Holt vs. Grand Ledge – – Hall of Fame Softball Classic Quarterfinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 29, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft
Tonight, your Bleacher Denizen is at Ranney Park near Frandor in Lansing to watch as the Holt Rams compete with the Comets from Grand Ledge to see who will play the winner of the other semifinal between Perry and Lansing Catholic to determine who will be this year’s Hall of Fame Softball Classic Title!
Grand Ledge won the opening coin toss and will bat last. Holt will bat first. Here are the starting lineups.
HOLT
Kara Sandberg p
Olivia Root c
Eeva Luoma cf
Marlie Rehm 3b
Sadie Laubenthal ss
Grace Atkinson dp
Paeton Vandlen lf
Lola Knox 1b
Lyannae Hill 2b
Layla Binkley will play right field, but will not bat.
GRAND LEDGE
Gianna Naccarato ss
Kailey Nelson rf
Jade Queen cf
Adyson Fulton 2b
Kaysen Strohaver 3b
Tomia Geter dp
Indya Fitzpatrick lf
Madison Wohlscheid c
Zoe Hart 1b
Shayla Kiser will pitch, but will not bat.
The Bleacher Denizen sang the National Anthem and the game got underway!
It is now time to review the events of this game through the eyes of someone who really did not have much of a baseball or softball career. Your Bleacher Denizen was showing a lot of promise as an outfielder, but everything fell apart when the softball powers that be ruled he was no longer permitted to carry a bushel basket into the outfield to help catch the fly balls.
Kara Sandberg singled to right field to lead off the top of the first inning for Holt. Harper Vandlen entered the game as a courtesy runner for Kara Sandberg. Harper Vandlen advanced to third base and Olivia Root safe at first when an error was made on her sacrifice bunt. Grand Ledge Pitcher Shayla Kiser retired the next Ram hitter on a popup to the catcher.
Olivia Root stole second base. Marlie Rehm pounded a three run homer over the center field fence; she, Harper VAndlen and Olivia Root all scored.
Sadie Laubenthal grounded a single to left field. Shayla Kiser struck out the next Holt batter and got the third out on a grounder to third base where Kaysen Strohaver made a nice backhanded grab before throwing the batter out.
Holt scored three runs in the top of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead.
Holt PItcher Kara Sandberg struck out the Comet leadoff batter in the top of the first inning. Kailey Nelson was hit by a pitch. Grand Ledge’s next hitter was out on a fly to center field. Adyson Fulton walked and Kailey Nelson advanced to second base. Kailey Nelson advanced to third base and Adyson Fulton to second on a wild pitch. Kara Sandberg struck out the next batter for the third out.
Lola Knox singled to left field to lead off the top of the second inning for Holt. Shayla KIser retired the next three Ram hitters on a strikeout, a fly to center field where Jade Queen made a running catch and a grounder to the pitcher.
Tomia Geter was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the second inning and advanced to second base when Indya Fitzpatrick was safe on an infield single. Madison Wohlscheid singled to right field to drive Tomia Geter home. Indya Fitzpatrick advanced to third base. Madison Wohscheid stole second base. Kara Sandberg struck out the next Comet hitter and got the next out on a bouncer to the pitcher where she looked the runner back to third base before throwing to first base to prevent Grand Ledge from scoring a run.
Kailey Nelson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jade Queen walked to force Indya Fitzpatrick home. Kailey Nelson advanced to second base and Madison Wohlscheid to third. Madison Wohlscheid scored on a wild pitch as Kailey Nelson went to third base and Jade Queen to second. Adyson Fulton singled to center field to drive Kailey Nelson and Jade Queen home. Adyson Fulton advanced to second base on the throw home. Kara Sandberg struck out the next Comet hitter to end the inning.
Grand Ledge scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 5-3 lead.
Eeva Luoma led off the top of the third inning for Holt with a grounded single to center field and took second base on a wild pitch. Marlie Rehm lined a single to left field to drive Eeva Luoma home. Marlie Rehm advanced to second base on the throw home. Anna McQueen came in to pinch run for Marlie Rehm
Tomia Geter came in to pitch for Grand Ledge.
Sadie Laubenthal walked. Anna McQueen was safe at third, Grace Atkinson safe at first and Sadie Laubenthal out at second on a fielder’s choice grounder to second base. Grace Atkinson advanced to second base on a wild pitch as Anna McQueen held at third base. Tomia Geter got the next Ram hitter out on a fly to second base. Grand Ledge Catcher Madison Wohlscheid rected quickly to keep runners from advancing on a wild pitch. Tomia Geter struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Holt scored one run in the top of the third inning to shave the Grand Ledge lead to 5-4.
Tomia Geter was safe at first base on an error to lead off the bottom of the third inning for Grand Ledge. She advanced to second base when Indya Fitzpatrick was safe at first on a mishandled bunt. Tomia Geter advanced to third base and Indya Fitzpatrick to second base on a wild pitch. Tomia Geter was out at home on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Indya Fitzpatrick advanced to third base and Zoe Hart was safe at first base. Grand Ledge made its third out on a fly to the shortstop.
Tomia Geter retired the three Holt batters in the top of the fourth inning on a strikeout, a fly to center field and a strikeout.
Holt second baseman Lynnae Hill made a great running catch of a fly ball to retired the Comet leadoff batter in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jade Queen belted a double to center field. Kara Sandberg retired the next two Comet hitters on a popup to second base and a fly to left field where Paeton Vandlen ran in to make a great running catch.
With four full innings in the books, Grand Ledge had a 5-4 lead.
Tomia Geter struck out Holt’s leadoff batter in the top of the fifth inning. Marlie Rehm walked. Tomia Geter got the next Ram hitter out on a fly to center field. Grace Atkinson singled to center field and Marlie Rehm advanced to second base. Tomia Geter struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Kara Sandberg retired the Grand Ledge leadoff batter in the bottom of the fifth inning on a grounder to second base that glanced off the pitcher’s glove and got the next hitter out on a grounder to third base. Madison Wohlscheid bounced a single up the middle. Grand Ledge made its third out on a line drive to the shortstop.
Tomia Geter struck out the first two Ram hitters in the top of the sixth inning. Kara Sandberg walked. Harper Vandlen entered the game as a courtesy runner for Kara Sangdberg. Holt made its third out on a fly to right field.
Kara Sandberg struck out all three Grand Ledge hitters in the bottom of the sixth inning.
After six innings, the Grand Ledge lead remained at 5-4.
Tomia Geter struck out HOlt’s leadoff batter in the top of the seventh inning and retired the next hitter on a popup to the shortstop. Sadie Laubenthal walked. Tomia Geter struck out the next Ram batter to end the game.
Grand Ledge won this game by the final score of 5-4. Tomia Geter, who came in to pitch in the third inning and did not permit Holt to score any runs after that was named the player of the game.
Marlie Rehm had a home run, a single and all for of Holt’s RBIs. Kara Sandberg, Eeva Luoma, Grace Atkinson and Lola Knox each had a single.
Kara Sandberg pitched the complete game for Holt and struck out seven batters.
Jade Queen had a double and one RBI for Grand Ledge. Madison Wohlscheid had two singles and onr RBI. Adyson Fulton had one single and two RBI. Indya Fitzpatrick had a single.
Shayla Kiser pitched two innings for Grand Ledge and struck out two batters. Tomia Geter pitched five shutout innings and struck out nine batters.
I also covered the second game of tonight’s semifinals. Here is a link to the game between Perry and Lansing Catholic. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2025/05/28/perry-vs-lansing-catholic-hall-of-fame-softball-classic-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-may-29-2025-by-chuck-krafft/