Grand Ledge vs. Lansing Catholic – – Hall of Fame Softball Classic Final – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 29, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft
Today, your Bleacher Denizen is at Ranney Park near Frandor in Lansing where the Grand Ledge Comets and the Lansing Catholic Cougars will compete for the Hall of Fame Softball Classic Championship in the final game!
Lansing Catholic beat Perry in the semifinal to earn its spot in the championship game. 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/
Grand Ledge beat Holt in its semifinal to earn its place in the final game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2025/05/27/holt-vs-grand-ledge-hall-of-fame-softball-classic-quarterfinal-the-bleacher-denizen-may-29-2025-by-chuck-krafft/
It has been a battle getting these games in as Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were all rain games last week. This week’s final game was supposed to be yesterday (Wednesday) but was rained out. It looks like we will finally get the game in tonight. The clouds are dark, but rain is not falling, so there is hope!!
Here are the starting lineups. Grand Ledge won the coin toss and will be the home team. Lansing Catholic will bat first.
LANSING CATHOLIC
Austynn Arellano cf
Alyssa LaConte ss’
Avery Dunneback 3b
Taylor Dunneback c
Zoey Gruber p
Natalie Young 2b
Sydney Conver rf
Katy Howard 1b
Brooklyn Gorski lf
GRAND LEDGE
Gianna Naccarato ss
Kailey Nelson rf
Jade Queen cf
Adyson Fulton 2b
Kaysen Strohaver 3b
Tomia Geter p
Indya Fitzpatrick lf
Madison Wohlscheid c
Bella Perez dp
Zoe Hart will play first base, but will not bat.
For the final game, there was a ceremonial first pitch. George Parkinson threw a strike to Hub Waite and it was time for the Bleacher Denizen to sing the National Anthem and for the game to begin.
It is now time to review the events of this game through the hopefully alert eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to get his baseball or softball career started. However, dozens of umpires and opposing catchers will always fondly remember me for the cooling breezes I generated with my flailing attempts to come into contact with baseballs and softballs.
Austynn Arellano led off the top of the first inning for Lansing Catholic by bouncing a single to center field. Austynn Arellano advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Grand Ledge Pitcher Tomia Geter struck out the next Catholic hitter. Austin Arellano advanced to third base on a passed ball. The next Cougar batter was out on a soft line drive to the shortstop. Taylor Dunneback lined a single to left field to drive Austynn Arellano home. Tomia Geter got Catholic’s third out on a line drive to the shortstop.
Lansing Catholic scored one run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.
Catholic Pitcher Zoe Gruber struck out the Grand Ledge leadoff hitter in the bottom of the first inning, Kailey Nelson singled. Grand Ledge made its second out on a fly to center field and the third out when Avery Dunneback made a nice back-handed grab at first base and threw to first base to get the batter out.
Comet Pitcher Tomia Geter struck out the first two Cougar hitters in the top of the second inning and got the third out on a fly to center field.
Zoey Gruber retired the three Comet hitters in the bottom of the second inning on two grounders to the shortstop and a strikeout.
Tomia Geter retired the three Catholic hitters in the top of the third inning on a strikeout, and two groundouts to the shortstop.
Zoe Gruber struck out the Grand Ledge leadoff batter in the bottom of the third inning. Bella Perez was safe at first base on an error. Bella Perez was out at second base and Gianna Naccarato safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Zoe Gruber retired the next hitter on a fly to third base to end the inning.
Avery Dunneback grounded a single to left field to lead off the top of the fourth inning for Catholic and went to second base on a wild pitch. She went to third base on another wild pitch and was able to score on the play. Taylor Dunneback walked. Tomia Geter got the next hitter to line out to shortstop Gianna Naccarato, who quickly threw to first base to double off the runner.
Natalie Young blooped a single to left field. Tomia Geter struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Lansing Catholic scored one run in the top of the fourth inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Jade Queen doubled to deep right field to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning for Grand Ledge. Zoey Gruber retired the net Comet hitter on a foul popup to the catcher. Kaysen Strohaver cracked a double to left field to drive Jade Queen home. Tomia Geter walked. Jade Queen scored and Tomia Geter advanced to second base when Indya Fitzpatrick was safe at first base on an error. Madison Wohlscheid singled to left field to drive Kaysen Strohaver home. Indya Fitzpatrick scored and Madison Wohlscheid went to third on an error. Zoey Gruber retired the next two Comet batters on a popup to third base and a popup to the pitcher to end the inning.
Grand Ledge scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 4-2 lead.
Katy Howard singled to led off the top of the fifth inning for Catholic. Talia Franco came in to pinch run for Katy Howard and went to second base when Brooklyn Gorski was hit by a pitch. Austynn Arellano singled to center field. Talia Franco took third base and Brooklyn Gorski went to second base. Catholic had the bases loaded with no one out.
Tomia Geter retired the next Cougar batter on a fly to center field. Talia Franco scored, Brooklyn Gorski was out at third base, and Austynn Arellano went to second base when Avery Dunneback was safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Tomia Geter retired the next Catholic batter on a grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.
Lansing Catholic scored one run in the bottom of the fifth inning to trim the Grand Ledge led to 4-3.
Joey Gruber retired the first two Comet hitters in the bottom of the fifth inning on a fly to center field and a grounder to second base. Adyson Fulton was safe at first base on an error.
Grand Ledge’s Adyson Fulton made a great sliding catch of a fly to second base to get the first Catholic out of the top of the sixth inning. Natalie Young lined a single to center field and took second base on a wild pitch. Tomia Geter struck out the next hitter and got the third Cougar out on a grounder to the shortstop.
Zoe Gruber retired the three Comet batters in the bottom of the sixth inning on a strikeout, a grounder to third base and a bouncer to the pitcher.
After six full innings, the Grand Ledge lead remained at 4-3.
Brooklyn Gorski singled to led off the top of the seventh inning for Lansing Catholic. Brooklyn Gorski went to second base when Austynn Arellano walked. Brooklyn Gorski went to third base and Austynn Arellano to second on a wild pitch. Avery Dunneback walked to load the bases with one out.
Taylor Dunneback walked to force Brooklyn Gorski in with the tying run. Austynn Arellano advanced to third base and Avery Dunneback to second base. Zoey Gruber hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Austynn Arellano scored the go-ahead run Avery Dunneback went to third base and Taylor Dunneback to second base. Tomia Geter retired the next Cougar batter on a foul fly where first baseman Zoe Hart made a great running catch for the third out.
Lansing Catholic scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 5-3 lead.
Zoe Gruber retired the three Grand Ledge hitters in the bottom of the seventh inning on a grounder to third base, a fly to right field and another grounder to third base.
Catholic won this game by the final score of 5-4 and is the 2025 Hall of Fame Softball Classic Champion!!
Zoe Gruber had the game-winning RBI as well as pitching a complete game. She was named “Player of the Game.”
Kayson Strohaver had a double and one RBI for Grand Ledge. Jade Queen had a double. Madison Wohlscheid had a single and one RBI. Kailey Nelson had one single.
Tomia Geter pitched the complete game for Grand Ledge and struck out seven Catholic hitters.
Natalie Young and Austynn Arellano each had two singles for Lansing Catholic. Taylor Dunneback had a single and two RBI. Avery had a single and one RBI. Katy Howard and Brooklyn Gorski each had a single. Zoey Gruber had one RBI and it was the game-winner!
Zoey Gruber pitched the complete game for Lansing Catholic. She gave up four hits and struck out seven batters.