Ben Murphy
Sports Scene
The Bay City Western softball team made it all the way to the Division 1 championship game last year, where it fell to Mattawan 2-1. Early signs are indicating that the Warriors are a force to be reckoned with once again this year, as they’ve started the young campaign 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the Saginaw Valley League North.
“We have our all-state senior pitcher, Hannah Leppek, back,” head coach Rick Garlinghouse said. “She threw 38 scoreless innings in a row in the state tournament last year, and she is currently 5-0 with two no hitters.”
Western did lose three starters to graduation, but Leppek isn’t the only returner from last year’s 37-3 team.
“We have all-state honorable mention shortstop Meredith Rousse, who is a four-year senior lead-off hitter currently batting .556,” Garlinghouse said. “Rousse led the team in hits last year. She has power and has plenty of range at shortstop.”
Seniors Kaylynn Carpenter (center field), Ashtyn Decatur (third base), juniors Blair Miller and Leah Vandervort (catcher), and sophomore Kelsie Popp also return from last year’s team.
“Making it to the state championship game and losing 2-1 to a school that has won two of the last three state championships is nothing to be ashamed with and says we can play with anyone, and they better be ready for a complete game from us,” Garlinghouse said. “The hardest thing about last year was we played as well as we could, and it still wasn’t quite enough. The positive thing to take away was we didn’t give the game away, we just got beat by a better team on that one particular day.”
Western is no stranger to lengthy postseason runs, and the Warriors are hoping for yet another one this year.
“With four seniors on this year’s team, they have been to the final four twice, and they know we can get back, but we also know we have to play well, don’t beat ourselves, and have some luck along the way,” Garlinghouse said. “There are 35 games or so to be played before the state championship game, so there is plenty of time to perfect our team game.”
Garlinghouse, in his tenth year as Western head coach, admits the prospect of even playing in another state title game is pretty exciting.
“Just to have people talk about our team and a state championship is very rewarding for our staff for all the time and effort it takes to be recognized at the state level,” he said. “After our last doubleheader, we had a full-blown practice in an effort to prepare for our next games.To me, that exhibits the character and perseverance of this team.
“This team has plenty of talent, as much as any team,” Garlinghouse added. “As much as any team we have had at Bay City Western, but we need to get some games in, because everyone is not at the same level they need to be at or that it takes to be completely successful.”