By John Raffel
It was not the preferred way to end what was a glorious season for Frankenmuth’s softball team.
The Eagles ended at 37-4-1 after a humbling 11-0 loss to Wayland Union in the Division 2 state title game on June 13 at Michigan State University.
Wayland scored five runs the first three innings to put the game away, and it outhit Frankenmuth 12-4. Ivy Hollard, Kyla Brooks, Hannah Karwat, and Amariah Wright had the Eagles’ only hits. Wright was the losing pitcher. Mallory Teunissen of Wayland threw a 4-hitter and fanned 17 batters.
It was a far cry from the semifinal game earlier in the week in which the Eagles posted a 4-0 victory over Airport. Frankenmuth only had three hits in that game, but it made the most of them. Makenzie Sipes stole home plate. Wright threw the four-hit shutout.
Coach Brad Walraven has a six-year record of 187-50 at Frankenmuth.
“They outmatched us today,” Walraven said. “We played so well all year. Their pitcher beat us up. That’s a good team. You feel lousy for losing the game. But there’s a lot of other schools that would like to be in our shoes.
“It was a wonderful team I had. I’m going to miss those seven seniors.”
The loss was humbling, Walraven admitted. “It’s the worst beating we’ve had in quite awhile,” he said. “Hopefully, it was a great learning experience for them. I hope they were taught some discipline and structure in their lives, but with everyday stuff we talk about. Think about the memories. This last 2½ weeks was fun. We hung together as a team.
“We’ve had so many well-played games. The seniors did a lot of teaching to the underclassmen. That was really cool to see as the season progressed. What a good ending for the seniors. Hopefully the underclassmen learned something. They saw what it takes. Hopefully they get to work.”
As the season unfolded, Walraven said that making the quarterfinal round was the original goal. “We were hoping we could make a run, and we did,” he said. “I’m not disappointed whatsoever.”