By DOUG DONNELLY

OTTAWA LAKE – It was a banner night in more ways than one Wednesday as the Whiteford softball team celebrated the dedication of their new dugouts by sweeping Sand Creek and clinching their seventh consecutive Tri-County Conference championship.

It was also Youth Night, when the younger Bobcats got to line up on the field for the National Anthem, then run the field and through a tunnel of current Bobcat coaches and players.

Whiteford finished 10-0 in the TCC, wrapping up another league title, and extending the record league winning streak to 68 games.

Whiteford won the final two TCC games of 2019 and have gone 12-0, 12-0, 12-0, 10-0, 10-0 and 10-0 since.

On Wednesday, the Bobcats beat Sand Creek 11-0 and 16-1.

Peyton Welch threw five scoreless innings and struck out 11 with one hit in Game 1. Macy Ovall threw a three-inning no-hitter, allowing an unearned run and struck out six in Game 2.  

Alexis Williams, Avy Wood, and Ally Griffith led the Whiteford hitters.  

Seniors Bailey Spradling and Addeson Cousino finished their high school careers without a TCC loss.  

“It’s great to win another league title, and that is always one of our outcome goals, but we still have some work to do,” Bobcat coach Matt VanBrandt said.

Whiteford is now 14-7 and will compete in the 5-game Michigan Challenge tournament this weekend, starting with a Friday night game against Allen Park.