Escanaba junior Addison Noblet, left, secures the catch on a fly ball during an MHSAA Division 2 softball semifinal game against Richmond on Thursday at Michigan State University’s Secchia Stadium in East Lansing. (Daily Press photo by Mitch Vosburg)

EAST LANSING — The clock struck midnight on the No. 1 Escanaba softball team’s 2025 campaign.

Esky fell 2-0 to No. 7 Richmond in the MHSAA Division 2 state semifinal round Thursday at Secchia Stadium on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing.

The Eskymos finished the season with a record of 40-5 and reached the final four for the first time since 2022.

With one out and runners on second and third for the downstate Blue Devils, catcher Ashley Stafford grounded out to first base for the inning’s second out. Esky first baseman McKenzie Engebretson opted to fire to third base in hopes of getting the third out, but her throw was offline.

Esky senior Katey Lamb made a diving play, but was ultimately called for obstruction as the ball sailed into foul territory. Both Richmond baserunners scored, the only two runs senior Grayson LaMarche allowed in the entire postseason.

The Eskymos mustered one hit in the loss, when Engebretson led off the bottom of the fifth with a single up the gut. Freshman Abby Derkos was tapped to be a pinch runner with junior Harlee Coolman up to bat. 

Coolman took the first pitch for a strike. Stafford immediately fired the ball down to first base and got the tag out when Derkos didn’t get back in time. Coolman struck out and senior Maddy Mott flew out to end the fifth.

“She mixed (her pitches) really well,” Esky coach Andy Fields of Richmond’s Katie Shuboy’s efforts in the circle. “It wasn’t anything we haven’t seen this year, but she was an excellent locator. It was tough to get a read on what she was doing.”

LaMarche, in her final start for the Eskymos, allowed two unearned runs off three hits with three walks and 13 strikeouts in a losing effort. Shuboy earned the win, walking one and striking out 12 in a complete-game shutout.