DeWitt vs. Lansing Catholic – – Hall of Fame Softball Classic Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 21, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, the Hall of Fame Softball Classic is in its semifinal round and the Panthers from DeWitt will take on the Cougars from Lansing Catholic in the night’s second game. I covered the first game this evening between Laingsburg and Grand Ledge. That play by play is here. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2026/05/21/laingsburg-vs-grand-ledge-hall-of-fame-softball-classic-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-may-22-2026-by-chuck-krafft/

While we wait for this game to begin, I hope you will enjoy this cover of “God Bless the USA” from my You Tube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ePjJiWG5OY

DeWitt got to the semifinal by beating Holt in the quarterfinal. Here is a link to that game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2026/05/19/dewitt-vs-holt-hall-of-fame-softball-classic-quarterfinal-the-bleacher-denizen-may-19-2026-by-chuck-krafft/

Lansing Catholic beat Fowler in the quarterfinal to earn its trip to the semifinal. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2026/05/19/dewitt-vs-holt-hall-of-fame-softball-classic-quarterfinal-the-bleacher-denizen-may-19-2026-by-chuck-krafft/

Here are the starting lineups. DeWitt will be the home team and Lansing Catholic 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

Emily Agnew 3b

Kiley Zatkin dp

Mikayla Kent c

Caroline Chumbley 1b

Mayah Walker lf

Kaydence Ballinger will pitch, but will not bat.

Your Bleacher Denizen sang the National Anthem and it was time for the game to begin.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the occasionally alert eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who never had much of a softball career. He was showing promise as an outfielder who could leap and steal home runs from the opposition. Alas, everything ended abruptly when the softball powers that be ruled that I would no longer be able to use a pogo stick to help with my leaps to catch the ball. When the home runs started to land, the Bleacher Denizen’s playing time came crashing down.

DeWitt Pitcher Kaydence Ballinger retired the Catholic leadoff batter on a foul fly to third base. Avery Dunneback beat out a squib for a single and stole second base. Kaydence Ballinger retired the next Cougar hitter on a foul fly to left field where Mayah Walker made a fine running catch. Zoey Gruber doubled off the center-left field fence to drive Avery Dunneback home. Lansing Catholic made its third out on a grounder to second base.

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

Catholic Pitcher Zoey Gruber retired DeWitt’s leadoff batter in the top of the first inning on a grounder to second base. Tess Rypstra ripped a single to left field. Zoey Gruber struck out the next Panther hitter. Madeline Torrence walked and Tess Rypstra advanced to second base. Emily Agnew walked to load the bases. Kiley Zatkin lined a single to center field to drive Tess Rypstra and Madeline Torrence home. Emily Agnew went to third base.

Mikayla Kent lined a single to right field. Emily Agnew scored and Kiley Zatkin advanced to second base. Zoey Gruber struck out the next Panther hitter to end the inning.

DeWitt scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-1 lead.

Kaydence Ballinger retired the Cougar leadoff batter in the top of the second inning on a popup to the pitcher. Sydney Convey hit a line drive that barely eluded leaping DeWitt Shorstop Ruby Puck for a single to center field. Sydney Convey advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Brooklyn Gorski. Catholic made its third out on a popup to the shortstop.

Zoey Gruber retired the first two DeWitt batters in the top of the third inning on a foul popup to the catcher and a strikeout. Tess Rypstra singled up the middle. Zoey Gruber retired the next Panther hitter on a fly to right field to end the inning.

Kaydence Ballinger retired the first two Cougar batters in the top of the third inning on a fly to second base and a fly to right field where Tess Rypstra made a great tumbling catch. Taylor Dunneback lined a single off the third baseman’s glove and stole second base. Kaydence Ballinger struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Austynn Arellano made a great running catch in center field to retire DeWitt’s first batter in the bottom of the third inning. Emily Agnew singled to right field. Catholic Shortstop Alyssa LaConte made a great running catch of a foul popup for the second Panther out. DeWitt made its third out on a soft line drive to first base.

After three innings, DeWitt continued to hold a 3-1 lead.

Panther Shortstop Ruby Puck made a great play on a slow roller to retire the Cougar leadoff batter in the top of the fourth inning. Kaydence Ballinger retired the next two batters on a popup to third base and a roller to the pitcher to end the inning.

