fogg lined a single up the middle to drive Jalen Fossitt home with the go-ahead run. Kyra Shadduck retired the next hitter on a grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.
Leslie scored one run in the top of the sixth inning to take a 2-1 lead.
Ada Bradford retired the first two Panther hitters in the bottom of the sixth inning on a strikeout and a groundout to the shortstop. Lily Utrup beat out a single when her fly died in fair territory about ten feet from home plate. Ada Bradford struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Kay Adair led off the top of the seventh inning for Leslie with a double to center field and advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Ella Bugbee. Payton Boyer bunted and was safe at first base when the pitcher elected to hold the runner at third base and did not throw to first base. Gabby Waldofsky singled to left field to drive in Kay Adair as Payton Boyer went to second base.
Jalen Fossitt doubled to center field to drive Payton Boyer home as Gabby Waldofsky advanced to third base. Ada Bradford was intentionally walked and Eliana Trierweiler replaced her at first base as a courtesy runner. Sarissa Jones singled to right field; Gabby Waldofsky and Jalen Fossitt scored as Eliana Trierweiler ran to third base. Adrianna Fogg singled to drive in Eliana Trierweiler. Sarissa Jones moved to second base.
Kyra Shadduck struck out the next Blackhawk batter. Kay Blair lined a single to center field. Sarissa Jones went to third base and Adrianna Fogg to second base. DeWitt Center Fielder Natalie Donaldson got the ball back to the infield quickly to prevent Sarissa Jones from scoring. Kyra Shadduck struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Leslie scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning to extend its lead to 7-1.
Ada Bradford retired DeWitt’s leadoff batter in the top of the seventh inning on a grounder to third base. Jaydin Jubeck singled to center field. Jamie Cook entered the game as a pinch runner for Jaydin Jubeck. Natalie Donaldson doubled to deep center field. Blackhawk Center Fielder Gabby Waldofsky made a fine throw to Second Baseman Sarissa Jones, who relayed the ball to Catcher Myah Fletcher, who tagged out the runner trying to score. Ada Bradford struck out the next Panther hitter to end the game.
Leslie won the game 7-1 and is the Champion of the 2023 Hall of Fame Softball Classic!!
Natalie Donaldson had a single and a double for DeWitt. Kyra Shadduck had two singles and one RBI. Maddie Bekkering contributed a double. Madeline Torrence, Lily Utrup and Jaydin Jubeck each had a single.
Kyra Shadduck pitched the complete game for DeWitt and struck out eight batters.
Gabby Waldofsky had a triple, two singles and one RBI for Leslie. Jalen Fossitt had two doubles and two RBI. Kay Adair had a double and a single. Adrianna Fogg had two singles as well as the game-winning RBI in the sixth inning. She was named player of the game!! Sarissa Jones had two singles and one RBI.
Ada Bradford pitched the complete game and allowed only one run while striking out eight batters.