The Wayland varsity softball team captured the championship in the Centreville Invitational Saturday in a particularly satisfying manner.

The Lady Wildcats defeated Richland Gull Lake in the finals, turning the tables on a team that earlier this season pinned perhaps the worst loss on Wayland in a long time, 17-0. They prevailed 5-3 in eight innings, as Sydney Urban came up with a walkoff double.

They beat Kalamazoo Hackett in the semifinals 10-0, as Abby Merice and Lauren McCulligh combined to pitch a one-hit shut out striking out seven over five innings

Leading the Wildcats offensively were Leigha Morse, 3-for-3 with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs; Bethany Teunissen, 3-4 with a double and two RBIs, and McCulligh, 2-3 with an RBI

Wayland blanked Sturgis 18-0 in the first game. Merice pitched three innings, allowing no hits and striking out two. McCulligh pitched two innings in relief allowing four hits.

Leading the Wildcats offensively were: Merice, 5-6 with two RBIs; Chloe Coughlin, 1-1 with an RBI, and Hannah Sikkema 2-3 with a home run and two RBIs.

At the end of the day, the Lady Wildcats, ranked No. 7 in this week’s Division 2 state-wide poll, were sporting an overall season record of 18-4 and were still unbeaten at 8-0 in the O-K Gold Conference.

(Photo supplied)