By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
MENDON — Call it a flair for the dramatic, call it being cool under pressure, but at the end of the day, for Mendon softball, Saturday’s regional action was full of twists and turns.
Luckily for the Hornets, all those twists and turns ended with the lifting of the Division 4 regional championship trophy on their home field.
The top-ranked team in Division 4 defeated Bridgman in the regional semis in dramatic fashion 6-3 in nine innings before pulling off another comeback to beat No. 10 Gobles 6-5 in the finals soon after to earn their fourth straight regional title as a program.
However, for a time, it looked like the Hornets wouldn’t make it to the finals, let alone extra innings, through the first six innings of their regional semis performance. Mendon’s offense was stymied for six innings by Bridgman starter Riley Paveza, who induced quite a bit of contact, but the balls Mendon swung at – sometimes early in the count – were hit right at the Bees’ fielders.
Meanwhile, Bridgman had built a 3-0 lead, mostly off untimely errors by Mendon’s infield. The Bees took a 1-0 lead after first baseman Brynley Jungers couldn’t corral a low throw from third baseman Sabrina Monroy, allowing Abigail Reynolds to score instead of it being the third out. In the fifth, Bridgman got two more runs off an RBI triple by Carmen Ernsberger and another error by Jungers corralling a low throw, allowing Ernsberger to score with two outs.
Mendon had their opportunities as well earlier in the semis. In the third, the Hornets loaded the bases with two outs after a Brooke Gerth single and back-to-back walks issued to Jadyn Samson and Rowan Allen, but Mattea Bingaman popped out to short to end that threat. In the sixth, Allen hit a leadoff double, but was quickly erased when Bingaman lined into a double play.
In the top of the seventh, Mendon would see themselves down to their last two outs as the visiting team in their own park. With one out, the bottom of the order went to work. Maddie Rogers drew a walk, Jungers got hit by a pitch, and Gerth would walk to suddenly load the bases for the top of the Hornets lineup. Samson would ground into a fielders choice, with Bridgman getting the out at second and allowing Rogers to score, making it 3-1 with two outs and runners on the corners.
Allen would come through in the clutch with two outs, ripping a double into center field, scoring Samson and Jungers, tying the game at 3-3 and knocking Paveza out of the game. After a long at-bat, Bingaman would ground out to short to end the inning, but the damage was done.
Bridgman would go quietly in the seventh and eighth innings, while Mendon got a couple of baserunners on in the eighth, but weren’t able to score. In the top of the ninth, Gerth would lead off with a bloop single that fell just beyond the reach of second baseman Sophia Rodriguez, and after two straight flyouts to center, Bingaman would come through for the Hornets, ripping a double to left field, scoring Gerth, giving Mendon the lead. Cienna Nightingale would follow with an RBI double of her own, and after a single and hit-by-pitch, an error by Ernsberger brought in a third run for Mendon, making it 6-3.
Allen would give up a walk and a single with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but would get a strikeout and a lineout to end the rollercoaster semifinal.
“I think the coaches maybe had some panic, but I don’t think these kids panicked,” co-head coach Steve Butler said. “They’re in it all the time. They deliver.”
In the finals against Gobles, Mendon – still the visiting team – got off to a fast start, scoring two in the top of the first on an RBI double by Bingaman and an RBI single by Monroy. However, Gobles would get those runs right back off Allen and then some in the bottom of the first, with Riley Johnson hitting a two-run homer two batters in, and Ashlyn Myers bunting in Daisy Jackson to make it 3-2 Tigers. Gobles’ offense would add two more in the bottom of the second on a two-run single by pitcher Kelsee Sherrod to extend their lead to 5-2.
Mendon would start clawing their way back in the top of the third, with Allen drawing a walk and stealing a base, with Bingaman driving her in with an RBI double to make it 5-3. The Hornets would score one more run three batters later, when Lashell Blair reached on an error by Johnson to bring home Bingaman and make it 5-4.
Allen would settle into the game in the circle, as Gobles would get a single and nothing more from the bottom of the order as Allen struck out two in the third. In the top of the fourth, Mendon would get a one-out single from Gerth and an RBI triple down the left field line by Samson, tying up the game at 5-5. Samson would come in on a sacrifice fly by Bingaman to give the Hornets the lead.
From there, Allen would give up just three baserunners the rest of the way, with only one of them making it past first base, striking out seven Gobles batters from the fourth inning on. With a runner on first and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, a groundout by Adeline Hazard right back to Allen would end the ballgame, giving the Hornets the regional title.
“[Regional titles] don’t ever get old,” Butler said. “It’s a big accomplishment. This school’s been around a long time, you look at the outfield and see the banners, this is the first time we’ve ever won four. This group is the all-time winningest group of seniors.”
With the win, Mendon moves on to Tuesday’s state quarterfinals game at Bailey Park in Battle Creek, where they take on Petersburg Summerfield at 2 p.m. The winner moves on to Secchia Stadium on the campus of Michigan State University on Friday, June 12 for the state semifinals, where they will take on the winner of Norway and No. 2 Hillman at 3 p.m.
The other state semifinal that day will feature the winners of the Bellaire/Fowler and Byron/Brown City matchups. No. 9 Brown City pulled off a major upset Saturday, defeating No. 3 Unionville-Sebewaing – who has been to the last six state finals, won 21 straight regional titles, and has run into Mendon in the state semis or finals the last three years – at USA’s home field in the regional semifinals 10-8.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
