With all six teams beating up on one another, it came down to pitching and defense to determine the winner of the 43rd Lee Shelander Classic baseball tournament.
Hartland won the tie-breaker by allowing the fewest runs in three games to capture its first Shelander championship since 2010 and its ninth overall.
Hartland lost 8-1 to Williamston in its first game on Friday, May 15, but bounced back the following day by winning 10-0 over Pinckney and 13-3 over Dexter.
Also going 2-1 were Brighton, Williamston and Dexter. Howell was 1-2 and Pinckney 0-3.
Hartland’s victory over Dexter in its final game was the de facto championship game. The Dreadnaughts needed to win the game to repeat as champion, because Hartland allowed one less run heading into the contest.
Tyler Decheim went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and Aidan Heidt was 3-for-3 with three RBIs for the Eagles against Dexter.
The Eagles got off to a rough start when they were two-hit by Williamston’s Keagan Batchelor. They bounced back against Pinckney, with Fin Stanaway throwing a five-inning shutout, Logan Randall hitting a home run and Dylan Crowe hitting two doubles.
Brighton has the most Shelander championships with 14, followed by Howell with 10 and Hartland with nine. The tournament ran from 1975-2015 with two years rained out, then was revived last year.
A 6-3 loss to Dexter in the first game and allowing eight runs in a 14-8 victory over Pinckney prevented Brighton from adding to its total. In between, the Bulldogs won 12-2 over Williamston.
Brighton’s Aden Bailey was 6-for-11 with a home run, triple and nine RBIs in the tournament. Josh Metz allowed three hits in five innings against Williamston and was 2-for-3 with four RBIs against Pinckney. Ben Holster was 3-for-4 with two doubles against Pinckney. Pinckney’s Henry Taube hit a home run.
Howell began the tournament with an 8-2 victory over Pinckney. Danny Hampton homered and Johnny Cove allowed two runs and struck out seven in 6 1/3 innings for the Highlanders. Taube was 2-for-3 with a triple for the Pirates.
Howell then went 10 innings before losing 8-6 to Dexter. Each team scored in the eighth and ninth innings to extend the game, with a single by Cove in the ninth keeping Howell alive. Dexter won on a two-run double by Cooper Arnedt in the top of the 10th.
Howell lost 5-2 to Williamston in its final game.
Softball
Michigan Challenge
Pinckney went 4-1 with two walk-off victories, Brighton went 3-2, Hartland was 2-3 and Howell was 0-4 in a two-day tournament at Canton Sports Center.
Freshman Mollie Miller got Pinckney started with a game-winning two-out triple in the bottom of the seventh in a 5-4 victory over Erie Mason. Jade Chelenyak struck out 10.
Natally Pease drove in four runs in a 6-4 victory over Bloomfield Hills before the Pirates beat L’Anse Creuse 4-3 when Emma Fesl hit a game-tying single and scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the final inning.
On Sunday, Pease homered in a 6-4 victory over Petersburg Summerfield and Chelenyak hit a two-run homer in a 4-2 loss to Vicksburg.
Brighton won its first three games Saturday, 6-4 over Grand Haven, 12-7 over Walled Lake Western and 5-3 over Grosse Pointe South. Libby Carah was 6-for-9 with a home run, three doubles and eight runs for Brighton.
On Sunday, Brighton lost 7-2 to Carleton Airport and 6-0 to New Baltimore Anchor Bay.
Hartland bookended victories of 4-3 over St. Clair Shores Lake Shore and 13-9 over Ida around losses of 7-3 to Macomb Dakota, 12-6 to Canton and 8-7 to Ottawa Lake-Whiteford.
Reese Dunny drove in two runs in each of Hartland’s first two games. Kaitlyn Brennan hit a three-run homer against Canton.
Howell, playing without its top pitcher, lost 8-3 to Trenton, 12-6 to Escanaba, 16-7 to Ida and 12-2 to Saginaw Heritage.
Leighton Scott was 9-for-12 with two triples and four doubles for Howell. Layla McCarthy hit a grand slam against Escanaba and also homered against Ida, as did Caitlin Watripont.
Boys golf
Katke Classic
Hartland finished fourth with a two-round total of 627 and Brighton was seventh with a 631 in a 19-team tournament on the site of the state Division 1 finals at Ferris State University. Birmingham Brother Rice and Detroit Catholic Central tied for first with 611s.
Hartland’s Aidan Oake and Brighton’s Grady Bissett were the only Livingston County golfers to shoot in the 70s both days. Oake was 10th after shooting 77 and 77. Bissett was 14th after rounds of 79 and 76. Hartland’s Liam Kastamo was also 14th, following an 83 with a 72.
Hartland’s Michael Maurin shot 76 and 81 and Brighton’s Brandon Lovejoy shot 80 and 77 to tie for 20th.
Girls tennis
Division 1, Region 2 tournament
Brighton finished third with 15 points to miss a state-qualifying berth by one place. Northville won with 31 and Novi was second with 25.
Reaching the semifinals in singles were Hartland’s Arianna Kinney at No. 1, Brighton’s Ruby Pennala (No. 2), Brighton’s Irelynd Otis (No. 3) and Brighton’s Brier Skelton (No. 4).
Semifinalists for Brighton in doubles were Kadance Radwanski-Balogh and Claire Chandler (No. 1), Deeyana Babaei and Alexis Ainsworth (No. 2), Kylie Henry and Nora O’Malley (No. 3) and Emma Wendrick and Lillian Pennala (No. 4). Hartland’s Gabriella McClue and Isabella Gembel made the semis at No. 4 doubles.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Hartland baseball wins Lee Shelander Classic on tie-breaker
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
