North vs. South – – Hall of Fame Senior Softball All Star Game – – The Bleacher Denizen – – June 22, 2022 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame is hosting two Softball All Star Games. In this one, the North All Stars will compete with the South All Stars.

While we are waiting for the game to start, let’s listen to some 1940’s Boogie Woogie from my Chuck Krafft You Tube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1MxOus8t44

The rules state that everyone is in the batting order. Players will frequently change positions during the game, so I will not track that. Here are the lineups.

NORTH:

Brooke Kramer, Pewamo-Westphalia

Corina Hernandez, DeWitt

Hannah Grewe, DeWitt

Carli Huhn, Pewamo-Westphalia

Ally Estrada, Bath

Claire Benham, Lakewood

Sunny Pochert, DeWitt

Jenna Pung, Pewamo-Westphalia

Kaitlyn Lawver, DeWitt

Heather Schmidt, DeWitt

Lauren Martin, Pewamo-Westphalia

Halie Myers, Pewamo-Westphalia

Sophia Westphal, Bath

SOUTH:

McKenzie Noble, Stockbridge

Olivia Winans, Perry

Kelsey St. John, Dansville

Madison Bunkoske, Howell

Ella Klockner, Perry

Madison Bensinger, Fulton

Ava Mottin, Williamston

Kate Borgstrom, East Lansing

Joslynn Caskey, Stockbridge

Alyssa Lambert, Fulton

Emily Knox, Okemos

Ava Johnson, Williamston

Erin Sherwood, Dansville

Rain Thanish, Perry

Abi Beem, Morrice

Bob Every introduced the players. Brett Kaschinske, from the City of Lansing Parks and Recreation delivered some inspiring words including asking the players to stay involved with softball as they go into their adult lives.

Your Bleacher Denizen sang the National Anthem and Bob Every said some final words.

The South will bat first and North is the visiting team.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the semi-observant eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen whose baseball and softball careers were ruined when the powers that be refused to allow him to use a medieval catapult to get his throws from the outfield to the infield.

Lauren Martin will open on the mound for the North.

McKenzie Noble doubled to left field to lead off the first inning. Olivia Winans followed by belting a home run over the centerfield fence. Lauren Martin retired the next two hitters on a bouncer to third base and a popup to second base. Ella Klockner singled up the middle. Madison Bensinger singled to left field; Madison Bensinger advanced to third base. Ava Mottin singled to right field to drive in Ella Klockner. When an error was made on the play, Madison Bensinger scored and Ava Mottin took second on the play. Lauren Martin struck out the next South batter to end the inning.

South scored four runs in the top of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead.

Erin Sherwood will pitch for South.

Brooke Kramer singled to lead off the bottom of the first inning for North. Olivia Winans was safe at first and Brooke Kramer out at second on a fielder’s choice grounder to the pitcher. Olivia Winans advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Olivia Winans stole third base. Hannah Grewe pounded a home run over the right field fence; Olivia Winans also scored.

Carli Huhn doubled to left field. Ally Estrada blooped a double to left field; Carli Huhn advanced to third base. Erin Sherwood retired the next batter on a fly to the shortstop. Erin Sherwood struck out the nexxt batter to end the inning.

South scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning to trim the North lead to 4-2.

Lauren Martin retired the first two South batters in the top of the second inning on a bouncer to the pitcher and a grounder to the shortstop. Emily Knox walked and Ava Johnson followed by belting a home run over the right field fence for two runs.

South scored two runs in the top of the second inning to boost its lead to 6-2.

Erin Sherwood retired the first two North second inning batters on a grounder to the third base and a grounder to the pitcher. Heather Schmidt walked and stole second base. Lauren Marten pounded a home run over the center field fence as she and Heather Schmidt scored. Erin Sherwood struck out the next batter to end the inning.

North scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning to trim the North lead to 6-4.

Rain Thanish led off the top of the third inning for South with a double to right field. Abi Beam walked as Rain Thanish stole third base. McKenzie Noble singled to drive Rain Thanish home as Abi Beem went to third base. Olivia Winans singled to right field to drive in Abi Beem as McKenzie Noble went to third base. Every one was safe on a fielder’s choice grounder by Kelsey St. John. McKenzie Noble scored and Olivia Winans took second base. The next batter grounded to the third baseman for a double play. Kelsey St. John was safe at second as the runners were out at first and third base.

Ella Klockner clubbed a two run homer to drive in herself and Kelsey St. John. The next hitter was out on a grounder to third base to end the inning.

South scored five runs in the top of the third inning to extend its lead to 11-4.

