By KELSEY PENCE

Special for Second Half

 

EAST LANSING — Denny Dock remembers looking at his team midway through the regular season and thinking, “We’re on the verge of being something special.”

It turns out, the Stevensville Lakeshore coach in his 25th year was right.

The Lancers overcame a sloppy start and rallied back for a 4-3 win in the MHSAA Division 2 final against Livonia Ladywood on Saturday at Secchia Stadium at Michigan State University.

The Lancers ended the season at 36-9 and left East Lansing with the school’s seventh softball title.

The Blazers scored first, putting up two runs in the first inning, both unearned on two Lakeshore errors.

Rachel Riedel managed to get the Lancers on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, smacking the first pitch she saw over the left field fence.

Rebecca Meyer hit a drive to center to reach base and Mahri Younger subbed in as a pinch runner. Rachel Clem brought her home with a sacrifice bunt to tie the score at 2-all.

“She hid the ball really well, which was harder to see,” Riedel said of Price. “I think we just needed to concentrate more. We were so anxious and ready for this game that when we got here, we were just like we want to swing at everything. Once we got her, it just stuck with us.”

Haley Thibeault and Mackenzie Sanders walked to start the bottom of the fifth inning, and Hunter Thibeault was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Alex Forsythe then singled to score Toni Priebe, running for Haley Thibeault. Carpenter, running for Sanders, was tagged out at home on the same play – but Riedel’s sacrifice fly to right field scored Hunter Thibeault.

The Blazers (29-14) loaded the bases in the top of the sixth inning, and Rachel Hendrickson’s line drive past third base cut the deficit to one run with two outs and the bases still loaded. But the Blazers couldn’t bring the tying run home.

Price struck out nine for the Blazers, walking three and giving up five hits in six innings. Thibeault struck out three, walked two and gave up just three hits.