Laingsburg vs. Grand Ledge – – Hall of Fame Softball Classic Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 22, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft

In tonight’s semifinal of the Hall of Fame Softball Classic, the Comets from Grand Ledge will compete with the Wolfpack from Laingsburg to see who will play in Friday’s final game.

While we wait for this game to begin, I hope you will enjoy this ragtime tune written by Irving Berlin from my You Tube Channel with a bit of comedy inserted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUieaBvS38w&list=RDxiTMykexKes&index=2

Grand Ledge won this exciting pitchers’ duel against Eaton Rapids to earn its slot in this semifinal game! https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2026/05/20/eaton-rapids-vs-grand-ledge-hall-of-fame-softball-classic-quarterfinal-the-bleacher-denizen-may-20-2026-by-chuck-krafft/

Laingsburg had a stirring comeback in their game against Fowlerville to earn its place in the semifinal. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2026/05/21/laingsburg-vs-fowlerville-hall-of-fame-softball-classic-quarterfinal-the-bleacher-denizen-may-20-2026-by-chuck-krafft/

Here are the starting lineups. Laingsburg will be the home team and Grand Ledge will bat first.

GRAND LEDGE

Indya Fitzpatrick 3b

Kailey Nelson rf

Jade Queen cf

Amelia Bernard c

Tomia Geter p

Abigail Fiero 1b

Bella Perez lf

Addison McLean ss

Hailey Pitsch dp

Addison Navin will play second base, but will not bat.

LAINGSBURG

Savvy Stirm 1b

Alayna Merrell 2b

Bella Latuszek ss

Harper Strouse c

Peyton Stahr 3b

Skylar Stiff p

JuJu Latuszek dp

Makenna Johnston rf

Addison Westphal cf

Alaina Asher will play left field, but will not bat.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the occasionally alert eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen whose softball career never really got going. He was showing a lot of potential as a fine-fielding outfielder. However, the softball powers that be changed things up quite a bit when they ruled that the Bleacher Denizen was no longer allowed to use a bushel basket to catch balls in the outfield. Unfortunately, when the hits started dropping in, the Bleacher Denizen’s playing time started dropping out.

Laingsburg Pitcher Skylar Stiff retired the first two Grand Ledge hitters in the top of the first inning on a fly to right field and a strikeout. Jade Queen was safe at first base on an error. Amelia Bernard doubled to left field to drive Jade Queen home. Tula Taszreak went in as a courtesy runner for Amelia Bernard. Tomia Geter singled to center field to drive Tula Taszreak hom. Tomia Geter advanced to second base on a throw to the plate. Abigail Fiero singled to left field and Tomia Geter advanced to third base. Skylar Stiff retired the next Comet hitter on a fly to left field to end the inning.

Grand Ledge scored two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. .

Grand Ledge Pitcher Tomia Geter retired the first two Laingsburg hitters in the top of the first inning on a popup to the shortstop and a strikeout. Bella Latuszek walked. Tomia Geter struck out the next Wolfpack batter to end the inning.

Addison McLean singled to right field to lead off the top of the second inning for Grand Ledge and took second base when Hailey Pitsch singled to right field. Addison McLean advanced to third base on a fly out to center field by Indya Fitzpatrick. Skylar Stiff retired the next Comet hitter on a line drive to the shortstop. Skylar Stiff struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Tomia Geter retired the three Laingsburg hitters in the top of the second inning on a strikeout, a grounder to third and another strikeout.

Peyton Stahr went in to pitch for Laingsburg and Skylar Stiff moved to third base.

Peyton Stahr retired the first Comet batter in the top of the third inning on a grounder to third base. Tomia Geter belted a double to right field. Abigail Fiero singled to center field and Tomia Geter advanced to third base. Tomia Geter scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Bella Perez. Peyton Stahr retired the next hitter on a fly to right field to end the inning.

Grand Ledge scored one run in the top of the third inning to take a 3-0 lead.

Tomia Geter struck out the first two Laingsburg hitters in the bottom of the third inning. Tomia Geter struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Peyton Stahr retired the first two Grand Ledge hitters in the top of the fourth inning on a strikeout and a foul popup to first base. Kailey Nelson pounded a home run over the left field fence. Grand Ledge made its third out on a fly to left field.

