Perry at Laingsburg – – Softball – – First Game of Doubleheader – – The Bleacher Denizen – – May 14, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft

Your Bleacher Denizen is steeling himself because he sees that there is going to be a massive collision. Fortunately, (and hopefully) this collision will not involve your Bleacher Denizen as he travels to Laingsburg to see the Wolfpack as they host the Perry Ramblers in softball. This collision involves the top two forces in 2025 CMAC Softball colliding on the Wolfpack softball field.

Each of these teams has a top quality star pitcher. Addy Buchin is the hurler for Laingsburg and Sara Austin will be throwing strikes past hitters for Perry. Addy Buchin recently became the all-time strikeout leader for Laingsburg. Sara Austin pitched this gem against Dansville earlier this week. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2025/05/13/perry-at-dansville-softball-second-game-of-doubleheader-the-bleacher-denizen-may-12-2025-by-chuck-krafft/

While we wait for this game to get going, I hope you will enjoy this video from my You Tube Channel. Thankfully, Addy Buchin, Sara Austin and their teammates are NOT “Too Old to Cut the Mustard” like me in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6GOgZAHqxI

Here are the starting lineups. Laingsburg is the home team. Perry will bat first.

PERRY

Teagen Hallock cf

Sara Austin p

Madison Ralston ss

Alivia Davis 1b

Bella Hamel 3b

Lisa Stockenauer dp

Ava Positano c

Grace Spiess lf

Emma Winans rf

Ryleigh Allen will play second base, but willl not bat.

LAINGSBURG

Savvy Stirm 1b

Alayna Merrell 2b

Bella Latuszek ss

Addy Buchin p

Peyton Stahr 3b

Harper Strouse c

Makenna Johnston rf

Alaina Asher lf

JuJu Latuszek cf

Before the game, Laingsburg honored Jodi McDonald by having her throw out the first pitch!

It is now time to record the events of this game through the occasionally alert eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who will always remember the time he broke up a no hitter. Unfortunately, he was standing in center field at the time and got out from under a fly ball after a teammate called him off the ball. (Your Bleacher Denizen is not blameless as he glared at his teammate; the result was that no one tried to catch the ball and it fell in for the only hit of the game. The pitcher’s father was not impressed and let me know it!)

Laingsburg Pitcher Addy Buchin retired the first two Perry hitters in the top of the first inning on a foul fly to third base and a fly to center field. Madison Ralston doubled down the left field line. Addy Buchin struck out the next Rambler hitter to end the inning.

Perry Pitcher Sara Austin struck out Laingsburg’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the first inning. Alayna Merrell was safe at first base on an error. Sara Austin retired the next two Wolfpack hitters on a fly to left field and a grounder to second base where Ryleigh Allen had to make a great diving stop to get the ball so she could throw the runner out at first base.

Bella Hamel lined a single to left field to lead off the top of the second inning for Perry. Addy Buchin retired the next two Rambler batters on a strikeout and a foul popup to third base. Bella Hamel advanced to second base when Grace Spiess walked and to third when Emma Winans was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Teagen Hallock blasted a double to deep center field to clear the bases as Bella Hamel, Grace Spiess and Emma Winans all scored. Sara Austin grounded a single up the middle to drive Teagen Hallock home. Addy Buchin retired the next Rambler batter on a line drive to third base.

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

Sara Austin retired the three Wolfpack batters in the bottom of the second inning on a fly to center field and two strikeouts.

Alivia Davis walked to lead off the top of the third inning for Perry. Bella Hamel smacked a fly to deep left field that was caught by Alaina Asher for the first out. Addy Buchin struck out the next Rambler batter and got the third out on a bouncer to the pitcher.

Sara Austin struck out the Laingsburg leadoff batter in the bottom of the third inning and got the second out on a grounder to second base. Savvy Stirm stroked a solid single to right center field. Laingsburg made its third out on a grounder to first base.

Addy Buchin retired the three Perry batters in the top of the fourth inning on two strikeouts and a groundout to third base.

Bella Latuszek walked to lead off the top of the fourth inning for Perry and went to second base when Addy Buchin was safe on an error. Sara Austin struck out the next two Wolfpack batters and got the third out on a grounder to the pitcher to hold Laingsburg scoreless for the inning.

With four full innings in the books, Perry’s lead was still at 4-0.

Sara Austin ripped a single down the left field line to open the top of the fifth inning for Perry. Wolfpack Left Fielder made an excellent play to keep the ball from getting past her prevented a double. Addy Buchin retired the next three Rambler hitters on a popup to second base, a fly to right field and a strikeout to keep Perry from scoring.

Sara Austin retired the three Wolfpack hitters in the bottom of the fifth inning on a fly to second base, a grounder to second base and a strikeout.

Addy Buchin struck out the Perry leadoff batter in the top of the sixth inning and got the second out on a popup to first base. Grace Spiess was safe at first base on an error and went to second base when Emma Winans singled to right field. Teagen Hallock grounded a single to left field to drive Grace Spiess home as Emma Winans advanced to third base. Teegan Hallock went to second base a throw to home plate. Sara Austin pounded a double off the center field fence to drive in Emma Winans and Teegan Hallock. Addy Buchin retired the next batter on a fly to center field to end the inning.

Perry scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to stretch its lead to 7-0.

Alayna Merrell led off the bottom of the sixth inning by reaching first base after her third strike was not caught. The next Wolfpack batter was out on a soft fly to the shortstop. Alayna Merrell advanced to second base when Addy Buchin was safe at first base on an error. Sara Austin struck out the next two Wolfpack batters to end the threat.

Addy Buchin retired the Perry leadoff batter in the top of the seventh inning on a fly to center field. Bella Jamel tripled into the left field corner. Addy Buchin retired the next batter on a bouncer to the pitcher. When the runner tried to score from third base, Wolfpack First Baseman Savvy Stirm fired the ball home to get her out and end the inning.

Sara Austin retired the Laingsburg leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh inning on a grounder to second base. Alaina Asher drew a walk. Sara Austin got the next two hitters out on a fly to the pitcher and a fly to center field to end the inning.

Perry won this huge game in the CMAC softball world by the final score of 7-0.

Savvy Stirm had one single for Laingsburg.

Addy Buchin pitched the complete game for the Wolfpack and struck out seven batters.

Teagan Hallock had a double, a single and four RBI for Perry. Sara Austin had a double, a single and three RBI. Bella Hamel had a triple and a single. Madison Ralston had a double. Emma Winans had a single.

Sara Austin pitched the complete game for Perry and struck out nine batters.

The second game was rained out with Perry batting with two outs in the bottom of the third inning. Laingsburg led 3-2. The big hits at this point were an RBI triple by Harper Strouse for Laingsburg and a double by Jessica Polhemus.

As Perry leads the league, it may not be necessary to finish this game to determine the CMAC champion. It has not been rescheduled yet.

I will be seeing both of these teams in the Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame Softball Classic next week and look forward to it. Congratulations to both teams for having excellent seasons that resulted in them being selected for this tournament.

I later learned that the game would renew at 4:30 Friday and I was able to come to see the rest of the game. Here is the play by play of the second game. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2025/05/15/__trashed-4/
Please ignore the “trashed” word. I didn’t think I was going to be able to see the second game, so I deleted this article. I restored it when I saw I would be able to attend the game Friday. For some reason, my website software does this when I restore a deleted article.