10-year-olds and high school team took second place in their divisions
By Josh Bootsma
LANSING, Ill. (October 25, 2022) – Lansing’s softball program had a successful fall this year, with three podium finishes among the program’s five teams. The 8u (girls 8 years old and younger) took first place in their division, while the 10u (10 and under) team took second place. One of Lansing’s three high school teams also took second place in its division.
Lansing softball in the fall
Lansing Girls Softball has three seasons: spring, its most popular; summer, the all star season; and fall. Playing teams from around the regions, this year’s fall teams started playing in the middle of August and ended in early October.
Using fall-inspired names, Lansing Girls Softball’s Pumpkins beat the other six teams in the 8-and-under division. The Screamers came in second out of seven overall teams in the 10-and-under division. The high-school-aged Myers (named after horror character Michael Myers) faced off against the 11 other teams in their division, including two additional teams from Lansing (The Kruegers and the Voorhees), and took second place.
The Lansing teams played girls from all around the area, mostly in northwest Indiana, such as Munster, Cedar Lake, Lowell, Dyer, Schererville, and Griffith.
“Back in our heyday, it would be just Lansing,” said Joe Dominiak, President of Lansing Girls Softball, “but as the numbers started to dwindle through the years, we started to branch out and play the northwest Indiana region.”
Lansing softball’s Pumpkins win first
The Pumpkins won first place in a marathon double-elimination tournament that ended on Sunday, October 2. After losing their first game of the tournament, the Pumpkins had to win all of three of their games on Sunday to emerge the champions. They did so.
“During those three games on Sunday, I feel like that was the most focused I’d seen them all year,” said Pumpkins coach Brian Savage.
Savage’s daughter Aubrey pitched in each of the three games and let up only three runs on the day, propelling the Pumpkins to the championship.
“After we won, I think there was a sense of ‘now we can relax.’ The girls were just happy, but I feel like the biggest relief was from the parents,” Savage said. “Everybody was on the edge of their seat every game and it was tense out there. To see the girls pull through, I know all the parents were just proud and they got that relief.”
Developing and winning
“I’m always grateful that kids from the spring come back to play in the fall. And it’s usually the ones in the fall that want to excel and be prepared in the spring,” said Dominiak, who in addition to serving as president also coached The Myers high school team.
Dominiak and Savage said the Lansing Girls Softball program is set up so that girls of all ages can play the sport, regardless of their experience level.
“I just love teaching the kids. I try to give equal amounts of time — if not more — to the girls that don’t know how to play, to get them to excel,” Dominiak said. “This past fall, we had a good coaching staff across all of the age groups.”
Savage agreed, saying, “I was really happy with how the season went. My whole focus was trying to get make sure the girls got better and not focus on winning. And I think as they got better the wins started coming.”
This year’s players
The 8-years-old-and-under players on the championship Pumpkins were Amelia Alvarez, Aviah Bonds, Jordan Dale, Liliana Fuentes, Irisa Maciel, Madelyn Mader, Autumn McCary, Hailey Nommensen, Ericca Ochoa, and Aubrey Savage. The team was coached by Brian Savage.
The second-place Screamers were in the 10-and-under division: Brooklyn Crain, Emma Denava, London Edwards, Dasia Evans, Hope Harris, Abigail Herod, Ali Leal, Olivia Santos, Natalia A. Savage-Lopez, Shanelle Tyler, and Ryan Wallace. The Screamers were coached by Irma Lopez-Savage.
Players on the second-place high school team, The Myers, included Geanna Araujo, Danielle Brink, Autumn Caridine, Emily Dominiak, Sirena Heredia, M.G. Heredia, Alyssa Herod, Yulissa Macudzinski, Ilemi Montgomery, Leilani Otero, Samantha Popp, and Rebekah Whitfield. The Myers were coached by Joe Dominiak, Paul Brink, Joe Macudzinski, and Bob Popp.
Next year’s softball program
Lansing Girls Softball falls under the umbrella of the Lansing Old Timers program, and registration for next year’s sports will likely start in January. Interested participants can stay updated at lansinggirlssoftball.com or at Lansing Girls Softball’s Facebook page.
