Category Archives: Softball

Photo of the Softball Now: 21 April 2012

On a cold, windy, cloudysunnycloudysunnycloudysunny Saturday, Chelsea hosted a full day of softball. The day concluded with a game against Manchester, Chelsea’s neighbor to the south.

It’s always nice to see former CHS athletes coming back to cheer on the Bulldogs. One such athlete showed up to cheer on her former teammates on Saturday.

Remember how I said it was a cloudysunnycloudysunnycloudysunny day? Those days are a nuisance for photography because the light is changing significantly and frequently. Take a look at the next two photos from one inning. One is cloudy, the other sunny. The light shifted back and forth like this all day.

The game was close for a while, but Chelsea eventually pulled away for a 15-5 win.

Photo of the Softball State Semifinal Now: 17 June 2011

With its blowout victory over Grand Rapids South Christian, Milan softball earned its first-ever trip to the state championships at Bailey Park in Battle Creek.  In the semifinal, the Big Reds faced Saginaw Swan Valley.

With a 4-0 lead and two outs in the seventh inning, the Milan pitcher got the Swan Valley batter to hit a harmless fly ball to left field…

…ending the game and sending the ecstatic Big Reds to their first-ever state championship game.

And again, the Big Reds sang the fight song to the crowd.

 

Photo of the Alumni Field Softball Now: 14 June 2011

After winning its first-ever regional championship, Milan softball advanced to the state quarterfinal to face Grand Rapids South Christian.  Chelsea was still the host school, but the game was played at a site more suitable to the special occasion: the University of Michigan’s Alumni Field.

As you might expect, the players were looking forward to playing in a facility like that.  However, their excitement may have been exceeded by that of their coach, who played softball for Michigan and who was thrilled about being able to come back as a coach.

Early in the game there was a rough play at home plate.  A Milan baserunner approached home with a full head of steam and collided with the catcher, who was standing at home looking for the ball.

The ball arrived late, and the catcher reached over the runner as she touched home plate.

The catcher then collapsed in great pain.

Because of the way the runner had collided into the catcher’s knee, we in the dugout thought she’d injured her knee.  But after watching her interaction with the trainer, and after looking through the photos, we realized she’d hurt her left shoulder as she’d reached over the runner.

Fortunately, the injury was mild enough to allow her to remain in the game.

It was a beautiful day for a softball game.

Milan was expected to be considerably stronger than Grand Rapids South Christian, and that became reality when the Big Reds scored five runs in each of the first two innings to build a 10-0 lead.

That huge lead prompted a loose, cheerful mood in the Milan dugout.

When the mercy rule-shortened game ended, the Big Reds were ready to celebrate their first-ever trip to Battle Creek.

Photo of the (Milan) Softball Now: 11 June 2011

Milan worked its way past Pennfield and Riverview to claim the regional championship.

This Big Red had two home runs on the day:

She received a warm greeting at home after her second home run:

This Big Red caught a barely foul fly ball for the final out of the championship game, clinching Milan softball’s first-ever regional championship:

Her teammates were pleased:

Michigan high school playoffs involve a lot of trophies:

When a softball team wins a state championship, they actually end up with three trophies: district, regional and state championship trophies.

Coaches tend to be happy about receiving trophies:

So do players:

The Big Reds make a point of singing the school’s fight song to the crowd after each win.

Before leaving the field, the Big Reds gathered around to put a finger on a heart-shaped rock they found on their home field earlier in the season: