The Glen Lake girls' softball team dominated in two Northwest Conference wins at home against Mesick Tuesday, 9-3, 14-4.

CORI KAHLER winds up from the
pitching mound for Glen Lake against
Mesick Tuesday

The wins put the Lakers at 7-7 overall, and 5-3 in the conference. The Mesick doubleheader was the only action the Glen Lake varsity saw over the last week as the Ellsworth Tournament and Friday’s homestand with Kingsley were rained out. The Kingsley games will be played on May 22.

Coach Gary Galla said he hopes the weather stays good for the rest of the season.

“We are supposed to play at Frankfort Wednesday (yesterday), which is a reschedule from April 22, which was also canceled due to rain,” he said.

The time off didn’t appear to hurt the Lakers as they dominated at the plate against a solid Mesick squad. In the first game, senior starting pitcher Cori Kahler had 6 strikeouts and allowed 3 hits in the winning effort. Katie Drzewiecki, Haley Sobczak, Lauren O’Brien and Amanda Lautner each had 2 hits. Kahler had 2 RBI and Kristen Pleva had a triple with 2 RBI.

In the second game, Mesick jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but the Lakers responded in kind to make it 3-3 after one.

The Lakers' Lauren O’Brien (12) congratulates
Katie Drzewiecki on her bases-loaded triple.

The teams were tied 4-all when the Lakers loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth. Junior Katie Drzewiecki came to the plate and crushed the ball for a 3-run triple. She also scored on the play on a Mesick error to put Glen Lake ahead for good, 8-4.

Coach Galla enjoyed watching his team hitting like he knows they can. “We have finally started hitting like we should have been earlier. The girls are really responding to the middle of the season and keep getting better,” he said.

Kristen Pleva, Drzewiecki, and Kahler each had 2 hits; Hannah Therrien had 2 RBI; and Sabrina Galla scored three runs for Glen Lake.

Suttons Bay hosted Buckley Tuesday with the Bears winning both games 1-0, 10-0. Coach Jennifer Kloosterman said despite not getting any runs in either game, the girls put together a solid defensive effort in the first game. “We are having problems with offense. We can’t seem to string any hits together. But, our defense is showing improvement with just about every game,” she said.

Laureen Schmidt had 6 strikeouts on the mound in the first game.

Schmidt and Kelly Ruthkowski each had a single and Rebecca Reyhl had 2 singles in the first game. In the second, Katie Dupree, Ruthkowski, Schmidt and Reyhl each hit a single.

On Thursday, the Norsemen varsity competed against the Charlevoix JV and won both games 20-0, 10-0. Kloosterman said she only had her upperclassmen play in the few innings in the first game, and none in the second. The games against a quality junior varsity team gave Kloosterman the chance to show her young team that they are progressing.

In the first game Taylor Mentzer and Rita Vanover had 2 RBI; Amanda Gibson and Elaina Leaureaux had 1 RBI; and Dupree had 2 singles, 2 RBI.

In the second game, Caitlyn Smith had 2 singles; Trisha Send had a single and a RBI; Victoria Uprichard had 2 singles; and Anna Reyhl had a single.

The St. Mary softball team got back its seniors in time for the Elk Rapids Tournament on Saturday, after dropping two at home to Mesick on Wednesday, April 30. At Elk Rapids the Eagles lost to Charlevoix 8-0 in their first game. Coach Ed Merica said starting pitcher Susan Herman had 9 strikeouts and allowed 8 hits to the Rayders. Anne Kuznicki had 2 singles to lead St. Mary with Mary Lingaur also getting a single. In the second game, Herman again had 9 strikeouts and allowed 5 hits, all singles. Lingaur had a double and a single to lead the Eagles with Allison Korson, Emily Schaub and Herman each getting a single as well.

Last Wednesday, the Eagles lost at home to Mesick, 7-1, 7-2. Coach Merica brought up freshman Claire Garthe to pitch from the junior varsity. She had 5 strikeouts for both games and allowed 18 hits. Bradi Pasch had a single in the first game. St. Mary’s lone run came when Allison Korson got on base with a walk and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ashley Herman. Korson made it home on Pasch’s single.

In the second game Korson had a triple, Emily Schaub a double and Samantha Herman a single for St. Mary.

The Leland softball dropped two at home to Benzie, 5-0, 16-1. Coach Joe Nedow said junior pitcher Dena Popp had a strong effort from the mound, throwing six strikeouts and two walks. “Dena had great game, we couldn’t get anything going on offense,” he said.

Molly Harrison, Kaleigh Stinson and Kaylah Mendoza each singled, and Popp hit a double for Leland. In the second game Haley VerSnyder scored the Comets lone run when she hit a lead-off double to get to second. She got home on a RBI ground out by Stinson. Meghan Flohe and Popp each had a single as well.

On Friday Leland lost to Mesick, 6-3. The game was called after 41/2 innings due to rain. The second game will be played on Friday, May 16. Catcher Rhiannon Hildenbrandt threw out two runner attempting to steal third during the losing effort.

Glen Lake will host Elk Rapids today, will host Cadillac, Allen Park Cabrini and East Jordan on Saturday, and will play at Buckley on Tuesday. St. Mary will host Suttons Bay today. Suttons Bay will host Leland on Tuesday. Leland will play at the Bellaire Invitational on Saturday.