READING — For a fifth straight season, the Reading varsity softball players can call themselves district champions.
Behind new coach Morgan Aemisegger, the Rangers were able to continue its excellent postseason record with a 12-2 District 118 title game win over Camden-Frontier.
“The journey had its challenges, but the destination was worth every step,” Aemisegger said.
The Rangers have battled a difficult schedule this year, but the journey through the gauntlet gifted them a chance to earn a title shot without having to play more than one game.
Thanks to a shortened bracket, the Rangers had an automatic bid to the title game, which was played on their home softball field.
Junior ace Leah Headley pitched all five innings for the Rangers, throwing five strikeouts and allowing two earned runs. Headley would add three runs, a hit and an RBI at the plate. It was a big game for Mckenzey Penza, hitting her third home run of the season to drive in a run. Laylianah Medlen had three hits and five total RBIs to lead the Rangers. Emma Gerth had one hit, two RBIs and two runs. Madelyn Farkas and Jazzelle Hassenzhal each scored two runs.
The Rangers head into the Region 30 semifinals with the hopes of making a bid for the regional title game on Saturday, June 6. But first, they will have to play through Petersburg Summerfield (18-12). Summerfield defeated Vandercook Lake 16-1 and Manchester 6-4 to win the District 120 title. The regional semifinal will be played at Dansville this Saturday with a 10 a.m. start time. Tickets can be purchased at GoFan.
The winner will face Hudson or Dansville in the 2 p.m. title game.
Softball season closes out
While Reading was able to walk away victorious over district weekend, Hillsdale County was unable to get another team through to the regional round.
Division 4
Camden-Frontier’s season ended with an 8-13 overall record. This included a district semifinal win over Concord, 8-5. Regan Schaedler added to her impressive final season with the RedHawks with three hits, two runs and an RBI. She had one triple and added four steals. Sutton Cooney had three steals, two hits and one run. Heidi Gawronski had one hit, one RBI and one run. Paityn Vincent had two hits and one run. Skyler and Madi Drake both had a hit and an RBI.
Gawronski earned the win on the mound with three strikeouts and five earned runs over seven innings.
This season, Shaedler and Vincent led the team with 25 hits each. Schaedler and Gawronski each had 23 runs. Schaedler had two home runs this season, 33 steals and 18 RBIs. Cooney had 31 steals. Gawronski had more than 50 strikeouts.
Waldron played a District 119 semifinal against Hudson and lost 21-0 in three innings. No stats were reported from the game.
Division 3, Jonesville
The Jonesville varsity Comets fought their way through a difficult Cascades Conference to face Quincy in a District 81 semifinal. The Orioles outlasted the Comets 8-5. Ally Marshall had an impressive performance for the Comets with three hits, including a triple, and three runs.
Addison Horton added one home run and an RBI. Jayda Rathbun had one RBI. Senior Bryn Rusk scored a run. Rusk also threw three strikeouts in two innings. Horton finished the game with seven strikeouts, one earned run, over five innings. The Comets were never able to climb out of the 6-0 hole the Orioles opened up after a six-run start to the game.
However, coach Marlena Nichols’ squad played the rally late and nearly added a 12th win to their overall record.
“I’ll miss my seniors — Bryn Rusk, Jayda Rathbun and Gracie Soltis,” Nichols said. “They all contributed to the program greatly over the years. I wish we could have done more today but I want to thank them for all they did for our program.”
Rusk will continue her softball career at Alma College. She finished the year with 32 hits, 11 extra-base hits, 15 RBIs, 38 runs, 94 strikeouts in the circle and 44 putouts. Rathbun had 28 hits that tied with Ally Marshall. She led the team with 26 RBIs and scored 32 runs. Marshall led the team with 16 stolen bases and scored 27 runs. Addison Horton had 22 hits, two home runs, 24 RBIs, 21 runs and 79 strikeouts. Marshall and Rathbun each contributed 139 and 83 putouts to lead the team, respectively. Marshall and Melanie Nichols also recorded home runs.
Division 3, Hillsdale
The Hillsdale Hornets won four games this season and ultimately fell to the eventual district champions from Homer, 9-1, in its district semifinal game. Kherington Ladd finished her impressive season with five strikeouts in the circle. Sierra Kibert scored the lone run for Hillsdale.
Ladd ended her sophomore season with 157 strikeouts and three wins. She also led the team with 25 hits, was second in runs with 20 and second in steals with 19.
The team graduates seniors Layla Stebbins, Grave Tager, Kristyn Mapes and Sierra Kibert.
Kibert will continue her career at Cornerstone University after signing with the softball team. Kibert led the team in runs (21), steals (29), RBIs (10), and on-base percentage (.438). She finished the year with 20 hits and had 33 strikeouts in the circle and 54 putouts. Yager had 89 putouts for the team. Stebbins led the team with three double plays this year and three triples, adding nine RBIs. Sydney Schmucker had 142 putouts as the team’s catcher. Mapes had nine hits and eight RBIs. Yager scored 10 runs on 12 base hits.
Teams unable to play in districts
A total of three Hillsdale County teams were unable to make it to district play this season, including North Adams-Jerome (canceled season), Litchfield and Pittsford.
Pittsford finished the season with a 9-1 league record to win the SCAA East. The team was unable to compete in district play due to several players competing at the track and field state finals the same day. This included senior ace Laura LeMar, who was a County leader in double-digit strikeout games this season. LeMar also had multiple home runs for the Wildcats in her final season. She competed at the state finals in discus, where she took 15th overall.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Hillsdale County sends one softball team to regionals
Reporting by Joseph Flaherty, Hillsdale Daily News / Hillsdale Daily News
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