Grand Ledge scored one run in the top of the fourth inning to boost its lead to 4-0.

Tomia Geter retired the three Wolfpack hitters in the bottom of the fourth inning on a grounder to shortstop, a fly to center field and a strikeout.

Amelia Bernard singled to center field to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Grand Ledge. Tula Taszreak entered the game as a courtesy runner for Amelia Bernard. Tula Taszreak was out at second base and Tomia Geter safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. The next Comet hitter was out on a line drive to Shortstop Bella Latuszek, who fired the ball to first base to double off the runner and end the inning.

Tomia Geter retired the first two Wolfpack batters in the bottom of the fifth inning on a popup to second base and a roller to the pitcher. Jade Queen made a great running catch to take a single away from Makenna Johnston for the third out.

After five full innings, Grand Ledge had a 5-0 lead.

Bella Perez ripped a single down the left field line to lead off the top of the sixth inning for Grand Ledge. She advanced to second base when Addison McLean was safe on an error on her sacrifice bunt. Hailey Pitsch singled to right field to drive in Bella Perez and Addison McLean. Hailey Pitsch went to second base on a throw to the plate. Addison Navin went to second base as a pinch runner for Hailey Pitsch.

Peyton Stahr retired the next three Comet hitters on a fly to left field, a fly to second base and a fly to center field where Addison Westphal made a great running catch of a ball that was curving away from her.

Grand Ledge scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to boost its lead ot 6-0.

Addison Westphal walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning for the Wolfpack. Addison Westphal was out at second base and Savvy Stirm safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to third base. Alayna Merrell singled to left field and Savvy Stirm advanced to second base. Bella Latuszek lined a single to center field to drive Savvy Stirm home as Alayna Merrell advanced to second base. Tomia Geter retired the next two hitters on a fly to right field and a grounder to the pitcher to end the inning.

Laingsburg scored one run in the bottom of the sixth inning to trim the Grand Ledge lead to 6-1.

Amelia Bernard singled to right field to lead off the top of the seventh inning for the Comets. Tula Taszreak went in as a courtesy runner for Amelia Bernard. Tula Taszreak was out at second base and Tomia Geter safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Tomia Geter advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Abigail Fiero singled to center field to drive Tomia Geter home. Abigail Fiero took second base on the throw to the plate.

Bella Perez singled to left field and Abigail Fiero moved up to third base. Addison McLean singled to right field. Abigail Fiero scored and Bella Perez went to second base. Bella Perez went to third base and Addison McLean to second on a groundout to second base by Hailey Pitsch. Grand Ledge made its third out on a fly to center field where Addison Westphal made a fine running catch.

Grand Ledge scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to extend its lead to 8-1.

Grand Ledge Third Baseman Indya Fitzpatrick made an alert grab to snare a hard shot by Skylar Stiff to record the Wolfpack’s first out of the bottom of the seventh inning. Laingsburg made its second out on a bouncer to the pitcher. Comet Right Fielder Hailey Nelson made an excellent running catch of a foul fly to record the third out.

Grand Ledge won the game by the final score of 8-1 and will play the winner of the Lansing Catholic/DeWitt semifinal in tomorrow’s final game.

Bella Latuszek had one single and one RBI for Laingsburg. Savvy Stirm and Alayna Merrell each had one single.

Peyton Stahr pitched five innings for the Wolfpack and struck out one batter. Skylar Stiff pitched two innings and struck out two batters.

Amelia Bernard had a double, two singles and one RBI for Grand Ledge. She was also named player of the game. Abigail Fiero had three singles and one RBI. Hailey Nelson had a home run and one RBI. Tomia Geter had a double, a single and one RBI. Hailey Pitsch had two singles and two RBI. Bella Perez and Addison McLean each had two singles and one RBI.

Tomia Geter pitched the complete game for the Comets. She gave up only one run and three hits while striking out eight batters.

Lansing Catholic played DeWitt in this evening’s other semifinal. Here is the play by play of that exciting game. It went into extra innings!! https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2026/05/22/dewitt-vs-lansing-catholic-hall-of-fame-softball-classic-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-may-21-2026-by-chuck-krafft/