Millington and Coleman were among the area softball teams that made it to the finals on June 16 at Secchia Stadium on the campus of Michigan State University.
Caledonia (29-6) was the Division 1 winner 6-4 over Hartland (33-6). Escanaba (31-3) blanked South Haven (32-9) by a 5-0 score in Division 2.
Coloma (38-3) edged Millington (39-3) 7-6 in Division 3. Centreville (36-6) got the best of Coleman 5-2 in Division 4
Millington got four hits from Leah Denome in the title game, but it wasn’t enough. Eaton Rapids (36-7) ended its run in the semifinals with a 2-0 loss to Escanaba.
Central Montcalm’s season ended in the quarterfinals with a 14-0 loss in five innings to Coloma.
“It was a unique experience for us,” Coach Bruce Nicholson said. “I think the girls went into it pretty loose. We were comfortable with the approach and all of that. It was a great environment. We played an experienced team that had already been there. I thought it was going to be a closer game than that, for sure. We haven’t had a first inning like that all season.”
Coloman’s leadoff hitter got on.
“We get two outs, are down one and then we’re down two,” Nicholson said. “The next two girls get on and we drop a pop up and the next girl hits it in the gap and clears the bases. Then we’re down by five. It got away from us quick.”
“The season was amazing,” Nicholson continued. “We had lost so many seniors from the season before. We started four freshmen and another sophomore, and another sophomore quite a bit. We only had three kids back and one was a sophomore. A lot of people didn’t think we’d do what we did. To win the league, district and regional was great.”
Lily Doyle was the team’s No 1 pitcher and was all-region. Mia Morgan was the team’s leading hitter at .510.