By DREW KOCHANNY

Petoskey News

and Journal staff

BOYNE CITY — When asked about the 38-1 season put together by his Negaunee Miners girls’ softball team, the first word that Coach Randy Carlson used was “remarkable.”

“I never dreamed we would go through the regular season undefeated. It’s almost like a fairytale,” Carlson said. “But I always say if you want to keep winning, you’ve got to be good, but you’ve gotta be lucky as well.”

Carlson said before the MHSAA Division 3 softball regional on Saturday that he believed any of the four teams facing off could come away with the title.

Charlevoix did that with a 3-1 victory over the Miners in the regional final Saturday.

Negaunee’s first game of the day was against Upper Peninsula rival Gladstone.

“That went really well,” Carlson said. “We got out to the early lead and Josie Thomson pitched a great game. It felt like we were in control for most of the game.”

Negaunee won, 5-0.

On the other half of the bracket, Charlevoix edged Kalkaska, 2-1.

The Charlevoix softball coaches haven’t had to worry about keeping the team from looking ahead throughout the postseason.

They’re having too much fun in the moment to worry about anything else but the next pitch coming their way or the next out to get.

And because of that, they’re one of the few with more swings to take and outs to count.

With the odds stacked against them once again in a loaded Division 3 softball regional that included a 38-0 Negaunee team and traditional power Gladstone, the Rayders are moving on after a pair of close regional victories in Boyne City Saturday, including over the unbeaten Miners.

“We talk about it every day that they’re just 15 kids that love to play,” Charlevoix coach Tom Zipp said. “We keep taking the pressure off ourselves. We’re going out there not afraid to lose. That’s how we win. Negaunee was 38-0 coming into this game. The pressure was on them. The same thing with Boyne City last week. I can’t put it any other way. We’re just not afraid to lose when we play loose. It’s worked out.”

It certainly has worked out throughout the postseason and the wins came in a 2-1 victory over Kalkaska in the regional semifinal, a team they split with during the regular season, then in a 3-1 victory over Negaunee in the championship after being down 1-0 following a solo blast by the Miners.

The win moves the Rayders (20-15) into the Division 3 quarterfinal round, a place Zipp doesn’t believe any Charlevoix team has been before, as they take on Standish-Sterling at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Cadillac.

Against Negaunee, Charlevoix attitudes stayed calm and collected after Negaunee’s Katelyn Lammi hit out a solo home run in the top of the third, as they then put a rally together in the bottom frame of the third.

Grace Lentz singled in Brodin to make it a 1-1 game, then Anna Kemp came around to score after Avery Zipp reached on an error.

Kate Klinger later grounded out, though not before Lentz came around to make it a 3-1 game.

Now with the lead, that would be all Rayder pitcher Madelyn Sandison needed to keep up in the circle, as she went on to strike out a pair in the fourth, added one more in both the fifth and six innings, then struck out the side in the seventh to deliver the victory.

Sandison pitched another gem of a game, going all seven innings with three hits and two walks allowed, while striking out 11 batters.

For Negaunee, Lammi had the home run, then Grace Nardi and Larissa Anderson collected the only other hits.

Josie Thomson took the loss after six innings, surrendering five hits and no walks, while striking out four.

Negaunee coach Carlson will be losing seven seniors to graduation.

“They are four, really four-and-a-half, starters, so we are losing quality players,” Carlson said. “We had five underclassmen in the lineup for most games.

“We have been very fortunate to have good teams every year and every year we lose some good kids and you wonder how you are going to replace them. But those young kids pick up the slack. They learn from being under great older players.”

One thing Carlson will not miss is changes COVID-19 forced on sports this school year.

“By the end of the season, it was no different than it had been in previous years. It seemed normal,” he said. “No masks. It was just regular softball at that point.”