Following a dominant 32-4 regular season, the Cardinals rolled to a district championship with two victories over Ludington and Gladwin. Now, Big Rapids faces their toughest battle yet for a chance to reach the Region 9 championship game.

Coming out of District 34, Coach Thompson’s team has been known for their offense. The Cardinals have averaged 11.18 runs per game, one of the highest in Division 2. Big Rapids has also played a tough non-conference schedule, earning a 14-4 record with their only losses coming against the top Division 1 team Macomb Dakota, ranked Division 2 teams Hudsonville Unity Christian and Wayland, and a road loss to 26-win Mt. Pleasant. Big Rapids enters the regional tournament as Division 2’s number 10 team in the MHSAA rankings.

For the opposing Blue Devils, their offense is one of few that has recorded more runs than Big Rapids. Gaylord currently holds an average of 11.89 runs per game this season, almost 0.7 higher than the Cardinals. As Division 2’s top team, Gaylord’s only two losses came to Division’s 1 number 5 ranked Hartland and top ranked Macomb Dakota.

The winner of Saturday’s first semi-final will face the winner of Essexville Garber, a state semi-finalist last year, and Freeland, a team who upset Garber on the road a few weeks ago. Each game will be held on the Lincoln Softball Field at Cadillac High School on Saturday, June 10.

 

Regional 9 Semi-Final Matchups

#10 Big Rapids (34-4*) vs. #1 Gaylord (34-2*) – Lincoln Softball Field – June 10 @ 10:00 A.M.

Big Rapids: 11.18 runs scored per game; 2.37 runs allowed per game

Gaylord: 11.89 runs scored per game; 0.83 runs allowed per game

 

HM Freeland (30-10*) vs. #4 Essexville Garber (36-4) – Lincoln Softball Field – June 10 @ 12:00 P.M

Freeland: 9.55 runs scored per game; 3.43 runs allowed per game

Gaylord: 9.58 runs scored per game; 2.08 runs allowed per game

 

Regional 9 Final Matchup

Semi-Final Winners – Lincoln Softball Field – June 10 @ 2:00 P.M

 

*-Records acquired via GameChanger App