Lansing Catholic vs. Grand Ledge – – Hall of Fame Softball Classic Final – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 22, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft
Tonight, for the fourth night in a row, the BleacherDenizenMobile is pointed at Ranney Park near the Frandor Shopping Center in Lansing. The Hall of Fame Softball Classic has been played the last four days. The Cougars from Lansing Catholic and the Comets from Grand Ledge have emerged as finalists. Tonight we will determine the Champion of the 45th Annual Hall of Fame Softball Classic.
Lansing Catholic reached the semifinal by defeating Fowler and DeWitt. Here are those play by play articles.
Grand Ledge reached the semifinal by beating Eaton Rapids and Laingsburg.
As we wait for this game to begin, I hope you will enjoy this cover video of “God Bless the USA” from my You Tube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ePjJiWG5OY
Here are the starting lineups. Grand Ledge 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.
GRAND LEDGE
Indya Fitzpatrick 3b
Kailey Nelson rf
Jade Queen cf
Amelia Bernard c
Tomia Geter p
Abigail Fiero 1b
Bella Perez lf
Hailey Pitsch dp
Addison McLean ss
Addison Navin will play second base, but will not bat.
As this was the final, there was a ceremonial first pitch after I sang the National Anthem. Mae Mae Bourne, a pitcher for the Crown Softball Club, threw out the first pitch and did a fine job. After that, Emily Bourne introduced Bob Every, who made some opening remarks and thanked the people and teams for being here.
It is now time to review the events of this game through the lenses of an occasionally observant Bleacher Denizen who never got off to much of a start with his softball career. However, I still hear from umpires and opposing catchers who will always treasure the memory of the cooling breezes that wafted from my flailing bat as I attempted to hit softballs. At one time, an electric fan manufacturer actually contacted me to endorse their product. (Well, maybe not, but the fable seemed to work in the moment.)
Grand Ledge Tomia Jeter struck out the Lansing Catholic leadoff batter in the top of the first inning. Avery Dunneback walked. Avery Dunneback advanced to second base when Taylor Dunneback beat out an infield single. Joey Gruber singled to left field. Avery Dunneback scored and Taylor Dunneback advanced to second base. Taylor Dunneback came around to score when Alyssa LaConte was safe on a fielder’s choice groundout to second base. Zoey Gruber was out at second base. Tomia Geter struck out the next Cougar batter to end the inning.
Lansing Catholic scored two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Indya Fitzpatrick doubled to left center field to lead off the top of the first inning for Grand Ledge after she aggressively ran to second base and beat the throw with a nice slide. Indya Fitzpatrick advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Kailey Nelson. Jade Queen blasted a double that hit the right-centerfield fence on one bounce to drive Indya Fitzpatrick home. Catholic Pitcher Zoey Gruber retired the next Grand Ledge batter on a popup to second base.
Jade Queen advanced to third base when Tomia Geter was safe at first base on an error. Zoey Gruber struck out the next Comet hitter to end the inning.
Grand Ledge scored one run in the bottom of the first inning to trim the Lansing Catholic lead to 2-1.
Tomia Geter retired the first two Cougar hitters in the top of the second inning on a grounder to third base and a grounder to shortstop. Leah LaConte was safe at first base on an error. Tomia Geter retired the next batter on a line drive to second base to end the inning.
Bella Perez walked to lead off the bottom of the second inning for the Comets and went to second base when Hailey Pitsch walked. Zoey Gruber retired the next hitter on a fly to center field. Bella Perez advanced to third base when Indya Fitzpatrick hit a fly to deep center field and Austynn Aurellano made a great running catch. Hailey Nelson singled to center field to drive Bella Perez home; Hailey Pitsch advanced to second base. Zoey Gruber retired the next Comet hitter on a fly to left field to end the inning.
Grand Ledge scored one run in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game at 2-2.
Avery Dunneback led off the top of the third inning for Catholic with a double that hit the left-center field fence on one bounce. Avery Dunneback took third base on a wild pitch. Taylor Dunneback rifled a single to center field to drive Avery Dunneback home with the tie-breaking run. Taylor Dunneback advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Zoe Gruber was safe on an infield single when Comet Third Baseman Indya Fitzpatrick made a diving stop, but was not able to throw her out.
Tomia Geter retired the next Cougar hitter on a fly to right field. The next Cougar batter was out on a fly to center field. When an errant throw went into the dugout, Taylor Dunneback scored and Zoey Gruber was placed on third base. Tomia Geter got the next batter out on a popup to the pitcher to end the inning.
Lansing Catholic scored two runs in the top of the third inning to retake the lead at 4-2..
Amelia Bernard walked to lead off the bottom of the third inning for Grand Ledge. Tula Taszreak entered the game as a courtesy runner for Amelia Bernard. Tomia Geter walked and Tule Taszreak went to second base. Tula Taszreak went to third base and Tomia Geter to second on a sacrifice bunt by Abigail Fiero.
