Warriors Title Defense Continues With Comeback Victory and Dominant District Title Win

Photos by Kelly Evans, JTV Sports

Trey Richmond | JTV Sports

Saturday May 30th, 2026

(5-30-2026, 9:00PM): Grass Lake defeated Columbia Central in the Division 3 district semi-finals (7-4) and took down Napoleon in the final (14-3) to continue the title defense at Onsted HS on Saturday.

Grass Lake Defeats Columbia Central with Late Comeback

In the bottom of the first, Hailey Wetherby got the Golden Eagle offense on the board with a line drive into center field getting Kelsey Fausz home to take the 1-0 lead.

The third inning brought explosive offense for Columbia Central. Gabby Gaydosh sent a run home with a grounder to the pitcher that extended the lead to 2.

With the bases loaded, a grounder got hit towards the pitcher’s circle, to Morgan Conrad. She fielded the grounder, threw the ball home to force that out and it turned into a double play at 1st. Bella Knapp sent the ball into right field allowing the two runners in scoring position to make their way home inflating the lead to 4-0 for the Golden Eagles. Columbia Central had firm control of the game up until the sixth inning.

The Warriors fought back by scoring five runs in the inning, transforming the four run deficit into a one run lead. Makenzie Hilberer started the scoring off by sneaking a hit between the shortstop and third basemen, getting Lily McVicker home to start the run. Conrad took advantage of the momentum and sent two more runs home on her single, cutting the lead to 1. Mikayla Jurek launched one deep into right field to even the game at four, and a subsequent wild pitch allowed another run for the Warriors to take their first lead at 5-4.

Columbia Central went three up and three out in the bottom of the sixth, then Grass Lake continued their offensive flurry with Hilberer and Leilah Smith recording RBIs and cementing the Warriors place into the District Finals with a 7-4 victory over the Golden Eagles.

Photos by Kelly Evans, JTV Sports

Pirates Take Down Panthers in High Scoring Fashion

Stockbridge started off hot with Ava Lucas launching a shot deep into center field for a double and an RBI. Then, Zoey Horstman stepped up to the plate and sent the ball soaring over the center field fence for a two run homer.

In the bottom of the first, Napoleon exceeded Stockbridge’s scoring pace. Hayden Rendall got to second with her hit and an error that also allowed 2 runs to score. Katelyn Ault both hitting a double each delivered runs home. Jocelyn Gamez also sent a run home giving the pirates the 5-3 lead.

This scoring pace continued in the following innings. A two run RBI from Laura Humrich helped give the Panthers a 7-5 advantage atop the second. Jada Gallagher’s RBI line drive into center was the last scoring play of the second inning with the Pirates leading 8-7. Airiana Smith and McKenna Mezo’s RBI’s in the third gave the Panthers the 9-8 lead.

That was the last Panther lead. Bottom of the third, the Pirates scored 3 runs to take the 11-9 lead including a Molly Simpson RBI deep into left field.

Napoleon kept scoring. One run in the fourth, two in the fifth, and one in the sixth before closing the game out atop the seventh inning 15-10, punching their ticket in the District Title game.

Grass Lake With Dominant District Title Win

Unlike the Semi-Finals match for Grass Lake, they started out with the lead due to Leilah Smith sending Lily McVicker home. However, similar to the earlier game, they entered the second inning trailing. Napoleon’s Katelyn Ault’s RBI helped secure the Pirates’ first and only lead at 2-1.

Atop of the second inning, Addalynn Hensen evened the game up at 2 for the Warriors via her single to the shortstop that sent a run in. In the third inning, Grass Lake scored nine runs including Leilah Smith’ two-run RBI double, Morgan Conrad’s double into left-center field, and Makenzie Hilberer’s inside the park home run off a shot into center field. The Warriors led 11-2.

Grass Lake scored two more runs in the fourth including McVicker’s single RBI into right field and Kennedy Collins’ solo homerun over the center field fence in the 5th inning solidifying the Warriors district title over Napoleon 14-3. GL wins its 2nd straight district trophy; they will face Homer in the Regional Semifinal next Saturday (6/6) at Hanover Horton HS.