Laingsburg vs. Lansing Catholic Central – – Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame Softball Classic Quarterfinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 20, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, the Bleacher Denizen is at Ranney Park near Frandor in Lansing to blog the Softball Classic. This year, he will also be running the scoreboard and doing the announcing (as well as singing the National Anthem) so it will be a busy evening!!!

It’s always fun to come to Ranney Park. Hall of Fame Director Bob Every and his crew do a fantastic job grooming the field and it looks great!! As I’m running the scoreboard for the first time, we overcame some technical difficulties while getting ready for the game. t

Today’s game will feature the Wolfpack from Laingsburg competing against the Cougars from Lansing Catholic. Laingsburg won the coin toss and elected to be the home team. Lansing Catholic will bat first.

Here are the starting lineups.

LANSING CATHOLIC

Austynn Arellano cf

Alyssa LaConte ss

Avery Dunneback 3b

Taylor Dunneback c

Mary Poljan 1b

Natalie Young lf

Addison Charette rf

Katy Howard 2b

Zoey Gruber p

LAINGSBURG

Ashley Bila ss

Savvy Stirm 1b

Bella Latuszek 2b

Addy Buchin p

Peyton Stahr 3b

Ella Merrell cf

Harper Strouse c

Alaina Asher lf

Alayna Merrell rf

It is now time to look through the events of this game through the eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to establish a baseball or softball career in the days of yore when he attempted to play the game. However, opposing catchers and umpires all loved and appreciated the cooling breezes generated by the Bleacher Denizen’s flailing attempts to hit balls.

The Bleacher Denizen introduced the players and sang the National Anthem. It was then time for the first quarterfinal game of the night to start!!

Austynn Arellano was safe on an error to lead off the top of the first inning for Lansing Catholic. She advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Alyssa LaConte and scored on an RBI single to center field by Avery Dunneback. Addy Buchin retired the next two Cougar hitters on a fly to center field where Ella Merrell made a fine running catch and a groundout to shortstop.

Lansing Catholic scored one run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.

Ashley Bila lined a single to right field to lead off the bottom of the first inning for Laingsburg and stole second base. Savvy Stirm singled to drive her home. Catholic Catcher Taylor Dunneback fired the ball to second base to catch the runner stealing. Catholic PItcher Zoey Gruber retired the next two Wolfpack batters on a grounder to first base and a grounder to the pitcher to end the inning.

Laingsburg scored one run in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 1-1.

Natalie Young singled to center field to lead off the top of the second inning for Catholic. Addy Buchin struck out the next two Cougar hitters. Zoey Gruber singled to center field and Natalie Young advanced to second base. Catholic made its third out on a groundout to second base.

Zoey Gruber retired the three Wolfpack hitters in the bottom of the second inning on a fly to third base, a fly to right field and a strikeout.

Addy Buchin got the Cougar leadoff batter in the top of the third inning on a grounder to third base. AVery Dunneback lined a single to left field and took second base on a throw. Addy Buchin struck out the next Cougar batter and got the third out on a fly to second base.

Zoey Gruber struck out Laingsburg’s first two batters in the bottom of the third inning. Ashley Bila walked. The Wolfpack made their third out on a foul popup to the catcher.

With three innings in the books, the game was tied at 1-1.

Addy Buchin retired the three Cougar hitters in the top of the fourth inning on a foul fly to third base, a grounder to the pitcher and a strikeout.

Bella Latuszek singled to right field to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning for Laingsburg. Zoey Gruber retired the next Wolfpack hitter on a popup to second base. Cougar Center Fielder Austynn Arellano made a great running catch of a drive by Peyton Stahr to record the second Laingsburg out. Ella Merrell singled to left field and Bella Latuszek advanced to second base. Zoey Gruber struck out the next hitter to end the inning.

Zoey Gruber walked to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Catholic. Addy Buchin retired the next three batters on a fly to second base, a fly to third base and a diving catch by Left Fielder Alaina Asher to end the inning.

Zoey Gruber retired the Wolfpack leadoff batter in the bottom of the fifth inning. Alayna Merrell singled to center field and went to third base when Ashley Bila doubled to left field. A series of throwing errors on the play allowed Alayna Merrell and Ashley Bila to score. Zoey Gruber retired the next two hitters on a popup to first base and a grounder to the pitcher to end the inning.

Laingsburg scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead.

Taylor Dunneback hit a home run over the center field fence to lead off the top of the sixth inning for Catholic. Addy Buchin retired the next three hitters on grounders to shortstop, second base and first base to end the inning.

Catholic scored one run in the top of the sixth inning to trim the Laingsburg lead to 3-2.

Addy Buchin lined a single to left field to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning for the Wolfpack. Makenna Johnston entered the game as a courtesy runner for Addy Buchin. Peyton Stahr was safe at first base and Makenna Johnston out at second base on a fielder’s choice bunt to the pitcher. Brooklynn Miller entered the game as a pinch runner. Harper Strouse singled over the shortstop’s head and Brooklynn Miller advanced to second base. The next batter was out on a line drive to second base to end the inning.

Addy Buchin retired the three Catholic hitters in the top of the seventh inning on a grounder to shortstop, a strikeout and another grounder to the shortstop.

Laingsburg won the game 3-2 and will play (weather permitting) in Wednesday’s semifinal game against either Holt or Leslie. Leslie was leading 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning with one out when the game was suspended because of lightning.

Ashley Bila had two hits and scored two runs; she was named the Softball Classic Player of the Game.

Taylor Dunneback had a home run and one RBI for Lansing Catholic. Avery Dunneback had two singles and one RBI. Natalie Young and Zoey Gruber each had a single.

Zoey Gruber pitched an excellent game. She gave up three runs, but only one of these was an earned run. She also scattered eight hits and struck out four batters.

As noted above, Ashley Bila had a double and a single for Laingsburg. Savvy Stirm had a single and one RBI. Bella Latuszek, Addy Buchin, Ella Merrell, Harper Strouse and Alayna Merrell each had a single.

Addy Buchin pitched the entire game for the Wolfpack. She gave up two runs, but only one was an earned run. She gave up five hits and struck out five batters.