Coach Cheri Ritz and her Wayland softball team Saturday morning proved they were indeed the No. 1 Division 2 team in the state all along.
The Lady Wildcats defeated Frankenmuth 11-0 in the state championship game at Michigan State University. It was their first state title since they did the same back in 2006 behind the pitching of Katie Greenman and hitting and fielding of Brittini Merchant.
This year’s title game was supposed to be a showdown between two the state’s best pitchers, both of whom had shut out all but one of their post-season tournament opponents. But Mallory Teunissen, who ended her nothing less than fabulous career Saturday as a Wildcat, had the upper hand over Amariah Wright, striking out 13 batters through the first five innings and not yielding a hit until the bottom of the fifth, by outfielder Billie Harrington.
Offensively, senior first sacker Morgan Teunissen, Mallory’s twin sister, started things in the first inning with a single and she moved up to second and third base on consecutive sacrifices. Senior shortstop Hailey Houck then came throug
h with a single to drive in the game’s first run.
Sophomore catcher Leigh Morse clouted a solo homer in the second inning to stake the Wildcats to a 2-0 advantage. Meanwhile, by the end of two innings, Mallory Teunissen was sailing along on the mound with five strikeouts.
The Lady ‘Cats plated three more runs in the third inning. Morgan Teunissen started the rally with triple and freshman outfielder Abbie Merice belted a double to drive her in. Houck followed with an RBI double and Mallory Teunissen singled in Houck with the third tally and they were up 5-0.
Making things even more bleak for the Eagles was that Teunissen fanned three batters in a row in the bottom of the third. Though she had walked three in the first three frames, eight of the first nine outs came via the strikeout route.
Wayland came up with two more runs in the top of the fifth. Caroline (C.J.) Miller led off with a walk and Houck was safe on an error. Pinch hitter Bethany Teunissen hit into a force out at third, and Mallory Teunissen advanced both runners on a groundout. Senior third sacker Morgan Winger then delivered a two-run double.
A gasping Frankenmuth then decided to remove Wright, its ace hurler, as it just wasn’t her day.
Adding insult to injury was the thwarting of Frankenmuth’s best chance of getting on the scoreboard, in the bottom of the sixth. The Eagles put together three straight singles, but Merice, only a freshman, threw a strike to Morse at home to nail Wright attempting to score.
The Wildcats concluded the scoring with a four-run burst in the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore Bethany Teunissen, who had been injured for most of the season, smoked her second home run this spring. Not long afterward, Morse polished off a day to remember for a sophomore catcher by belting her second homer of the day, a three-run job.
Mallory Teunissen finished her remarkable career with yet another shutout performance, walking three, yielding four hits and striking out 17. Wayland, as this year’s state championship team, finished with a 36-2 overall record.
PHOTOS: Catcher Leigh Morse hugs pitcher Mallory Teunissen after the semifinal victory. Both had outstanding performances in the state finals. (Photo courtesy Kenny Ritz)
The legendary Teunissens (from left) Bethany, Mallory, older sister Caitlyn and Morgan, with the regional trophy.
(MHSAA trophy photo courtesy Sheri Maddux)
