BAY CITY, MI – A look at the high school sports scene in Bay County for May 16-18, 2025. Bay County coaches are asked to submit results, highlights and comments the night of each event by emailing lthomps2@mlive.com. BASEBALL: LaCOURSE WINS SHOWDOWN FOR BCW They are both Division I college signees. And the MLB Draft just might be calling. But on this day Bay City Western’s Luke LaCourse and Novi’s Uli Fernsler waged a classic high school pitching duel. LaCourse and the No. 1-ranked Warriors won the much-anticipated showdown 2-1 in the second round of the Rockford Invitational at the Meijer Sports Complex. LaCourse, a Michigan State University commit, was dazzling while ringing up 14 strikeouts and scattering four hits in seven innings of work. The TCU-bound Fernsler struck out 10 and allowed two hits over four innings. Western struck quickly as Jimmey Sequin drilled a leadoff double in the first inning and errors off the bats of Mikey DeLuca and Cal Plarske made it 2-0. No. 12-ranked Novi got its lone run in the fourth. Jimmey Sequin, Jack Sequin and Brayden Simmon collected Western’s lone hits. The Warriors dropped the opener 10-3 to Chippewa Valley. Jimmey Sequin tripled and Plarske doubled for Western, which got six hits from six different sources. Simmon struck out 11 in 5.1 innings on the hill. RELATED: Bay County regional track roundup BASEBALL: STANDISH BOUNCES BACK No. 2-ranked Standish-Sterling suffered its second loss of the season, falling to Frankenmuth 8-2 in the first game of the Frankenmuth Invite. The Panthers (27-2-1) quickly responded with a 6-2 victory over Midland Dow, scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Carson Koin had two hits and joined Ben Briggs with one RBI in the win. Preston Kann allowed three hits over three innings while Landon Nixon came up big with four innings of two-hit relief. Frankenmuth used a six-run third inning to take charge in the opening round. Trace Collins and Rylee Blanchard collected the lone hits for Standish while Collins and Koin drove in runs. BASEBALL: GLENN EARNS TWINBILL SPLIT John Glenn bounced back from an 8-4 loss to Clio with a 6-0 victory in Game 2 of their non-conference doubleheader. Andrew Shufelt was on point again for the Bobcats (15-12), firing 6.1 innings of one-hit ball with six strikeouts. Nick Naylor and Jayden Brenay both tripled in the win, with Naylor and Gunner Mezey each finishing with two hits. Remington Ranck and Shufelt each delivered two hits with an RBI in Game 1. LACROSSE: AREA’S THREE TEAMS BOW OUT A historic lacrosse season is in the books after all three Bay County programs bowed out in the regional quarterfinal round. Bay City Central dropped a 17-0 contest to Oxford, ending the greatest season in program history. The Wolves finished 10-6 on the year, surpassing the win total from its past nine seasons combined. Bay City Western ran into frequent nemesis Flint Powers and suffered a 14-9 setback. The Warriors closed out a 6-12 campaign that saw coach Derek Hugo reach the 100-win milestone. John Glenn dropped an 18-0 decision to Haslett, but not before landing the first postseason victory in program history. The Bobcats downed Midland 5-1 in a pre-regional contest. Glenn (6-8) set a new program record for wins in a season, highlighted by its first-ever victory over Western. SOCCER: No. 1 GARBER HANDED SETBACK No. 1-ranked Essexville Garber suffered its second straight loss, falling to Mount Pleasant 4-1. Garber (12-3-1) played without a few key players but made the most of it. Gabby Carter highlighted a strong all-around performance with her team’s lone goal, coming off a left-footed strike off a Gabi Aguirre pass. Madison Humphries had a solid game in goal for the Dukes, who were coming off a loss to Frankenmuth. SOFTBALL: CENTRAL FINISHES STRONG Bay City Central dropped its first two games but ended on a high note in a 1-2 weekend at the Frankenmuth Invitational. The Wolves (13-13-1) closed out the tourney with an 8-7 victory over Yale. Alivia Kukla got the win, registering the final out with the tying and winning runs on base. Kukla also drove in three runs and joined Lauren Baranek with two hits. Kukla and Eli Maciejewski each tripled in the win. Central lost to Frankenmuth 6-0 in the opener as Frankenmuth ace Chloe Compau faced one batter over the minimum while striking out three. Jorja Kiley denied the perfect game with a hit by pitch, then stole a base. Kukla struck out nine in a complete-game performance. The Wolves suffered an 11-0 loss to Shepherd, with Maleah Russell collecting her team’s lone hit. SOFTBALL: PINCONNING DELIVERS DRAMATICS Pinconning closed out the St. Louis Invitational with a bang, defeating Dansville 10-9 in walk-off fashion. The game was tied when Emma McQuarter led off the final inning with a single. Kailee Rugenstein followed with an RBI double that delivered the victory. Ella Hunter had a home run and matched Elley Shoultes, Laken Gibala and Elizabeth Sylvester with two hits. Layla Foco registered the pitching win for the Spartans (15-16). Pinconning lost to Lake Fenton 10-2 in the first round despite another home run from Hunter. McQuarter and Hunter had the lone hits for the Spartans. SOFTBALL: STANDISH WINS TOURNEY TITLE Standish-Sterling brought home a weekend tournament title, topping Onekama 18-3 and Cadillac 17-2 as the bats were booming. Jaylynn Yenna went wild in the opener, blasting two doubles, a triple and a home run while driving in four runs. Tyla Tunney tallied three RBIs and Anna Briggs added two and both joined Keeley Peace with two hits. Peace drilled four hits with four RBIs in the final against Cadillac. Yenna added two more hits and equaled Emma Proctor with three RBIs. Sami Kopasz and Jordan Mielke each drove in two runs. Addi Fetters registered the pitching win in both contests for the Panthers (15-11). SOFTBALL: TOUGH TOURNEY FOR COUGARS Bay City All Saints ran into a couple tough teams and went 0-2 at the Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart Invitational. The Cougars lost to the No. 6-ranked host team 17-2 in the opener. Kara Schular had two hits and an RBI and Kellen Proctor knocked one hit for one RBI. Portland St. Patrick handed All Saints an 18-3 loss. Marin Proctor had two hits and an RBI and Kellen Proctor added one hit for the Cougars (12-14). SOFTBALL: WESTERN WINLESS IN TOURNEY Bay City Western couldn’t get the bats working, dropping all three games in the Swan Valley Invitational. The Warriors lost to No. 1-ranked Unionville-Sebewaing 13-2. Kyra Smith led Western with two hits while Miranda Tacey and Leah Schumann each delivered an RBI. Swan Valley dealt the Warriors a 12-4 setback, with Schumann and Callee Lijewski each knocking two hits and Zoe Ziehmer driving in two runs. Schumann blasted a home run for Western (12-17) in its 13-6 loss to Petoskey, which scored six runs in the sixth inning to break open a tight game. Ziehmer had two hits and two RBIs and Jada Bragiel drove in a pair of runs. If you would like your local high school sports news delivered free to your inbox daily, click here and sign up for one of our local high school sports newsletters. Love reading about local sports? Don’t miss any of the excitement from the season ahead. Purchase your subscription now and get full access to every story on MLive!