By John Raffel
Correspondent
CLARE – Clare’s softball team had a memorable season which led the Pioneers to the state Division 3 semifinals where they lost 1-0 to Ottawa Lake Whiteford.
Among the key reasons for the Pioneers’ success was the play of Breez Yarger, who was a freshman for the 2024 season.
Coming into the season, “I hoped I would be on varsity but I wasn’t sure,” she said. “It was different playing with different people.”
Yarger was catcher for Clare.
“I used to play it up to a couple of years ago,” Yarger said. “Then I started playing shortstop. I liked playing catcher again.”
Yarger indicated the move back to catcher was a mutual decision between her and the coach.
Defensively, she felt good on how well she handled the duties.
Going to the regionals, Yarger was hitting .422.
“I think I hit pretty good,” she said. “We were playing Meridian and I had a pretty good hit in a close game.”
Yarger hit for both power and contact.
The key to Clare’s success, Yarger indicated “was playing together and keeping everybody pumped up.”
Clare also won the Jack Pine Conference.
Yarger also plays basketball and volleyball.
“Softball is my favorite,” she said. “I have played softball the longest.”
