By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
EAST LANSING — Friday’s matchup between the top two softball teams in Division 4 was just as advertised.
In a close, low-scoring game, it was the Mendon Hornets winning a pitcher’s duel between a couple of the best in the state, taking a 2-1 victory and moving on to their third state finals appearance in the last four years.
“It’s a hell of an accomplishment,” Mendon co-head coach Mike Smith said. “They’re as good as they’re going to get, and they’re pretty damn good.”
It was a bit of a nail-biting finish to the game, as Hillman threatened to tie the game or even win the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. With one out, Hillman’s Madelyn Oswald hit a triple into left field, and then came around to score on the next batter as third baseman Sabrina Monroy couldn’t corral a grounder and was charged with an error, making it a 2-1 ballgame.
Mendon pitcher Rowan Allen would settle things down, striking out the next batter, then giving up a single on a bloop into left field by Peyton Banks, and then coming back to strike out Peyton Szlag to end the game, stranding the winning run on first base.
“I felt pretty confident that we were going to pull it out,” Smith said on the seventh inning. “We have the seniors, our defense behind them, and the freshmen played well today. I was about as calm as I could be under those circumstances.”
Facing an equally-tough pitcher in Gretchen Weiland, Mendon took advantage of a Hillman mistake and some small ball to get the first run of the game. In the top of the first, Jadyn Samson reached base when Hillman second baseman Abigail Oswald couldn’t handle a ground ball. After Allen struck out, Taya Bingaman would leg out a bunt single to third, then Cienna Nightingale would bring in Samson with an RBI single to center field, putting the Hornets up 1-0.
Weiland would strike out six batters in a row after that before a couple of groundouts ended the third inning. In the top of the fourth, Mendon would add their second run, as Nightingale would lead off by floating a ball into left field that Banks could not find, getting past her and ending up in a triple for the Mendon backstop. She would score on the next batter, with Monroy getting an RBI groundout to short, making it 2-0.
Hillman would threaten in the bottom of the fourth, as they got runners on second and third with one out. However, Allen would induce a sharp liner off the bat of Hillman’s Rylee Lis right back to her, and catching the runner on third off base to get a huge lineout double play to end the threat and the inning.
“I was just kind of thinking about the batter, just doing my job as a pitcher, and trusting my defense behind me to do their job, and then I guess I was just lucky,” Allen said after the game. “The ball just came right back at me, and then my third baseman was just there.”
Both teams would be retired in order in the fifth and sixth, while Mendon had just one baserunner in the top of the seventh on a walk, leading to the finish in the bottom of the seventh. Outside of the two runs, one of which was earned, Gretchen Weiland shut down the Mendon offense, racking up 14 strikeouts and gave up just three hits and one walk.
However, it was Allen who outdueled Weiland on the day, notching eight strikeouts in the complete game victory, giving up just one unearned run on five hits and no free passes.
“We don’t give up, we just have that grit in us, knowing even though we’re in some really stressful situations, we know that we can find a way, just find a way to do something, and we just don’t give up,” Allen said. “I love this team so much, we all love the game, and it’s the best team to play on.”
Nightingale led the way for Mendon on offense with two hits, an RBI and a run scored. Bingaman had the only other hit, while Monroy got the only other RBI. Maddie Rodgers drew a walk in the top of the seventh, and Samson scored a run.
With the win, Mendon will take on Brown City in the state finals, who defeated Fowler 7-1 in Friday’s other semifinal. Smith said it’ll take playing the game his team has played all season if they want to win back-to-back state titles.
“We’re going to throw Rowan. We’re going to put our seniors out there with the freshmen, and we’re going to try to do it again,” Smith said. “It’s going to be a dogfight no matter who it is.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
