MUSKEGON — Ravenna’s softball team has been hitting the ball and scoring runs at a prolific clip all season.
In Saturday’s Greater Muskegon Athletic Association Tier 1 tournament at Reeths-Puffer, the Bulldogs took it to another level.
Ravenna rapped out a combined 47 hits and scored 47 runs in three routs, including a 16-hit effort in a 13-2 victory over rival Oakridge in the title game on Legacy Field. The West Michigan Conference divisional leaders were not scheduled to play in the regular season, so Saturday’s meeting was a highly anticipated matchup.
“(It feels) so good, so good, because we wanted to play them originally and then we didn’t get it scheduled so it was, like, this was our one chance and we did what we wanted to do for sure,” said Ravenna senior Ellie Solem, who sparked the Bulldogs with a pair of hits, including a double, and two runs scored.
This is the second straight GMAA Tier 1 softball title for Ravenna, which defeated Oakridge in last year’s title game, 7-4.
Oakridge (15-5) and Ravenna (21-1) are ranked honorable mention in the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association Division 2 and Division 3 polls, respectively.
Oakridge took the upper hand in the first inning on sophomore Brenna Cabrera’s run-scoring double to right field, but Ravenna knotted it up on freshman Emily Postema’s infield single the next inning.
The Bulldogs erupted for four runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.
“I mean, our bats are alive so I knew that no matter what we were going to crush the ball,” said Ravenna senior Emma Gillard, who hammered a no-doubt, three-run home run the opposite way to left-center field to give the Bulldogs a 5-1 lead in the fourth inning and break the game open.
Gillard finished 3-for-4, including two doubles and three runs scored from her leadoff spot. The right-handed starting pitcher also earned the win, allowing two runs on four hits with five strikeouts and two walks in five innings of work.
Every player in the Ravenna lineup had at least one hit against Oakridge.
Bulldogs senior Kara Postema had two hits, highlighted by a bases-clearing double to make it 8-1 in the fifth inning. Sophomore Emma Herremans went 2-for-3, including a double, and she drove in three runs. Junior Kendra Denhof was 2-for-5. Emily Postema went 2-for-3. Freshman Riley Homoly doubled.
Oakridge managed five hits in the game. Junior Kaelinn Jozsa took the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks in 3 1/3 innings.
Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark
“I think (Ravenna) capitalized with runners in scoring position and we didn’t,” Oakridge coach Joe Coletta said. “Their lineup is stellar. I mean, you can’t make mistakes and, to be quite honest with you, I’ll be disappointed if they’re not playing in Lansing for a state championship. In fact, I’ll be disappointed if they’re not.
“I would like to see my alma mater make it,” he added with a grin, “if we can’t. They’re a very good Division 3 team — very good. Very well-coached. They make you field the ball and they put pressure on your defense. They do a lot of things right.”
In GMAA pool play Saturday, Ravenna defeated Holton 15-2 in five innings and routed Mona Shores 19-0 in four innings.
Against Mona Shores, Herremans hit for the cycle and racked up seven RBIs with three runs scored to power Ravenna. Junior Addison Gillard had three hits, including a pair of doubles. Emily Postema also had three hits, including a double and triple. Freshman Macy Nelson doubled twice against the Sailors. Addison Gillard picked up the pitching win.
Against Holton, Addison Gillard had three hits and four RBIs. Junior Kendra Denhof went 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Herremans doubled, tripled and drove in three, while Kara Postema had two hits, two RBIs and four runs scored. Emily Postema added a pair of hits. Homoly earned the pitching win.
Oakridge opened its day with a 19-3, six-inning victory over Fruitport. Oakridge lost to Reeths-Puffer 7-6 in its second pool-play game, but the Eagles advanced to the championship because Fruitport knocked off R-P and Oakridge held the fewest-runs-allowed tiebreaker.
“We were all hoping to get to play Oakridge today because they’re not on our regular schedule, which is unfortunate. However, the rivalry is a good rivalry. We would have loved to have played them on our schedule, but it just didn’t work out this year for whatever reason,” said Ravenna coach Dave Sherman, whose team’s lone loss this season came against perennial power Wayland, 5-4, in a split with the Wildcats on April 27.
“We were happy we played (Oakridge) today, no question about it.”
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