Shelby softball ends Hart's 5-year district run, wins first title since 2004

SHELBY — Great pitching from Jayna Burmeister and all-around hitting by the Shelby Tigers' lineup delivered the home team to an 8-1 victory over archrival Hart in Saturday's district final, giving Shelby its first championship since capping an 11-year run of consecutive titles in 2004.

The Tigers' win ended Hart's own five-year run of district titles. Hart defeated Montague 19-1 in the semifinals earlier Saturday.

With the win, Shelby advanced to Saturday's regional tournament in Ravenna. The Tigers will face No. 5-ranked Morley-Stanwood in the semifinals, with No. 3 Ravenna looming on the other side of the bracket.

"The main thing is, good teams put the ball in play and you've got to make the plays that you can," Shelby coach Kevin Burmeister said. "When you kick the ball around, it's easy (for the other team) to score a few extra runs. We made almost every play that we could have today. Stella (Springer) played great in right field, caught three balls. Izzy (Rudat), on the right side, caught a fly ball at first. A couple balls to Jayna.

"We just did what we needed to do. We put seven innings together, and that was our goal, was to play our best ball this weekend and have a chance to play into the postseason."

Burmeister did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, by which point her team already led 3-0. She struck out 12, walked only one and permitted just three hits. The Tigers made only one error in the field.

It was a far different story from when the teams met earlier in May, when Hart was able to manage five hits off Burmeister and took advantage of key miscues to score eight times in what became a dramatic Tigers' victory.

"We had a couple errors the first game, and I think that's a big difference, and I think I allowed that to get in my head a little," Jayna Burmeister said of the teams' earlier matchup. "I think that everybody was on the same page (today). We were all locked in. We all knew what we wanted to do with the ball, so I think we just executed better."

Shelby grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Burmeister reached on an error and advanced to second base. She then stole third, and Jordan Wolting drove her in with a single.

The score stayed 1-0 until the third, when Burmeister started another rally with a single. Emma Stovall ripped a RBI double to bring her in, then came around to score on a throwing error.

The Pirates had four errors in all during the game, but six of the eight runs they gave up were earned. Hart coach Dean DeVries said the Tigers simply hit the ball hard and made life difficult for his team. The bigger issue, from his perspective, was the 12 strikeouts by Burmeister.

"One place where we have to improve is putting the ball in play," DeVries said. "We're going to see Jayna for another two years, and most likely in districts, so we've got to be able to put the ball in play a little bit better. It's hard to adjust to that speed.

"I feel for our seniors: Leah Walker, Makenna Carrier and Maria Rodriguez. They gave us everything they had. They played some key positions for us over the last four years. It was really sad to see those three go."

Hart finally did get on the board in the fourth when Caydence Bateson led off with a double, then stole third base and stole home. Bateson later led off the sixth with a triple, but Burmeister got the next three batters in order.

The Tigers piled up some more runs in the fourth thanks to two-run singles by both Burmeister and Wolting, the team's top hitters all year. Burmeister put a bow on the Tigers' win by launching a home run to right center field to lead off the bottom of the sixth.

Kevin Burmeister said he's been extremely impressed with the team's growth since a 5-23 season just two years ago, the year before he became head coach.

"The girls have grown so much, especially on the softball side," coach Burmeister said. "That freshman group was dealt a tough hand their first year. Last year we improved a ton, and then this season the girls really bought in into what we're doing. They're good ballplayers. The hardest thing was to get them to believe in themselves. They're starting to do that. When the ball's put in play, I know that we have a chance to make that play.

"The girls worked hard, and I told them at the end when we met, 'You guys deserved this. You worked for it. That was one of your goals, you put in the work, and you achieved that.' Everything goes to them for doing that."

Burmeister got three hits and Wolting and Stovall had two each. Burmeister scored four times and drove in three, and Wolting also drove in three runs.

Hart scored four or more times in each of the four innings played in the semifinals against Montague. Carrier, Walker and Reese Smith got three hits each, including a home run by Smith. The junior star drove in two runs and scored four. Elyssa Tanis drove in three runs. Smith and Tanis combined for a four-inning no-hitter. Smith struck out five in three innings.

"Reese Smith has been an absolute bulldog for us," DeVries said. "She's had to throw a lot of our innings this year. I wouldn't say she quite had her best stuff today, but at the same time, she's a bulldog out there. There was a couple times we didn't make plays behind her, and she's still out there trying to throw strikes, keeping us in the game."

The extremely young Shelby roster - there are no seniors on the team - knows they'll be the underdogs Saturday, but gaining experience by playing at the regional level will be a major asset no matter what.

"We're not worried about Ravenna," coach Burmeister said. "We're worried about game one. Game one is our main focus. Next week, we're going to get better every day. As long as we give ourselves a chance come Saturday, you never know. Sometimes crazy things happen in this game."