By DOUG DONNELLY

Monroe News

EAST LANSING – Standish-Sterling drove in the game-winning run with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday to crush Whiteford’s dreams of its first state title since 1987.

The Bobcats had five hits in the game and starting pitcher Unity Nelson struck out 12 and gave up just two hits, but the Panthers scored the winning run when they needed to.

“Our girls battled the whole time,” Whiteford head coach Matt VanBrandt said. “We just couldn’t put one run across. We had baserunners quite a few times and couldn’t push it across.”

The Bobcats left seven runners on base in the first five innings. In two of those innings the baserunners were on second and third base with two outs.

“We had chances throughout the game,” VanBrandt said. “We just couldn’t push that run across. A lot of the time we had two runners on we had two outs, which makes it tough.”

Ali VanBrandt had two hits to end her sensational Bobcat career. She singled in the first inning and was left at third base. The Bobcats again had runners on second and third in the second inning, but couldn’t come up with the big hit.

In the fifth seemed liked Whiteford’s best chance at scoring with the top of the lineup hitting, but again, with two runners in scoring position, the Bobcats came up empty.

Standish-Sterling, playing in their first ever state championship game, got the big hit in the seventh inning. Lexi Mielke, the No. 2 hitter in the Panther lineup, was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning and the next batter, Macey Fegan doubled to left field, scoring Mielke and ending the game.

It was Nelson first loss of the season in the circle. She finished with well over 300 strikeouts and a 22-1 record.

“Unity did a great job on the mound,” VanBrandt said. “She was a bulldog again. She was super consistent. We can’t expect her to throw a shut out every game.”

Standish-Sterling pitcher Devri Jennings went the distance, allowing five hits and striking out seven. She got 10 ground outs and four flyouts.

“They made a lot of good defensive plays against us,” VanBrandt said. “They were one run better than us today.”

Senior Alison Spradling, freshman Koralynn Billau and Nelson had the other Bobcat hits.

Standish-Sterling’s two hits were by leadoff batter Keeley Peace and Fegan in the seventh.

The Bobcats (37-5) were playing in the state finals for the second consecutive season. They moved up from Division 4 to Division 3 this season and didn’t skip a beat, winning league, district and regional championships. They were unranked all season, something that shortstop Ali VanBrandt – who leaves Whiteford holding virtually every hitting record the school has – said that motivated this team.

“It definitely motivated us,” she said. “We knew Division 3 would be a harder road. I’m really proud of how we fought all year and made it here.”

The Bobcats have seven seniors on the squad, including VanBrandt. Nelson was one of four juniors in the starting lineup, which also included a freshman.

“This group of seniors has been together for most of their lives,” Coach VanBrandt said. “They started playing softball together in the fourth or fifth grade. Most of them stayed together for so long. They are high character, high achieving seniors. We’re going to miss them.”