County Seat Newspaper
of Clare County
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By BEN MURPHY
Cleaver Sports Writer
Needing just three more outs and facing the bottom of the order, things looked in good order for Clare to get its first ever softball championship on Saturday. Instead, Grass Lake rallied in the top of the seventh to take a 5-2 lead, and they survived a wild bottom of the seventh to hand the Lady Pioneers a 5-4 loss in the Division 3 state championship game, held at Michigan State University.
“We had the lead going into the seventh, then a few things happened, and we were chasing three,” head coach Shane Kelly said. “The girls never gave up and we had the tying run on third base and the winning run on first before Kyley Wyman hit a deep fly ball to left field that was caught. We had our chances there were a few things that didn’t go our way defensively and a few chances on offense that we didn’t capitalize on and the team that made the less mistakes won the game. We had some calls that didn’t help our cause as well, all of that said the girls battled their hearts out.”
The Pioneers were ranked number one entering the post-season; and their journey to the state title game was certainly a challenging one.
“The girls had a long tough road to get to the final game this year having to beat the three top five teams along the way in order to get (there),” Kelly said. “We then had to play the number six team in Grass Lake and gave them all they could handle.”
The game started off well for Clare. Kyley Wyman was her usual dominant self in the circle, pitching around an error in the first inning to keep Grass Lake off the board and she fanned two batters in the second as well.
In the bottom of the second, Clare loaded the bases after singles by Breez Yarger and Wyman and a two out walk from Pam Allen. A fly ball ended the threat a batter later however.
A double with two outs in the top of the third helped Grass Lake take a 1-0, though the Pioneers would tie it in the bottom of the fourth.
Wyman got on base with a bunt single. She stole second base and moved over to third on a bunt by Savannah Buzzelli. Wyman then came in to score on a passed ball to knot things up at 1-1 after four.
Wyman struck out two batters in both the fifth and sixth innings to keep Grass Lake from threatening, and Clare took its 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth.
With one out, Morgan Campbell singled, and Sophia Buzzelli was subbed in to run the bases. Wyman got on next after getting hit by a pitch, and Savannah Buzzelli followed with an RBI single just through the infield, scoring Sophia Buzzelli who raced home for the one run lead.
Things took a turn in the top of the seventh, however. Two walks and two infield singles sparked Grass Lake’s rally, as they took a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
Clare nearly pulled off a historic comeback. With one out, Addison McMillan hit a triple to left field and Tessa Kelly drove her in with an RBI single to make it 5-3. Madison Jones nearly hit a triple of her own, but her hit down the third base line was ruled foul. After Jones was retired for the second out, Yarger smacked an RBI double, scoring Kelly to pull the team within 5-4.
A single by Campbell put runners on first and third with two outs, but a fly ball to left field ended it moments later.
“All season long are girls battled until the very end, the whole post season like I said was filled with excellent competition and we had to battle for every win,” Kelly said. “I told the girls we have scored more than three runs in an inning so many times this year, lets do it again. They fought until the very end and until the last ball was caught, I truly believed we were going to make it happen.”
Wyman finished the game by going all seven innings in the circle, allowing five runs, four earned on six hits, 10 strikeouts and three walks.
As for the offense, Yarger had three hits and one RBI while Campbell and Wyman (one run) had two hits apiece. Kelly and Savannah Buzzelli had one hit and one RBI apiece and McMillan singled and scored once. Allen got on base twice with walks, while Alissa Brandon also got on with a walk.
“The girls never wavered all season, they knew they were prepared for anything and even when things didn’t go our way they never gave up and battled until the very end, and for that I am so very proud of my girls,” Kelly said.
Also, what stood out was the amazing support from our community and all the other surrounding area schools. It was so amazing to see the crowd at the stadium standing room only, and the number of positive messages went along ways for us.”
Clare reached the state championship game, thanks to their 2-1 victory over fourth ranked Ravenna on Friday in the semi-finals.
Ravenna took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, getting a walk with the bases loaded; by Wyman eluded further damage to help keep her team in the game. Clare tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth inning, getting a two out single by Alissa Brandon.
With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth, Campbell came up with two outs and a runner on first base. She drilled a double to left field, scoring the runner and giving the team a 2-1 advantage.
Wyman retired Ravenna in order in their final at bats to punch their state finals ticket.
Wyman went all seven innings in the win, giving up one run on three hits, 11 strikeouts and one walk.
At the plate, Campbell had one double and one RBI, Brandon had one hit, one RBI and she also got on once with a walk. Yarger and Wyman both singled and scored a run.
Clare finishes the season 39-3 overall. They won the Jack Pine Conference undefeated and survived a challenging post-season schedule to win district and regional titles’ culminating with their first state finals appearance.
“The girls proved that if you work hard, hold each other accountable, put the team first and all have the same goal anything is possible,” Kelly said. “This team will always have a special spot in my heart. They are the best softball team to ever be in Clare; they have accomplished so much. They made Clare softball what it is today. There are so many young ladies that look up to my girls and they want to be just like the 2025 Clare softball team. They set so many records and won so many games, they were three outs away from a state championship, however with all that being said that isn’t the most important part of what they did. They showed all the little girls in our community that if you want to do or be something all you have to do is put your mind to it and it can come true.”
The coach hopes that the dedication that this year’s team had will pave the way to future success, even though they’re losing many key pieces to graduation.
“These girls all had a common goal, to get back to MSU and make it to Saturday and see what happens,” Kelly said. “I am so very proud of this team for all of these things. The future is going to be very bright for Clare softball for years to come, we have a lot of hungry girls that want to show everyone what they are made of and are excited to get their shot. I am looking forward to the future the sky is the limit for the Lady Pioneers.”
© Clare County Cleaver
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