Ava Johnson came in to pitch for South.

Sophia Westphal walked to lead off the bottom of the third inning for North. She was out at second and Brooke Kramer safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Brooke Kramer advanced to third base on a double to center field by Corina Hernandez. Brooke Kramer scored and Corina Hernandez went to third on a wild pitch. Hannah Grewe walked.

Ava Johnson struck out the next North batter. Ally Estrada’s bid for a home run fell a few feet short into the left fielder’s glove to end the inning.

North scored one run in the bottom of the the third inning. After three full innings, South led north 11-5.

Sophia Westphal came in to pitch for North.

Ava Mottin was hit by a pitch to start out the bottom of the fourth inning for South. Lauren Martin came in to pinch run and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Kate Borgstrom walked. Lauren Martin went to third on a wild pitch on ball four. Kate Borgstrom stole second base. Joslynn Caskey drilled a single to right field to drive in Lauren Martin and Kate Borgstrom. Alyssa Lambert pounded a two run homer as she and Joslynn Caskey scored.

The next South batter was out on a grounder to the pitcher. Sophia Westphal got the final two outs on a strikeout and a grounder to second base.

South scored four runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 15-5 lead.

Ava Johnson struck out the leadoff North batter in the bottom of the fourth inning. Second Baseman Madison Benkoske made a fine play at second base to catch a fly off the bat of Sunny Pochert that looked like it would drop into short right field. Jenna Pung singled to center field and went to second base on a wild pitch. Ava Johnson retired the next North batter on a grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.

Sophia Westphal retired the first two South hitters in the top of the fifth inning on a grounder to second and a grounder to the pitcher. McKenzie Noble singled to center field. Olivia Winans was hit by a pitch and McKenzie Noble advanced to second base. Kelsey St. John hammered a three run home run over the left field fence as she, McKenzie Noble and Olivia Winans all scored.

Madison Bunkoske doubled to center field. Sophia Westphal retired the next batter on a grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.

South scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to extend its lead to 18-5.

Kelsey St. John came in to pitch for South.

Kelsey St. John retired the North leadoff batter in the bottom of the fifth inning on a fly to the shortstop. Lauren Martin beat out a squibbed ball for a single. Lauren Martin took second base on a wild pitch. Lauren Martin took third base on a groundout to second base by Halie Myers. Kelsey St. John struck out the next North batter to end the inning.

Halie Myers came in to pitch for North.

Madison Bensinger walked to lead off the top of the sixth inning for South. Madison Bensinger advanced to second base when Ava Mottin lined a shot off the pitcher’s glove and was thrown out at first base. Halie Myers retired the next two batters on a strikeout and a grounder to the pitcher to end the inning.

Kelsey St. John retired the North sixth inning leadoff batter on a grounder to third base and got the next two batters out on grounders to the shortstop.

After six full innings, North had an 18-5 lead.

Halie Myers retired the first two South hitters in the top of the seventh inning on a foul popup to third base and a grounder to third base. Ava Johnson walked and stole second base. She advanced to third base on a wild pitch.

Emily Knox came in to pitch for South.

Carli Huhn walked to lead off the seventh inning for North. Carli Huhn took second base on a passed ball. Emily Knox retired the next batter on a fly to left field. Claire Benham was hit by a pitch. Sunny Pochert grounded to shortstop. The runner interfered with the shortstop and was called out. Claire Benham was safe at second and Sunny Pochert safe at first.

Jenna Pung was safe at second on an error. Claire Benham scored and Sunny Pochert moved up to third base. Kaitlyn Lawver singled to right field to drive in Sunny Pochert as Jenna Pung took third base. Emily Knox struck out the next hitter to end the inning.

South beat North 18-7!

Lauren Martin had a home run, a single and two RBI for North. Hannah Grewe had a home run and two RBI. Corina Hernandez and Carli Huhn each had a double. Kaitlyn Lawver had a single and an RBI. Ally Estrada and Jenna Pung each had a single.

Olivia Winans had a home run, a single and three RBI for Perry. Ella Klockner had a home run, a single and two RBI. Kelsey St. John had a home run and three RBI. Alyssa Lambert and Ava Johnson each had a home run and two RBI. McKenzie Noble had a double, two singles and one RBI. Rain Thanish and Madison Bunkoske each had a double. Joslynn Caskey had a single and two RBI. Madison Bensinger had a single.

Here is a link to the East/West All-Star game that was played after this one!
https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2022/06/23/east-vs-west-hall-of-fame-senior-softball-all-star-game-the-bleacher-denizen-june-22-2022-by-chuck-krafft/