Bailee Braunreuther and Taylor Hasselbach headed to Lansing to play one last game as teammates.
Both were invited to play in the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association All-Star game at Rainey Park on Wednesday.
‘It’s awesome,? said Don Peters, Clarkston Girls Varsity Softball head coach. ‘It will be a fun experience for them. They get to play with girls from all over the state.?
Leading up to the day Braunreuther was practicing her pitches in preparation, she shared her pitcher role on Division 1 White team with Troy’s Jordan Wheatley.
Also on her team is Hasselbach going into the shortstop position and showing off her hitting talent. Joining them are fellow OAA Red league players Katie Dunn, Sara Dykowski and Colleen Burns from Troy.
‘I am excited to play with them,? said Braunreuther.
She was practicing her hitting as well.
‘I will be hitting against some good pitchers,? she said.
They play against the Blue team, also with players from Division 1. For the All-Star games the four divisions split the high school graduates into two teams to compete against each other, balancing the talent and competition.
They finished their senior season in June and were named to the All-County softball team.
Hasselbach maintained a .569 batting average during her high school career. She had 241 hits which included 58 doubles, 23 triples and 35 homeruns. She also accumulated 206 RBIs throughout her four years on the varsity team. She had a .950 fielding average.
Braunreuther went 12-4 with a .99 ERA.
Hasselbach was crowned Miss Softball and named All-State. Braunreuther and Elizabeth Zezula received honorable mention in All-State.
Lady Wolves receiving honors in All-Region, All- District and All-League were Hasselbach, Braunruether, Zezula and Megan Hastings.
Besides Hasselbach and Braunreuther, three other players from Clarkston have played in the All-Star game since Peters took over as coach six years ago – Katie Smith, Kara Wandrie in 2008 and Shantell Uballe played last year.
Both head to Michigan colleges to play softball. Hasselbach will lend her hitting skills to University of Michigan and Braunreuther her pitching techniques to Oakland University.