ADRIAN — MLB wasn't the only all-star game going on Tuesday night as 22 graduated seniors split into two teams for the 2024 Lenawee County All-Star Softball Game.
This season's teams split into teams named after two of the premier brands in baseball and softball, Rawlings and Wilson, with the Rawlings team (Adrian, Clinton, Madison, Onsted and Tecumseh) beating Wilson (Addison, Blissfield, Morenci and Sand Creek), 3-2. Hudson was also part of Wilson with two, but neither could play after it was postponed from last week and two others from Adrian and Tecumseh also couldn't play for Rawlings.
For the second-straight season, it was an exciting one-run game, making it five-out-of-seven games to be decided by one run or tied.
"I think what makes this one special is we ask coaches to draft a team," Madison coach Bill Flores said. "We try to make the teams as fair as possible so that we have a good game and we don't have these blowouts or mercies or anything like that.
"Hats off to all the coaches who took a part in this and helped put the teams together. I think they did a pretty good job."
Clinton's Kendall Phillip was the clear MVP for Rawlings as she got the win in the circle and was the best hitter in the game.
She hit a sacrifice fly RBI in the first inning, tripled in the fourth and later scored and hit an RBI triple in the sixth. She tossed three shutout innings to start the game and re-entered for the seventh to close it out, going four innings total allowing a run, two hits and three hits while striking out five.
"It was fun and stressless," Phillip said. "It was a little bittersweet, because I've played with half of these girls in travel ball and to play with my high school teammates one more time."
Alongside Phillip was Tecumseh's Wendy Ketola, who singled in her first at-bat and stole two bases to setup Phillip's SAC fly, and her teammate Bella Juozapaitis who had a single and a SAC fly of her own to score Phillip after her triple in the fourth. Tecumseh's Emma Leitner and Natalie Petty each had singles as well while Leitner tossed three innings and gave up an unearned run, on two hits and no walks while striking out three.
The Wilson MVP was Blissfield's Bella Treloar, who tossed all seven innings and gave up the three earned runs, on six hits and three walks while striking out six. Treloar singled in a run in the sixth while Addison's Lexi Patterson hit a double and Sand Creek's Claire Pickens had a single.
Blissfield's Alexis O'Brien hit an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to make it a 3-2 game, but Madison's Roni Flores made a stellar play at second-base to rob Patterson of a hit and hold the tying run at second base before a groundout to first by the next batter closed out the game.
"It's a memory for the books," Roni Flores said. "It's a good way to go out."
All-Star Scores
2024 - Rawlings 3, Wilson 2
2023 - White 12, Red 11
2022 - Blue 6, Gold 6
2021 - Gold 7, Blue 1
2020 - Green 13, White 5
2019 - Maize 5, Blue, 5
2018 - Maize 2, Blue 1
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