On the Diamond: Jonesville left fielder Carsen Cornila sends Bradley home to beat Napoleon
Watch Jonesville junior Carsen Cornila drive in the game-winning run (5-4 final) with a double base hit in the bottom of the seventh inning.
READING — As the opponents get tougher each round of the MHSAA baseball postseason, it is likely that one team deserving of a longer run eventually runs into another equally deserving.
That likely reality played out on the fields of Siena Heights University when the Reading baseball team played Petersburg Summerfield in the Region 29 semifinals.
Summerfield was able to slowly take an early lead, and impressive fielding kept the Rangers from bringing home runs to match. Summerfield would win the semifinals in a 7-0 final. Summerfield plays Vermontville Maple Valley for a regional title and the right to play in a state quarterfinal.
The Bulldogs held an early 2-0 lead after three. They added two more runs in the fifth and closed out the game with three in the seventh. Reading senior Drew Elder pitched 5 2/3 innings, striking out three and giving up four earned runs on six hits. Keven Denison and Will Elder combined for 1 1/3 innings in relief. Denison had a strikeout and gave up two earned runs.
The Rangers were held to just four hits. Will Elder, senior Lukas Strine, Chase Anderson and senior Peyton Green each had a base hit. The Rangers were able to stack the bases in a couple of occasions, but the Bulldog fielders made little-to-no mistakes making plays.
For the Rangers and coach Devin Marquart, the loss brought a close to a postseason run that saw the team earn its first district title since 2018. The team, which had struggled earlier in the season, continued to grow into a competitive playoff contender as the season rolled into May.
The Rangers, led by four senior ball players, defeated Pittsford 7-5 and then longtime district rival Camden-Frontier 10-3 to earn a district championship. The high school athletic careers of Drew Elder, Peyton Green, Lukas Strine and Stephen Anderson came to a close.
The senior group had sustained success their final year as Ranger athletes. They helped lead the Ranger football team to a district title, their first for the program since their 2019 state title run. Both Green and Strine earned multiple honors for their efforts. Strine earned a district title during the wrestling season and also went on to earn all-state for the first time in his career at the MHSAA wrestling finals, earning a final season record of 41-12.
Stephen Anderson, an all-conference and dream team honoree, will continue his baseball career at the next level with Adrian College. All four seniors look to continue studies either in trade work or at a collegiate institution.
“It’s been fun,” Drew Elder said. “We kind of based every game that we just want to be better than where we started. I feel like the group of guys we had; they always came to practice wanting to get better. I feel like we accomplished that goal. Going from one conference win to district champions, (it’s been) a total 180 from beginning of the year to now. Hopefully they will be better next year.”
Stat Leaders
The team leader in batting average was Gavin Wright with a .309. Stephen Anderson led the team with a .404 on-base-percentage. Wright led the team in slugging percentage with .368. Wright led the team with 20 hits. Drew Elder and Stephen Anderson led the team with three doubles each. Drew Elder, Wright, Denison and Dominic Badgley led the team with a triple-base hit each. Anderson had the team’s lone home run. Wright and Will Elder were tied with 14 RBIs. Will Elder led the team with nine runs. Will Elder and Anderson were tied for the lead in steals with 15.
Drew Elder started 14 games for the Rangers, one of the largest start numbers in the County this season. He earned five of Reading’s eight wins this season, including the district title win over Camden-Frontier. He led the team with 82 strikeouts. He had a WHIP of 2.006 and an ERA of 5.467.
Senior catcher Lukas Strine led the team with 155 putouts and a fielding percentage of .0909.