Michigan high school softball: Stevensville Lakeshore wins Division 2 title, 6-2 over Trenton
EAST LANSING — Once broadcast cameras turned away from longtime Stevensville Lakeshore coach Denny Dock after the Lancers' 6-2 win over Trenton in the Division 2 finals at Secchia Stadium on Michigan State's campus, his wife, Sue, carefully snuck up behind him as he fielded one last question.
Dock's postgame interview was nearing the 10-minute mark. Sue, who'd been standing just a few yards behind Lakeshore's now eight-time state title-winning coach, grew impatient. In the middle of his answer, Sue slowly hugged her husband from the side, briefly catching him off guard.
"I waited long enough, sorry," Sue said, hugging him tighter as they both shared a laugh. "That's eight. ... Everybody wants to know if you're coming back next year to get nine."
"If we can pitch," Dock responded.
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The Lancers' defense was what made them a title-contending team this season, Dock said. It helped them defeat Otsego and Wayland Union in regionals, Jackson Northwest in the quarterfinals and Escanaba in the semifinals — never allowing more than one run along the way. Against the Trojans, pitchers Ava Mullen and Avery Arwood combined for six strikeouts and six allowed hits on 102 total pitches.
Still, Trenton scored first. A single from Annika Segedi brought home Aleah Tanguay in the bottom of the third inning. Then in the fourth, Tanguay picked up a single to right-center, scoring Kendyl Gearhart.
Lakeshore (41-4) answered back to start the fifth inning. A single from Gabby Solloway mixed with a fielding error by Trenton allowed Gianna Kerschbaum and Aley Chavez to reach home. Next at-bat, Solloway scored an unearned run after Anna Chellman grounded out to put the Lancers ahead.
In the top of the sixth, a sacrifice bunt by Olivia DenDooven brought in Pallas Dominion, giving Lakeshore a 4-2 lead. The Lancers added two more runs in the seventh thanks to RBIs from Chellman and Eden Gray.
"(In) our program, there's tears and there's cheers," Dock said. "We have a little bit of both, but fortunately, we have a lot more cheers than tears. ... (This season), we stopped talking about getting here. I think that was a big help ... we just dropped that and we got better again."
Chellman led the Lancers with two RBIs in four at-bats. Trenton (34-11) had six hits, two RBIs and two errors in the game. Aila Johnson pitched all seven innings, recording two strikeouts and allowing seven hits.
Appearing for the first time in the finals since their runner-up finish in 2005, the Trojans defeated Milan and Flat Rock in regional play, Center Line in the quarterfinals and Essexville Garber to make to Saturday's game.
"We will be back," Trenton coach Rick Tanguay said. "We made a couple bad decisions on a couple balls. That's it. It was good softball (today), and the girls tried their hardest."
Contact Chandler Engelbrecht: CEngelbrecht@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @ctengelbrecht.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MHSAA softball: Stevensville Lakeshore wins Division 2 state title
