Eaton Rapids vs. Lansing Catholic – – Hall of Fame Softball Classic Quarterfinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 23, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft
In the second game of tonight’s Quarterfinals at the Hall of Fame Softball Classic, the Greyhounds of Eaton Rapids will compete with the Cougars from Lansing Catholic. This game has been delayed for three days because of rainy weather, but it looks like the weather gods will show mercy and allow tonight’s game to be played.
The weather gods smiled on us and allowed tonight’s first game between Perry and Williamston to be played. Here is the play by play of that game.
The teams flipped a coin to determine who would be “home” and bat last. Eaton Rapids won the toss and will 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
Zoey Gruber p
Sydney Convey rf
Natalie Young 2b
Katy Howard 1b
Ava Garcia lf
EATON RAPIDS
Abi Pratt ss
Maddy Putnam cf
Ari Brooks p
Riley Cutler 1b
Mallory Smith c
Kalli Ordiway lf
Brooke DePeel 3b
Danika Finch dp
Taylor Orta 2b
Cheyenne Drinkwater will play right field, but will not bat.
While we wait for the game to begin, I hope you will enjoy this video of “America the Beautiful” from my You Tube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PjBoaLFVMU&list=PLSir_FEyxp2cICQCJwNPltnMXYnrT9yhM&index=2
It is now time to record the events of this game through the somewhat clear eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to get much of a start to a baseball or softball career. It seems that they expect every batter to occasionally make his bat collide with balls that are generally pitched faster than the speed of light. (Well, maybe just a BIT slower than that – – – )
Alas, the Bleacher Denizen actually accomplished this only once. Once his coach realized that there would not be much offense coming out of his spot in the lineup, his playing time suffered.
Austynn Arellano singled up the middle to lead off the game for Catholic and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Alyssa LaConte. Avery Dunneback blasted a two run home run over the left field fence. Austynn Arellano also scored on the play.
Taylor Dunneback walked. Zoey Gruber singled to left field and Taylor Dunneback advanced to second base. Ari Brooks retired the next two hitters on fielder’s choice grounders to third base and to the shortstop to end the inning.
Lansing Catholic scored two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Abi Pratt walked to lead off the bottom of the first inning for Eaton Rapids and went to second base when Maddy Putnam walked. Abi Pratt went to third base when Ari Brooks was safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the pitcher. Catholic Pitcher Zoey Gruber threw to second base to retire Maddy Putnam on the play.
Mckenna Smith entered the game as a courtesy runner for Ari Brooks. Abi Pratt scored and Mckenna Smith advanced to second base on an RBI groundout to the shortstop by Riley Cutter. Zoey Gruber struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Eaton Rapids scored one run in the bottom of the first inning to trim the Catholic lead to 2-1.
Ava Garcia walked to lead off the top of the second inning for Catholic. Austynn Arellano singled to the outfield. When an error was made handling the ball, Ava Garcia scored all the way from first base and Austynn Arellano went to second base.
Austynn Arellano went to third base on a groundout to the pitcher by Alyssa LaConte and scored on an RBI groundout to third base by Avery Dunneback. Taylor Dunneback was hit by a pitch. Ari Brooks got the third Cougar out on a bouncer to first base where Taylor Orta came over from second base to tak the throw from Riley Cutler.
Lansing Catholic scored two runs in the top of the second inning to boost its lead to 4-1.
Zoey Gruber retired the Greyhound leadoff batter in the bottom of the second inning on a popup to third base. Catholic Shortstop Alyssa LaConte made a great stop of a bid for a single up the middle by Brooke DePeel and threw her out from her knees. Zoey Gruber struck out the next hitter to end the inning.
In the top of the third inning, Ari Brooks retired the three Cougar batters on two popups to the shortstop and a fly to left field.
In the bottom of the third inning, Zoey Gruber retired the three Greyhound batters on a grounder to the shortstop, a strikeout and a popup to third base.
Eaton Rapids moved some players around defensively before the start of the fourth inning. The big chance is that Kalli Ordiway came in from left field to pitch. Riley Cutler moved to catcher and Mallory Smith to second base. Mae Schutte went in to play first base. Taylor Orta moved to left field. Before the top of the fourth inning was over, Danika Smith took over at second base.
Ava Garcia grounded a single to left field to lead off the top of the fourth inning for Catholic. Ava Garcia was out at second base and Austynn Arellano safe at first base on a fielder’s choice groundout to the shortstop. Kalli Ordiway retired the next two Cougar hitters on a grounder to second base and a fly to the shortstop.
Zoey Gruber retired the three Greyhound batters in the bottom of the fourth inning on a grounder to second base, a foul fly to third base where Avery Dunneback made an excellent running catch and a strikeout.
After four innings, the Catholic lead remained at 4-1.
Taylor Dunneback singled to center field to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Catholic and took second base on a wild pitch. Zoey Gruber was hit by a pitch. Kalli Ordiway retired the next three Cougar hitters on a strikeout, a fly to third base and another strikeout to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Zoey Gruber retired the first two Eaton Rapids batters on a fly to center field and a popup to the pitcher. Danika Finch singled to left field. Cheyenne Drinkwater came in to run for Danika Finch. Zoey Gruber struck out the next batter for the third out.
Kalli Ordiway retired the first two Cougar hitters in the top of the sixth inning on a strikeout and a foul popup to the catcher. Cheyenne Drinkwater made a valiant diving effort in right field, but just missed a drive by Alyssa LaConte that fell for a triple. Kalli Ordiway retired the next hitter on a line drive to the shortstop to end the inning.
Zoey Gruber retired the first two Greyhound hitters in the bottom of the sixth inning on a fly to second base and a fly to center field where Austynn Arellano made a fine catch running back. Ari Brooks walked. Zoey Gruber struck out the next batter to retire the side.
With six full innings in the books, Catholic continued to hold a 4-1 lead.
Taylor Dunneback walked to lead off the top of the seventh inning for Catholic and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Zoey Gruber walked and Taylor Dunneback stole third base on ball four. Kalli Ordiway got the next Cougar batter out on a popup to the shortstop. Zoey Gruber stole second base.
The next Cougar hitter was out on a grounder to the pitcher; when the runner from third base broke home, Greyhound First Baseman Mae Schutte made an excellent throw to Catcher Riley Cutler to get the runner out and end the inning.
Zoey Gruber retired the Eaton Rapids leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh inning. Kalli Ordiway doubled to left field. Brooke DePeel singled to left field to drive Kalli Ordiway home.
Danika Finch singled to right field and Brooke DePeel advanced to second base. Zoey Gruber got the next Greyhound batter out on a foul bunt to the catcher. Abi Pratt beat out an single to load the bases as Brooke DePeel took third base and Danika Finch went to second. The bases were loaded with two out. Eaton Rapids could possibly tie the game on a single.
Zoey Gruber retired the next batter on a grounder to the pitcher to end the game.
Lansing Catholic won the game 4-2 and will play Perry in Tuesday’s semifinal game. Pitcher Zoey Gruber was named player of the game!
Danika Finch had two singles for Eaton Rapids. Kalli Ordiway had a double. Brooke DePeel had one single and one RBI. Abi Pratt had a single. Riley Cutler had one RBI.
Ari Brooks pitched three innings for the Greyhounds. Kalli Ordiway pitched four shutout innings and struck out three Cougar hitters.
Avery Dunneback had a home run and three RBI for Catholic. Austynn Arellano had two singles. Alyssa LaConte had one triple. Taylor Dunneback, Zoey Gruber and Ava Garcia each had one single.
Zoey Gruber pitched the complete game for Catholic. She gave up two runs and five hits while striking out six batters.