Softball Claims Second Tournament Title at Quincy Inv.

The red-hot Stockbridge softball team claimed its second tournament title in as many weeks Saturday as the Panthers brought home the hardware from the Quincy Invitational.

The Quincy title came one week after winning the Blissfield tournament and the Panthers are making a name for themselves.

Stockbridge was invited to play in the 39th Annual Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame Softball Classic for the second straight year. The tournament invites the top eight teams each year from the greater Lansing area to participate in the three-day event. The Panthers will take on Haslett at 8:00 PM at Rainey Park in Lansing Tuesday, May 21.

The Panthers opened the Quincy tournament by throttling the host school 14-0.

Emily Breslin gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single and the Panthers blew it open with six runs in the second inning. Taylor Carey and Hannah Gutting had two-run singles in the inning to extend the Panthers lead.

Breslin and the Panther defense did the rest as the Orioles really had just one threat when they put a pair of runners on in the fourth, but a strikeout and a line out to Carey at short ended the threat.

Gutting led the Panther offense with three hits and two RBI, while Breslin had two hits and drove in four. Carey had two hits and two RBI and Hannah Lockhart added two hits and an RBI. Madi Mazuca and Paige Wooden chipped in with a hit and RBI each.

Breslin allowed just two hits and struck out 10 in the circle for the Panthers.

The championship game saw the Panthers take down a strong Adrian-Madison team 5-3.

A long, nearly five-hour break between the first game and the championship didn’t slow the Panthers as a two-out two-run single by Michelle Zemke put Stockbridge on top 2-0 in the second inning.

Madison battled back to tie the game in the fifth with a two-run single to make it 2-2.

In the bottom of the fifth, Zemke reached base on a dropped third strike by the Madison catcher and two batters later Carey ripped a shot to center that got through to the fence and she raced around the bases for an inside the park home run to give the Panthers a 4-2 lead.

Madison got one back in the 6th to cut the lead to 4-3, but the Panthers answered with a sacrifice fly by Lockhart to score Gutting to make it 5-3.

A single in the seventh put the tying run at the plate with one out for Madison, but a pop fly and a strikeout ended the game to give the Panthers the title.

The Panther offense could muster just five hits, but they made them count as five of the eight base runners they had, scored.

Carey and Zemke each had a hit and two RBI, while Katelyn Knieper, Wooden, and Gutting had one hit each.

Breslin struck out nine in the game and allowed six hits. The 19 strikeouts on the day set a milestone for Breslin as she surpassed the 500 career strikeout mark as a junior. She has 143 strikeouts so far this season.

The Panthers improved to 15-3 overall.

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