Bednarski and Brege hold their own in Division IV all-star game; Posen?s Budnick shares coaching dut

Some of the best softball players from Division IV converged on Rainny Lake Park on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing Saturday for the annual senior all-star game. Three players from Posen and Rogers City, Michelle Bednarski, Shannon Ciarkowski, and Cassy Brege, were invited to play in the game, while Posen softball coach Glenn Budnick was asked to serve as a co-coach with Lake Leelanau St. Mary coach Roger Arvo.

“It was an awesome experience,” said Budnick. “From my standpoint, it was a fun time coaching that kind of talent.” While Ciarkowski was unable to accept the invitation, Bednarski and Brege did exceptionally well and proved they belong on the diamond with their fellow all-staters. The young ladies played on the “white” team.

THEIR OPPONENTS, the “red” team, started the best pitcher from Division IV from the 2004 season, Paige Pettit of Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes, who led her squad to a state championship in Battle Creek in June with a victory over Rogers City. Brege started in left field, but it was Bednarski getting her licks against the first team all-state arm. Bednarski came up in the second inning and flew out to shallow right field.

The red team switched pitchers and brought in another first team all-state hurler, Sara Merrick from Mason County Eastern. Brege entered the batter’s box in the third inning against Merrick, but it’s against the best players in the state that tough-to-field balls that normally were hits during the regular season, turn into outs. Brege hit a hard-hit ball that was fielded by the shortstop, who gunned to first to nip Brege by a step. Both local players got the bat on the ball in their second at bats.

Bednarski hit a liner that was snared by a diving red team second baseman. Brege hit a one hopper to the first baseman who ran to the bag to get the out. Bednarski relieved Jenny McDaniel of Vandercook Lake, the young lady who was pitching shutout ball against Rogers City in the state semifinals in Battle Creek, before the Hurons’ Ashley Fleming hit a three-run homer.

BEDNARSKI WENT two innings for the white squad, the fifth and the sixth innings. In the fifth, the red team scored two unearned runs, and took a 2-0 lead. Bednarski set down the side, one-two-three, in the sixth. Bednarski and Brege both handled defensive chances in the field flawlessly. Bednarski fie

lded a ground ball and recorded a forceout at the plate, while Brege made a running catch of a fly ball hit her way. It took a while for the white team to get on the scoreboard, as they put up two in the eighth inning, but the red team came back in the bottom of the inning to score an unearned run on a throwing error for the 3-2 win.

Budnick said Lake Leelanau St. Mary’s, under the direction of his co-coach from the weekend, will be a team to watch in 2005. He said Arvo has everybody coming back and will be looking for revenge against Mason County Eastern, who knocked them off in the regional final in 2004.

For Bednarski, Brege, and Budnick, it was an unforgettable experience playing on a NCAA Division softball field, the home of the Spartans. It was also nice receiving compliments from their peers. Budnick said other players commented that Bednarski and Brege “were very good” — something most everyone around here knew already.

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