Swan Valley dedicated its softball field Saturday and earned a doubleheader split on the newly named Kennelly Softball Complex.
The Vikings named their field in honor of former coach Tom Kennelly, earning a doubleheader split with Alpena with a 2-1 loss in the opener and a 5-4 win in the second game.
Kennelly retired after the 2022 season with more than 1,225 wins, including a softball state title in 1986. His teams finished as state runners-up in 1994, 2002, 2012 and 2013. When Kennelly retired, he was the third winningest coach in Michigan high school softball history.
Kennelly, who coached 43 years, is in the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame.
In Saturday’s opener, Izzy Coffel homered in the bottom of the seventh for Swan Valley’s lone run. Mia Robinson suffered the loss, allowing six hits, two runs and one walk in seven innings. She struck out six.
Robinson took care of the second game, hitting a grand slam in the fifth inning to propel the Vikings to a one-run win. Alivia Guilbeaux added two hits and Coffel stole three bases. Robinson earned the win in relief, allowing two hits and one run in three innings.
Liam Rump and Gibby Davis had a hit and RBI each to lead Freeland to the Game 1 win. Robby Mularz earned the win, with six strikeouts in four innings. Tucker Hileman threw a perfect seventh inning for the save. In Game 2, Freeland scored six runs in the seventh to break a 0-0 tie. Karson Worth hit a three-run triple, and Rump added a two-run single. Tucker Hileman and Alex Schuette combined for a one-hit shutout, with Hileman throwing 2 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball. Schuette threw the final 4 2/3 innings, allowing one hit with two strikeouts for the 4-0 Falcons.
Swan Valley topped Jackson Northwest 8-4 and Cheboygan 11-2 to win the St. Johns Invitational. Brady Stephens earned the win against Northwest, striking out three and allowing one hit. Jackson Gebauer drove in two runs, with Gavin Grandy and Jack Lagan scoring two runs each. Jackson Hartley walked twice. Braden Ray struck out five and allowed two hits for the win against Cheboygan. Gebauer and Stephens led the offense with two hits each, with Gebauer, Lagan and Hartley driving in two runs each. Lagan scored two runs for the 8-0 Vikings.
Charles Cornford reached base three times for St. Charles in the Game 1 loss with a triple, single and hit by pitch. In the second game, Cornford added two more hits, including a double. Nathan Kutz scored two runs and Aiden Sheltraw stole two bases.
Traverse City West claimed the Freeland Invitational title with 113.5 points to beat out second-place Swan Valley with 89.5 and third-place Freeland with 84. Heritage finished with 46 points, Saginaw United with 35.5, Midland Dow with 31, Nouvel CC with four and Bridgeport with three. Max Heyn led Freeland with wins in the 100-meter dash (:11.21) and 200 (:22.56), while Midland Dow’s Zachary Dzurka swept the hurdles events with wins in the 110 hurdles (:14.49) and 300 hurdles (:39.08). For Swan Valley, Boston Streng-Beougher won the 400 (:50.92) and Ryder Stipanovich claimed the 800 (1:59.00), with both running legs on the Vikings’ winning 1,600 relay. Murphy Wagner added a Swan Valley win in the 1,600 (4:35.39). Heritage’s Antonio Johnson won the discus (148-7), with Saginaw United’s Blake Jones taking first in the high jump (6-6).
Traverse City West won the Freeland Invitational with 130.5 points, with Midland Dow third with 83.5 points, Freeland sixth with 54 and Swan Valley eighth with 35. Saginaw United finished with 20 points, Nouvel CC with 18, Heritage with 10, Bridgeport with six and Saginaw Arts and Sciences with three. Freeland’s Payton Maxey claimed two victories, taking first in the shot put (35-3) and discus (101-4), while Dow’s Autumn Luick also earned a pair of wins in the 100 (:12.49) and 200 (:25.53). Dow also received another first place from Emilia Garces in the 1,600 (5:07.88). Nouvel’s Clair Long won the 400 (:57.32), and Swan Valley’s Aubrey Hare took first in the 300 hurdles (:49.95).
Khloe VanOosten gave Gaylord a 1-0 halftime lead, but Frankenmuth rallied for two goals in the second half for a nonconference win. Alyson Peterson scored twice in the second half, with Addison Bickel getting one assist in the Eagles’ win. Lillian Mickelson made seven saves for Frankenmuth.
Hugh Bernreuter is a sports reporter for MLive.com, focusing on high school sports in the Saginaw area. He has worked as a sports reporter for more than 40 years, starting in 1981. During his career, he has won...
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