Bath vs. Perry – – First Round MHSAA Softball Regional – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 26, 2026 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, the BleacherDenizenMobile is pointed at Laingsburg High School where the Bees from Bath will compete with the Ramblers of Perry to see who will advance to the semifinal round of the district to be played this weekend.

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

I got to the field in plenty of time to get starting lineups for each team. As this is part of the softball district tournament, they flipped a coin and Perry won the toss. The Ramblers will be the home team and the Bees will bat first. Here are the lineups.

BATH

Haylee Awrey p

Faith Hughes 3b

Lily Wood lf

Carly McCarrick c

Norah Otario ss

Harper Williams 1b

Emma Stott 2b

Grace Naeyart rf

Evelia Solis cf

PERRY

Emma Winans cf

Bella Hamel p

Alivia Davis ss

Ava Positano c

Lila Stockenauer 1b

Jessica Polhemus 3b

Ryleigh Allen 2b

Stella Nosis rf

Mariam Aldosary lf

It is now time to review the events of this game through the occasionally observant eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen whose softball career never really got started. He developed a cost saving program that extended the useful lives of softball gloves by avoiding touching balls that were moving to save wear and tear on the gloves. Players simply needed to wait for the ball to stop rolling in the infield or outfield and they could pick it up without the gloves being scraped up by moving balls.

Coaches started mentioning the other team running around the bases and scoring runs as a few more balls than usual dropped in for hits. When the hits started dropping, alas, so did your Bleacher Denizen’s playing time.

Perry Pitcher Bella Hamel struck out Bath’s leadoff batter in the top of the first inning and retired the next Bee hitter on a fly to left field. Lily Wood drew a walk and went to second base on a single to left field by Carly McCarrick. Lily Wood advanced to third base and Carly McCarrick to second on a throwing error. Brooklyn Cassens entered the game as a courtesy runner for Carly McCarrick.

Lily Wood scored and Brooklyn Cassens advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Norah Otario walked. Bella Hamel struck out the next Bee hitter to end the inning.

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

Emma Winans lined a single to center field to lead off the top of the first inning for Perry. Emma Winans went to second base when Bella Hamel beat out a bunt single. Alivia Davis lined a single to left field; Emma Winans took third base and Bella Hamel went to second.

Bath Pitcher Haylee Awrey struck out the next three batters to keep Perry from scoring even though they had the bases loaded with no one out.

Bella Hamel struck out the first two Bath hitters in the top of the second inning. Evelia Solis singled to enter field and went to second base when Hayley Awrey walked. Faith Hughes walked to load the bases. Bella Hamel struck out the next Bee batter to end the inning.

Haylee Awrey struck out Perry’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the second inning and got the second out on a foul bunt caught in the air at third base. Perry made its third out when its hitter stepped out of the batter’s box.

Carly McCarrick was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the third inning for Bath. Brooklyn Cassens entered the game as a courtesy runner for Carly McCarrick. Bella Hamel struck out the next Bee batter. Brooklyn Cassens stole second base. Bella Hamel retired the next two hitters on a grounder to second base and a fly to center field to end the inning.

Haylee Awrey struck out Perry’s first two hitters in the bottom of the third inning. Alivia Davis propelled a majestic home run over the left field fence. Haylee Awrey retired the next Rambler hitter to end the inning.

Perry scored one run in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game at 1-1.

Bella Hamel retired the three Bath hitters in the top of the fourth inning on a bouncer to the pitcher, a strikeout and a fly to left field.

Lila Stockenauer singled up the middle to lead off the top of the fourth inning for Perry. Ruby Chrysler entered the game to pinch run for Lila Stockenauer. Jessica Polhemus was hit by a pitch and Ruby Chrysler advanced to second base. Haylee Awrey struck out the next two Rambler batters and got the third out on a bouncer to the pitcher to end the inning.

Faith Hughes blasted a double off the center field fence to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Bath. She advanced to third base on a groundout to the shortstop by Lily Wood. Bella Hamel retired the next Bath hitter on a popup to the pitcher. Norah Otario walked for Bath. Ball four was a wild pitch and Faith Hughes scored the go ahead run.

Norah Otario stole second base. Harper Williams walked. Bella Hamel struck out the next Bee hitter to end the inning.

Bath scored one run in the top of the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead.

Emma Winans beat out an infield single to lead off the top of the fifth inning for Perry and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Bella Hamel. Alivia Davis was intentionally walked. Haylee Awrey struck out the next hitter and got the next Rambler batter on a bouncer to the pitcher to end the inning.

Bella Hamel retired the first two Bath hitters in the top of the sixth inning on a bunt to the pitcher and a strikeout. Haylee Awrey doubled into the left field corner. Bath made its next out on a grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.

Jessica Polhemus singled to left field to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning. The next two Rambler batters were out on bunt flies to the pitcher and the third baseman. The next Rambler batter stepped in front of home plate while attempting to bunt and was called out.

Bella Hamel struck out Bath’s leadoff batter to open the top of the seventh inning. Carly McCarrick doubled to deep right field. Brooklyn Cassens entered the game as a courtesy runner for Carly McCarrick. Norah Otario singled to left field and Brooklyn Cassens advanced to third base. Norah Otario stole second base. Harper Williams singled to center field to drive Brooklyn Cassens home as Norah Otario advanced to third base. Harper Williams went to second base on a wild pitch as Norah Otario held at third base.

Emma Stott singled to right field to drive Norah Otario and Harper Williams home. Emma Stott advanced to second base when Grace Naeyart was out on a grounder to second base. Evelia Solis singled to left field and Emma Stott went to third base. Bella Hamel retired the next Bee hitter on a fly to right field to end the inning.

Bath scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to extend its lead to 5-1.

Emma Winans was safe at second base on an error to leadoff the top of the seventh inning for Perry. She advanced to third base on a bunt out to third base by Bella Hamel. Alivia Davis was intentionally walked. Haylee Avery struck out the next Rambler batter. Alivia Davis stole second base. Emma Winans scored and Alivia Davis went to third base on a wild pitch.

Lila Stockenauer singled to center field to drive Alivia Davis home. Ruby Chrysler entered the game as a pinch runner for Alivia Davis. Haylee Awrey retired the next Perry batter on a fly to center field to end the game.

Perry scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Bath won the game by the final score of 5-3 and will play Lansing Catholic in Friday’s semifinal matchup.

Alivia Davis had a home run and a single for Perry with one RBI. (She was also intentionally walked twice.) Lila Stockenauer had two singles and one RBI. Emma Winans had two singles. Bella Hamel and Jessica Polhemus each had one single.

Bella Hamel pitched the complete game for Perry and gave up five runs while scattering nine hits. One of the runs was unearned. She also struck out ten Bath hitters.

Carly McCarrick had a single and a double for Bath. Evelia Solis had two singles. Emma Stott had one single and two RBI. Harper Williams had one single and one RBI. Haylee Awrey and Faith Hughes each had one double. Norah Otario had a single.

Haylee Awrey pitched the complete game for Bath. She gave up three runs and seven hits; only one of the runs was an earned run. She also struck out ten Perry batters.