Fowler vs. Sand Creek – – MHSAA Softball Regional Final – – The Bleacher Denizen – – June 10, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft
It is now time to determine the championship of this softball regional.
Fowler’s Eagles got here by beating Addison in the first game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2023/06/10/addison-vs-fowler-mhsaa-softball-regional-final-the-bleacher-denizen-june-10-2023-by-chuck-krafft/
Sand Creek’s Aggies got here by beating Reading in the second game of the day. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2023/06/11/reading-vs-sand-creek-mhsaa-softball-regional-final-the-bleacher-denizen-june-10-2023-by-chuck-krafft/
While they get the field ready, I hope you will enjoy this Boogie Woogie tune from my You Tube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1MxOus8t44
Fowler won the coin toss and will be the home team. Sand Creek will bat first.
Here are the starting lineups.
SAND CREEK AGGIES:
Claire Pickens 3b
Emma Hildebrand c
Maddie Osburn ss
Tanana Emmendorfer 1b
Elaina Allen dp
Makenna Wheeler p
Lily Hawkins 2b
Carley Allen cf
Ella Pickford lf
Jaden Rendel will play right field, but will not bat.
FOWLER EAGLES:
Avery Koenigsknecht c
Grace Piggott rf
Paige Miller ss
Paisley Hansen 1b
Carly Andros 3b
Bri Halfmann p
Emma Smith dp
Anna Andros lf
Makenna Smith 2b
Chloe Feldpausch will play center field, but will not bat.
It is now time to look at the results of this game through the occasionally observant eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was not a success when he tried to play baseball in the days of yore. Many people criticized his throwing accuracy, but many people were not able to throw well in the baseball armor we wore when we played softball in the medieval times.
Fowler Pitcher Bri Halfmann retired the first two Sand Creek hitters in the top of the first inning on a fly to left field and a strikeout. Maddie Osburn walked and went to second base on a single by Tanana Emmendorfer. Sand Creek made the third out of the inning on a grounder to the shortstop.
Sand Creek Pitcher Makenna Wheeler struck out the Fowler leadoff batter in the bottom of the second inning. Grace Piggott drew a walk. Makenna Wheeler retired the next two Eagle batters on flies to center field to end the inning.
Makenna Wheeler doubled to deep center field to open the top of the second inning for the Aggies and took third base on a groundout to third base by Lily Hawkins. Bri Halfmann retired the next two hitters on a popup to second base and a strikeout to hold Sand Creek scoreless for the inning.
Carly Andros walked to lead off the top of the second inning for Fowler. Bri Halfmann singled to center field and Carly Andros went to second base. Selena Stump came in as a courtesy runner for Bri Halfmann. Emma Smith singled to center field to drive in Carly Andros. Selena Stump used a great slide to get to third base safely on the play. Emma Smith took second base on the throw to third base.
There were two wild pitches and Fowler tried to score on each of them, but both times, Sand Creek Catcher Emma Hildebrand was able to throw the ball to Pitcher Makenna Wheeler in time to tag the runner out. Fowler made the third out of the inning on a fly to left field.
After two full innings, Fowler had a 1-0 lead.
Claire Pickens doubled to deep left field to lead off the two of the third inning for Sand Creek and took third base on a grounder to second base by Emma Hildebrand. Maddie Osburn lined a single to right field to drive Claire Pickens home to tie the game. Tanana Emmendorfer singled to left field and Maddie Osburn went to second base. Maddie Osburn was out at third and Elaina Allen safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortst. Tanana Emmendorfer advanced to second base on the play. Scout Robinson came in to pinch run for Elaina Allen.
Makenna Wheeler singled up the middle to drive in Tanana Emmendorfer. Scout Robinson advanced to third base on the play. Fowler Catcher Avery Koenigsknecht zipped a throw to second base to catch the runner stealing to end the inning.
Sand Creek scored two runs in the top of the third inning to take a 2-1 lead.
Makenna Wheeler struck out Fowler’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the third inning. Avery Koenigsknecht bashed a triple to deep left field. She alertly held at third base as Grace Piggott beat out a bunt single. Grace Piggott stole second base. Avery Koenigsknecht scored to tie the game and Grace Piggott went to third base on an overthrow.
Saige Miller tripled to deep center field to drive in Grace Piggott with the go-ahead run. Paisley Hansen pounded a triple to the left field fence to drive in Saige Miller.
Claire Pickens came in to pitch for Sand Creek. Lily Hawkins moved to third base and Makenna Wheeler moved to second base.
Sand Creek Shortstop Maddie Osburn made a fine catch going back into center field to rob Carly Andros of a hit. Paisley Hansen was able to tag up and score to turn this out into a sacrifice fly. Bri Halfmann was hit by a pitch. Claire Pickens retired the next batter on a grounder to second base to end the inning.
Fowler scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 5-2 lead.
Lily Hawkins singled to center field to open the top of the fourth inning for Sand Creek. Lily Hawkins was out at second and Carley Allen was safe at first on a fielder’s choice grounder to third base. Bri Halfmann retired the next two Aggie hitters on popups to second base to end the inning.
Anna Andros was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning for Fowler. Makenna Smith singled on a chopper up the middle and Anna Andros advanced to second base. Avery Koenigsknecht singled to left field as Anna Andros took third base and Makenna Smith second base. Grace Piggott beat out an infield single to send Anna Andros home as Makenna Smith went to third base and Avery Koenigsknecht to second base.
Saige Miller grounded a single to left field to drive in Makenna Smith and Avery Koenigsknecht. Grace Piggott advanced to second base. After Fowler made its first out on a fly to second base, Grace Piggott took third base and Saige Miller got to second base on a throwing error. Carly Andros singled to center field drive in Grace Piggott and Saige Miller. Chloe Feldpausch pinch ran for Carly Andros.
Bri Halfmann tripled to right field to send Chloe Feldpausch across the plate. Bri Halfmann scored on Emma Smith’s RBI groundout to second base. For the second time this inning, Anna Andros was hit by a pitch. (One can only hope that the bruises are in coordinated places tomorrow morning.) Anna Andros went to third base on a double up the middle by Makenna Smith.
Avery Koenigsknecht beat out an infield single to drive in Anna Andros as Makenna Smith went to third base. Avery Koenigsknecht stole second base. Fowler made its third out of the inning on a popup to third base.
Fowler scored eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 13-2 lead.
Bri Halfmann retired the first two Sand Creek batters in the top of the fifth inning on a grounder to the shortstop and a grounder to third base. Tanana Emmendorfer hit a double and Elaina Allen walked. Bri Halfmann retired the next Aggie hitter on a grounder to shortstop to end the inning.
As Fowler had a 13-2 lead after four and a half innings, the game was ended by the Mercy rule. Fowler will play Mendon in a quarterfinal game at Albion College on Tuesday, May 13.
Tanana Emmendorfer had a double and two singles for Sand Creek. Makenna Wheeler had a double, a single and one RBI. Claire Pickens had a double. Maddie Osburn had a single and one RBI. Lily Hawkins added a single.
Avery Koenigsknecht had a triple, two singles and one RBI for Fowler. Bri Halfmann had a single, a triple and one RBI. Makenna Smith had a double and a single. Grace Piggott had two singles and three RBI. Paige Miller and Paisley Hansen each had a triple and one RBI. Carly Andros had a single and three RBI. Emma Smith had a single and one RBI. Anna Andros was hit by two pitches in the decisive fourth inning and scored two runs.
Bri Halfmann pitched the complete five inning game and allowed only two runs on eight hits while striking out two Sand Creek batters.