On its first trip to Battle Creek, Milan softball earned a berth in the championship game against Stevensville Lakeshore.

The Big Reds were excited.

The fans were excited, too.

The game featured one oddity: Milan and Lakeshore had not only the same school colors of black, red and white, but also the same uniform template.

Lakeshore held a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning.  After struggling to produce any offense through six innings, Milan came out hitting in the seventh, quickly scoring one run and putting two more runners on base with no outs.

With runners on first and second with no outs, it seemed almost inevitable that Milan would at least be able to tie the game.

Almost.

Milan’s next two batters hit into a double play and struck out.  Just like that, Milan went from having a state championship within reach to losing in heartbreaking fashion.

Kat Hoffman, Milan’s superb senior pitcher, took the loss hard.

Dray Garrett, the final batter, took the loss especially hard.

When the Big Reds finally exited the dugout, the fans were there to give them one last round of applause…

…and hugs.