Lansing Catholic at DeWitt – – First Game of Softball Doubleheader – – The Bleacher Denizen – – April 21, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, the BleacherDenizenMobile was pointed at DeWitt to head to the music studio. It was really easy to go to DeWitt High School after that, so he did. Today, the DeWitt Panthers hosted the Cougars from Lansing Catholic in a softball doubleheader and your Bleacher Denizen was there to take his notes.

While we wait for the game to begin, I hope you will enjoy this ragtime tune from around 1918 with a bit of silly humor inserted! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUieaBvS38w

I got to the game just in time to get the starting lineups. Here they are. Lansing Catholic is the visiting team and will bat first.

LANSING CATHOLIC

Austynn Arellano cf

Avery Dunneback 3b

Taylor Dunneback c

Zoey Gruber p

Alyssa LaConte ss

Katy Howard 1b

Sydney Convey rf

Brooklyn Gorski dp

Leah LaConte 2b

Ava Garcia will play left field, but will not bat.

DEWITT

Ruby Puck ss

Tess Rypstra rf

Ellery Harshman cf

Madeline Torrence 2b

Kiley Zatkin dp

Emily Agnew 3b

Mikayla Kent c

Caroline Chumbley 1b

Mayah Walker lf

Kaydence Ballinger will pitch, but will not bat.

It is now time to look at the results of this game through the occasionally open eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to get his baseball career off to much of a start. He was showing some promise as an outfielder who could steal home runs with leaping catches. However, this all came to an end when the baseball powers that be decreed that I was no longer allowed to bring my Pogo stick into the outfield.

DeWitt Pitcher Kaydence Ballinger retired the first two Cougar hitters in the first inning on flies to center field. DeWitt Center Fielder Ellery Harshman made a nice running backhanded catch on the second one. Taylor Dunneback bounced a single to left field and went to second base when Zoey Gruber drew a walk. Alyssa LaConte lined a single to left field to drive Taylor Dunneback home as Zoey Gruber advanced to third base. Kaydence Ballinger struck out the next Cougar hitter to end the inning.

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

Ruby Puck led off the bottom of the first inning for DeWitt and was safe on an error. She advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Tess Rypstra. She had to hold at second base when Ellery Harshman hit a bloop single to left field. Catholic Pitcher Zoey Gruber got the next two DeWitt hitters out on a foul popup to the catcher and a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.

Sydney Convey singled to left field to lead off the top of the second inning for Catholic and stole second base. Kaydence Ballinger retired the next two Cougar batters on a popup to second base and a fly to the shortstop. Sydney Convey scored on a single to center field by Austynn Arellano. Panther Right Fielder Tess Rypstra made a fine running catch in right field to secure the third Cougar out.

Lansing Catholic scored one run in the top of the second inning to boost its lead to 2-0.

Emily Agnew walked to lead off the bottom of the second inning for DeWitt. Zoey Gruber retired the next two Panther hitters on foul popups to the catcher. DeWitt made its third out on a popped up bunt to the pitcher.

Kaydence Ballinger retired the three Catholic hitters in the top of the third inning on a fly to left field, a fly to center field and another fly to left field.

Zoey Gruber got the DeWitt leadoff hitter in the bottom of the third inning on a fly to center field. Tess Rypstra lined a single up the middle and scored on a double to left field by Ellery Harshman. Ellery Harshman moved up to third base on a single by Madeline Torrence. Tess Rypstra scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Kiley Zatkin. Emily Agnew drew a walk and Madeline Torrence advanced to second base. Cougar Shortstop Alyssa LaConte made a great running catch of a drive to short left field to rob Mikayla Kent of a single and probably RBI for the third out.

DeWitt scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game at 2-2.

Kaydence Ballinger retired the Catholic leadoff hitter in the top of the fourth inning on a fly to left field. Sydney Convey singled to left field. Brooklyn Gorski and then Leah LaConte each beat out bunt singles to load the bases. Kaydence Ballinger struck out the next Cougar batter. Avery Dunneback lined a double off the third baseman’s glove to drive Sydney Convey and Brooklyn Gorski home as Leah LaConte advanced to third base.

Taylor Dunneback doubled down the left field line to drive Leah LaConte and Avery Dunneback home. Zoey Gruber doubled out to the left field warning track to drive Taylor Dunneback home. Zoey Gruber scored when Alyssa LaConte was safe at first on an error. Kaydence Ballinger got the next Catholic hitter to pop up to second base to end the inning.

Lansing Catholic scored six runs in the top of the fourth inning to take an 8-2 lead.

