Michigan high school softball: Unionville-Sebewaing takes 5th straight title in rout

EAST LANSING — There was just one moment during Saturday’s MHSAA Division 4 softball championship game when Unionville-Sebewaing Area didn’t execute very well.

That came in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Olivia Green doubled home Jenna Gremel, making the score 11-1 and officially ending the game against Holton via the mercy rule. Since the Patriots were at bat, not in the field, they weren’t sure quite how to celebrate.

“The last few years we ended it in the field and then we all dog-piled,” catcher Gabriella Crumm said. “But this time we just sat there and said, ‘OK, what’s going to happen?’ It definitely was a different feeling, like, ‘What do we do now?’”

DIVISION 1:Hudsonville scores early, tops Lake Orion 5-0 to finish 42-0 season

DIVISION 2:Gaylord tops Vicksburg in 8 to repeat

DIVISION 3:Evart needs just one hit to win D-3 title, first in history

Short answer: Accept the championship trophy, just as USA has done nine previous seasons. This was the fifth title in a row for the Patriots, tying them with Kalamazoo Christian (1996-2000) for the most consecutive crowns.

Crumm — who’s now 4-for-4 in championship games — said winning the latest wasn’t as easy as it looked.

“From the beginning of the season in January when we were hitting BP in the turf room, we met with adversity,” she said. “We had to fill in holes and get girls to spots where they just weren’t yet. We had to work, we had to develop players, we had to get things going, we had to develop a mindset. This team stuck through everything, we stayed strong. We all wanted to be here, but we knew we had to work to get here.

“The crazy thing about this is that it was all thrown at us, and we took it like a champ.”

Unionville-Sebewaing Area (31-11) pounced on Holton (29-13-1) early, scoring three unearned runs in the first inning on two hits, but also two Red Devil errors and a wild pitch.

The Patriots broke it open with six runs in the fourth, powered by Crumm’s two-run homer to straight-away centerfield. Macy Prime added a triple to drive in a run, while Ella Neumann singled home two more runs.

Holton delayed the seemingly inevitable by getting its lone run in the top of the fifth. Chloe McKee reached first on a fielding error and was tripled home by Abbie Fowler.

Green went the distance on the mound, scattering three hits and striking out 10. She got a lot of support from her teammates, who collected 10 hits and only made one error.

“I was super-nervous,” she said. “I didn’t have a great warmup in the bullpen, but I knew my defense would be there and I can trust my team. I just knew I had to be focused in and throw my game.”

Like Crumm, Green was a little unclear on the celebration concept when she had the game’s final hit.

“I did not know,” she said. “It was like, ‘OK, I guess I’ve gotta run to second now, and then everybody started screaming. Coach didn’t tell me if I should go to third or not. Oh my God, it was insane.”

During its streak, USA has defeated five different schools: Mendon, Ottawa Lake-Whiteford, Rudyard and Kalamazoo Christian prior to Holton. Even though the program is solid, coach Marc Reinhardt said this was a different team than the one that edged Mendon for the 2023 title.

“We had six or seven returners, we lost four good starters from last year’s team and we had to replace them, and I replaced them with mostly sophomores, so now you’ve got some kids who have never been on varsity before competing,” he said. “Throughout the whole season we’re playing Division 1 and Division 2 and Division 3 teams, just trying to get better with some pressure situations to get them to grow. They’ve come through. Everybody came to play today. We’ve had one deal today — to win this thing and bring it back home.”