Zoey Gruber struck out the next Comet batter. Hailey Pitsch singled to left field to drive Tule Taszreak home as Tomia Geter advanced to second base. Grand Ledge made its third out on a groundout to second base.
Grand Ledge scored one run in the bottom of the third inning trim the Catholic lead to 4-3.
Tomia Geter retired the leadoff Cougar batter in the top of the fourth inning on a popup to second base. Leah LaConte was hit by a pitch. Zoey Ramirez entered the game as a pitch runner for Leah LaConte. Zoey Ramirez was safe at second base and Austynn Arellano safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the pitcher. Avery Dunneback slammed a home run over the left field fence; she, Zoey Ramirez and Austynne Arellano all scored.
Taylor Dunneback singled to left field. Zoey Gruber singled to left field and Taylor Dunneback moved up to second base. Alyssa LaConte walked to load the bases. Tomia Geter retired the next two Cougar hitters on a soft fly to the pitcher and a fielder’s choice grounder to third base to end the inning.
Lansing Catholic scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning to boost its lead to 7-3.
Zoey Gruber retired the three Grand Ledge batters in the bottom of the fourth inning on a grounder to second base, a fly to left field and a grounder to the shortstop.
Tomia Geter retired the three Catholic hitters in the top of the fifth inning on a grounder to the pitcher, a strikeout and a grounder to the shortstop.
Amelia Bernard singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning for Grand Ledge. Tula Taszreak entered the game as a courtesy runner for Amelia Bernard. Tomia Geter singled up the middle and Tula Taszreak advanced to second base. Abigail Fiero walked; Tula Taszreak advanced to third base and Tomia Geter to second. The runner on second base hit the shortstop as she tried to field a grounder by Bella Perez. She was called out. Tula Taszreak remained at third base, Abigail went to second base and Bella Perez was safe at first.
Hailey Pitsch grounded a sharp single to left field. Tula Taszreak scored. Catholic Left Fielder Ava Garcia made a fine throw home to catch the runner trying to score from second base. Bella Perez ended up at third base and Hailey Pitsch ended up at first base. An interesting play happened when the next batter, Addison McLean hit a soft fly that landed between the pitcher’s circle and first base, but it had a spin and rolled foul.
Addison McLean followed that up with a single past the shortstop that drove Bella Perez home. Hailey Pitsch advanced to second base. Zoey Gruber retired the next Comet hitter on a fly to third base.
Grand Ledge scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the Catholic lead to 7-5.
Avery Dunneback walked to lead off the top of the sixth inning for the Cougars and stole second base. Tomia Geter struck out the next two Cougar hitters. Alyssa LaConte drew a walk. Comet Shortstop Addison McLean made a fine catch of a soft fly behind second base to record the third Cougar out.
Zoey Gruber retired the Comet leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth inning on a fly to right field. Jade Queen roped a home run over the center field fence. (Thanks to St. Johns player Cameron Parker, who suggested “roped” as the verb!) Amelia Bernard walked. Tula Taszreak entered the game as a courtesy runner for Amelia Bernard. Tomia Geter walked and Tula Taszreak advanced to second base. Zoey Gruber struck out the next two Comet hitters to end the inning.
Grand Ledge scored one run in the bottom of the sixth inning to bring the Catholic lead down to one run at 7-6.
Grand Ledge Catcher Amelia Bernard made an excellent catch of a foul popup near the stands to record the first Lansing Catholic out of the top of the seventh inning. Tomia Geter struck out the next batter and got the third Cougar out on a fly to second base to end the inning.
Hailey Pitsch singled down the left field line to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning for Grand Ledge. Addison Navin went in to run for Hailey Pitsch and took second base on a sacrifice bunt by Addison McLean. Zoey Gruber struck out the next Comet batter. Hailey Nelson walked to put two runners on base with two out and Grand Ledge trailing by one run in the final inning.
Catholic Catcher Taylor Dunneback made an excellent stop to prevent a wild pitch that would have allowed the runners to advance. Austynne Arellano made an excellent running catch of a drive by Jade Queen to end this exciting game and prevent Grand Ledge from scoring the tying run.
Lansing Catholic won this game and the Hall of Fame Classic Title by the final score of 7-6.
Jade Queen had a home run, a double and two RBI for Grand Ledge. Hailey Pitsch had three singles and two RBI. Indya Fitzpatrick had one double. Kailey Nelson and Addison McLean each had one single and one RBI. Amelia Bernard and Tomia Geter each had one single.
Tomia Geter pitched the complete game for Grand Ledge and struck out five batters.
Avery Dunneback had a home run, a double and three RBI for Lansing Catholic. Zoey Gruber had three singles and one RBI. Taylor Dunneback had two singles and one RBI. Alyssa LaConte had one single.
Zoey Gruber pitched the complete game for Lansing Catholic and struck out five batters.
Avery Dunneback was named player of the game.
Congratulations to the Cougars from Lansing Catholic for winning the Softball Classic Championship!!