Caroline Chumbley and Mayah Walker walked to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning for DeWitt. Caroline Chumbley went to third base and Mayah Walker to second on a bloop single to right field by Ruby Puck. Zoey Gruber retired the next Panther batter on a fly to center field. Zoey Gruber alertly covered home to make sure that DeWitt could not score on a wild pitch.

Caroline Chumbley scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Ellery Harshman and Mayah Walker advanced to third base. Ruby Puck stole second base. Zoey Walker retired the next Panther batter on a fly to second base.

DeWitt scored one runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to trim the Catholic lead to 8-3.

Kaydence Ballinger retired the Catholic leadoff hitter in the top of the fifth inning on a prouder to shortstop. Brooklyn Gorski singled to left field. Kaydence Ballinger retired the next two hitters on a fly to the shortstop and a fielders’ choice grounder to the shortstop.

Kiley Zatkin singled to center field to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning for DeWitt. London Montgomery pinch ran for Kiley Zatkin. London Montgomery went to second base on a wild pitch and took third base on a sacrifice bunt by Emily Agnew. London Montgomery was out at home on a fielder’s choice grounder to third base by Mikayla Kent. When Lansing Catholic made two throwing errors after the out at home, Mikayla Kent circled the bases to score.

Caroline Chumbley grounded a single up the middle and went to second base when Mayah Walker beat out an infield single. Joey Gruber got the next Panther hitter to fly out to right field to end the inning.

DeWitt scored one run in the bottom of the fifth inning to shave the Lansing Catholic lead to 8-4.

Kaydence Ballinger retired the first two Catholic hitters in the top of the sixth inning on a fly to center field and a popup to first base. Zoey Gruber doubled to deep left field. Alyssa LaConte lined a single to right field to drive Zoey Gruber home. She advanced to second base when Katy Howard lined a single to left field. Catholic made its third out on a fielder’s choice grounder to third base.

Catholic scored one run in the top of the sixth inning to stretch its lead to 9-4.

Tess Rypstra blasted a triple to the right field warning track to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning for DeWitt. Ellery Harshman walked. Tess Rypstra scored and Ellery Harshman advanced to second base on a single to left field by Madeline Torrence. Ellery Harshman was safe at third base and Madeline Torrence out at second base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop by Kiley Zatkin. Ellery Harshman scored and Kiley Zatkin advanced to second base when Emily Agnew beat out an infield single.

Catholic Center fielder made a great running catch of a drive by Mikayla Kent for the second out of the inning. Catholic made its third out when DeWitt Shortstop Ruby Puck made a great play on a deflected grounder to throw the runner out at first base.

DeWitt scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Lansing Catholic lead to 9-6.

Kaydence Ballinger struck out Catholic’s leadoff batter in the top of the seventh inning and got the second out on a fly to the shortstop. Austynn Arellano lined a single to left field and stole second base. Avery Dunneback doubled down the left field line to drive Austynn Arellano home. Taylor Dunneback doubled down the left field line to drive Avery Dunneback home. Kaydence Ballinger got the final out of the inning on a fly to center field.

Lansing Catholic scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to extend its lead to 11-6.

Mayah Walker singled to left field to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning for DeWitt. Mayah Walker advanced to second base when Ruby Puck lined a single to center field. Mayah Walker advanced to third base and Ruby Puch to second base on a groundout to third base by Tess Rypstra. Ellery Harshman doubled to left field to drive Mayah Walker home. Ruby Puck held at third base.

Zoey Gruber struck out the next Panther batter. Kiley Zatkin lined a single to left field to drive Ruby Puck and Ellery Harshman home. Zoey Gruber struck out the next Panther batter to end the game.

DeWitt scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut Catholic’s lead 11-9, but it was not quite enough as Lansing Catholic won the game.

Ellery Harshman had two doubles, one single and three RBI for DeWitt. Kiley Zatkin had two singles and three RBI. Madeline Torrence had two singles and one RBI. Tess Rypstra had a triple and a single. Ruby Puck and Mayah Walker each had two singles. Caroline Chumbley had one single.

Kaydence Ballinger pitched the complete game for DeWitt.

Taylor Dunneback had two doubles, one single and three RBI for Lansing Catholic. Avery Dunneback had two doubles and three RBI. Zoey Gruber had a double, a single and one RBI. Alyssa LaConte had two singles and two RBI. Austynn Arellano had two singles and one RBI. Sydney Convey and Brooklyn Gorski each had two singles. Katy Howard and Leah LaConte each had one single.

Zoey Gruber pitched the complete game for Lansing Catholic.

I also covered the second game of this doubleheader. Here is the link to the second game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2026/04/22/lansing-catholic-at-dewitt-second-game-of-softball-doubleheader-the-bleacher-denizen-april-21-2026-by-chuck-krafft/