Zoey Gruber retired the first two DeWitt batters in the bottom of the fourth inning on a fly to the shortstop and a bouncer to the pitcher. Ruby Puck singled to right field. Tess Rypstra hit a ground rule double to right field and Ruby Puck had to go back to third base after she apparently scored. Ellery Harshman singled to right field to send both Ruby Puck and Tess Rypstra home. The DeWitt runner was called out for leaving her base early for the third out.

DeWitt scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to push its lead to 5-1.

Brooklyn Gorski led off the top of the fifth inning for Catholic with a grounded single to right field. Brooklyn Gorski advanced to second base on a single up the middle by Leah LaConte. Ruby Puck alertly and cleverly caught the runner standing a foot or so off second base and tagged her out. Leah LaConte advanced to second base on a groundout to the pitcher by Austynn Arellano. Kaydence Ballinger retired the next Cougar hitter on a fly to left field to end the inning.

Zoey Gruber struck out the Panther leadoff batter in the bottom of the fifth inning. Emily Agnew walked. Zoey Gruber retired the next two batters on a fly to third base and a strikeout to end the inning.

Taylor Dunneback doubled down the left field line and scored on a couple errors to lead off the top of the sixth inning for Lansing Catholic. Kaydence Ballinger retired the next two Cougar batters on a popup to the shortstop and a fly to right field. Katy Howard lined a single to left field. Soryn Ellis went in to pinch run for Katy Howard. Sydney Convey singled to left field and Soryn Ellis beat a throw to advance to third base. Kaydence Ballinger retired the next batter on a fly to right field to end the inning.

Catholic scored one run in the top of the sixth inning to trim the DeWitt lead to 5-2.

Zoey Gruber retired the three DeWitt batters in the bottom of the sixth inning on a fly to second base, a strikeout and a fly to center field.

Leah LaConte led off the top of the seventh inning for the Cougars with a single to right field. Austynn Arellano singled to left field. DeWitt Left Fielder Mayah Walker made a great throw to third base to catch the runner trying to advance. Austynn Arellano advanced to second base on the throw to third base. Avery Dunneback blasted a double off the center field fence to drive Austynn Arellano home. Avery Dunneback advanced to third base when she tagged up after Ruby Puck made a fantastic running catch of Taylor Dunneback’s foul fly; she had to lean over the fence to catch the ball.

Zoey Gruber blasted a home run over the fence with two out to tie the game. Kaydence Ballinger struck out the next Cougar batter to end the inning.

Lansing Catholic scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game at 5-5.

Tess Rypstra singled to left field to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning for DeWitt. Tess Rypstra went to second base on a bunt single by Ellery Harshman. Tess Rypstra advanced to third base and Ellery Harshman to second on a sacrifice bunt by Madeline Torrence. Zoey Gruber retired the next two Panther hitters on a strikeout and a grounder to second base to end the inning.

After seven regulation innings the game was tied at 5-5.

The Hall of Fame Classic uses a special tie-breaker in extra innings. The ninth batter is placed on second base and the leadoff batter is up at bat.

Leah LaConte was placed at second base to begin the eighth inning for Catholic. Austynn Arellano walked. Kaydence Ballinger retired the next two Cougar hitters on a fly to center field and a fly to left field. Zoey Gruber lofted a fly that fell between the pitcher, first base and second base for a single. Leah LaConte advanced to third base and Austynn Arellano to second. Alyssa LaConte singled to left field to drive Leah LaConte home. Zoey Gruber advanced to third base and Alyssa LaConte went to second base on the throw home.

Katy Howard walked to load the bases. Zoey Gruber scored and everyone was safe on a fielder’s choice grounder by Sydney Convey. Alyssa LaConte went to third base and Katy Howard to second base. Kaydence Ballinger retired the next Cougar hitter on a grounder to third base to end the inning.

Lansing Catholic scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning to take an 8-5 lead.

Mayah Walker was placed on second base to start out the bottom of the eighth inning for DeWitt. Mayah Walker advanced to third base on a groundout to the pitcher by Ruby Puck. Zoey Gruber retired the next two Panther hitters on a fly to center field and a popup to third base.

Lansing Catholic won this exciting extra inning game 8-5 and will play Grand Ledge in tomorrow’s final game.

Tess Rypstra had a double and three singles for DeWitt. Ellery Harshman had two singles and two RBI. Kiley Zatkin had a single and two RBI. Mikayla Kent had a single and one RBI. Ruby Puck and Emily Agnew each had a single.

Kaydence Ballinger pitched the complete game for DeWitt and struck out two batters.

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

Zoey Gruber pitched the complete game and struck out seven batters. She was also named player of the game.