Fowler vs. Bellaire – – MHSAA Softball Quarterfinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – June 9, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, your Bleacher Denizen is at the campus of Central Michigan University to watch as the Fowler Eagles compete with the Bellaire Eagles to see who will play in Friday afternoon’s state semifinal. As both teams have “Eagles” for a nickname, there will probably be the occasionally stilted sentence as I really can’t refer to either team as “the Eagles” without confusing people.

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

There is a long walk from the parking lot to Margo Jonker Softball Stadium where the game will be played. Today, I managed to find a hopefully legal parking sport in what was hopefully Lot 62A. I then meandered through the parking lot and was not able to find the stadium or a sign directing me there.

Did I mention that it was raining as I wandered somewhat aimlessly until I finally found the stadium. Everything including both me and the softball field is wet, wet, wet. Maybe I just change the name of the blog to the “Damp Denizen.”

Here are the starting lineups. Fowler will be the home team and Bellaire will bat first.

BELLAIRE

Grace Campbell ss

Brooklyn Stevens cf

Brooklyn Fischer p

Addy Patton 1b

Abi Yuhaus 3b

Anabelle Regner dp

Averrie Patton c

Abbi Hocking 2b

Rianna Slabosz rf

Makenna Elandt will play left field, but will not bat.

FOWLER

Selena Stump p

Kerigan Pung c

Saige Miller ss

Addy Spicer 3b

Bristol Miller 2b

Molly Schlak lf

Neelah O’Rourke rf

Payton Rademacher dp

Rachel Wirth cf

Ayana Canfield will play first base, but will not bat.

It is now time to review the events of this quarterfinal game through the occasionally alert lenses of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to get much of a baseball or softball career going. Your Bleacher Denizen came up with what he hoped was a creative approach to running the bases. He found that it was not very interesting when everyone else ran the bases counterclockwise with no variation.

He started running clockwise, or to third base first to see what the new experience would be like. He got a lot of resistance from umpires as well as his coaches. Umpires started crassly calling me out when I got half way to third base and claimed that I was “out of the baseline.” The coach started whining about unnecessary outs that in his opinion reduced our teams’ ability to score runs. (I thought he might appreciate the fresh approach!) There was some disagreement between the Bleacher Denizen and his coach. The coach’s ideas won the day and the Bleacher Denizen spent most of the rest of his career watching others play. Alas.

Fowler Pitcher Selena Stump retired the first two Bellaire batters in the top of the first inning on a strikeout and a groundout to second base. Brooklyn Fischer singled up the middle. Bellaire made its third out on a fly to center field to end the inning.

Bellaire Pitcher Brooklyn Fischer retired the three Fowler hitters in the bottom of the first inning on a grounder to shortstop, a grounder to third base and a strikeout.

Abi Yuhaus hit a double off the right field fence to lead off the top of the second inning for Bellaire. Fowler Shortstop Saige Miller field a grounder by Anabelle Regner and threw to third base where Addy Spicer applied the tag to get her out. Anabelle Regner was safe at first base. Selena Stump retired the next Bellaire hitter on a fly to center field. Anabelle Regner went to second base on a wild pitch and scored on a single to center field by Abigail Hocking. Selena Stump struck out the next batter to end the inning.

Bellaire scored one run in the top of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead.

Bellaire Pitcher Brooklyn Fischer retired Fowler’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the second inning on a grounder to the shortstop. Bellaire First Baseman made a great play to catch the throw and prevent an error. Bristol Miller was safe at second base on a throwing error. (The field is wet and it will not be possible to keep the softballs dry.) Molly Schlak walked. Bristol Miller advanced to third base and Molly Schlak to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Neelah O’Rourke. Brooklyn Fischer struck out the next Fowler hitter to end the inning.

Selena Stump retired the first two Bellaire hitters in the top of the third inning on a grounder to second base and a grounder to first base where Ayana Canfield made a great scoop to field the ball and relayed it to Bristol Miller who had alertly ran over to cover first base. Fowler Right Fielder Neelah O’Rourke made a fine running catch to second the third out.

Rachel Wirth lined a single to center field to lead off the bottom of the third inning for Fowler and advanced to second base on a passed ball. Bellaire Right Fielder Rianna Slabosz made an excellent running catch to retire the next hitter. When the throw back to the infield got away, Fowler’s runner on second base tried to advance, but the ball ricocheted right to Third Baseman Abi Yuhaus, who alertly threw to trip her in a rundown; she was eventually tagged out. Brooklyn Fischer retired the next Fowler batter on a fly to second base end the inning.

After three full innings, Bellaire held a 1-0 lead.

Addy Patton led off the top of the fourth inning for Bellaire with a ground rule double that bounced over the right field fence. Addy Patton went to third base on a groundout to third base by Abi Yuhaus. Selena Stump struck out the next hitter and got the third out on a grounder to the pitcher to hold Bellaire scoreless for the inning.

Saige Miller singled to center field to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning for Fowler and stole second base. Brooklyn Fischer retired the next Fowler hitter on a foul popup to the catcher. Saige Miller advanced to third base on a groundout to third base by Bristol Miller. Fowler made its third out on a foul popup to third base.

Selena Stump retired Bellaire’s leadoff batter in the top of the fifth inning on a fly to center field. Fowler Right Fielder Neelah O’Rourke made a great running, diving catch of a foul fly to record the second out. Grace Campbell lined a single to center field. Fowler Left Fielder Molly Schlak made a great diving catch of a drive by Brooklyn Stevens to get the third out.

Brooklyn Fischer struck out all three Fowler hitters in the bottom of the fifth inning.

After five innings, Bellaire continued to hold a 1-0 lead.

Neelah O’Rourke went in to pitch for Fowler and Selena Stump went out to right field.

Brooklyn Fischer doubled out to the right field corner to lead off the top of the third inning for Bellaire. Neelah O’Rourke struck out the next two Bellaire batters and got the third out on a bouncer to third base.

Selena Stump beat out a squib single to lead off the bottom of the sight inning for Fowler. She advanced to second base on a passed ball and took third base on a sacrifice bunt by Kerigan Pung. Saige Miller was intentionally walked. Saige Miller stole second base. Selena Stump scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Addy Spicer. Saige Miller advanced to third base. Bristol Miller saw eleven pitches in her at bat and finally doubled to deep left field to drive Saige Miller home with the go-ahead run. Brooklyn Fischer struck out the next Fowler batter to end the inning.

Fowler scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 2-1 lead.

Neelah O’Rourke retired the three Bellaire batters in the top of the seventh inning on a bouncer to the pitcher, a strikeout and a fly to center field.

Fowler won the quarterfinal by the final score of 2-1 and will play in the softball semifinal at Michigan State University this Friday.

Brooklyn Fischer had a double and a single for Bellaire. Addy Patton and Abi Yuhaus each had one double. Abigail Hocking had a single and one RBI. Grace Campbell had one single.

Brooklyn Fischer pitched the complete game for Bellaire. She gave up just two runs and four hits while striking out six batters.

Bristol Miller had a double and one RBI for Fowler. Selena Stump, Saige Miller and Rachel Wirth each had one single. Addy Spicer had one RBI.

Selena Stump pitched five innings. She gave up one run and six hits while striking out three batters. Neelah O’Rourke pitched two innings. She retired every batter she faced while striking out three batters.