Three Region teams continue quests for state softball championships

Niles Kruger, The Monroe NewsSun, June 7, 2026 at 3:32 AM UTC·5 min read

Airport, Whiteford and Summerfield march on along the state tournament trail.

All three earned the right to play in the state softball quarterfinals next week after winning regional championships on Saturday, June 6.

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Airport slipped past Huron League rival Milan to win a Division 2 title at Fowlerville.

Whiteford captured a Division 3 crown at Wixom St. Catherine and Summerfield emerged victorious in a Division 4 tourney at Dansville.

More: Regional final losses end season for Monroe, Summerfield baseball

More: Regional results for Monroe County Region baseball and softball teams

Gibraltar Carlson saw its season end with a semifinal loss in the Division 1 event hosted by Bedford.

FOWLERVILLE – Airport returned almost its entire roster from a team that was one pitch away from a spot in the state finals last spring.

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But the Jets refused to let high expectations get in their way.

“That’s the funny thing about this team,” Airport coach Jess Irwin said. “We have such great leadership. They just stay steady.”

Airport cruised to its third straight regional championship by beating Chelsea 7-2 and Milan 11-4.

“We have seven seniors and they all start,” Irwin said. “They want to get back to that place they were last year (the state semifinals and finals in East Lansing). That’s been the goal all year.”All that stands between the 35-5 Jets and achieving that return trip to Michigan State is a quarterfinal game at 4 p.m. Tuesday against Farmington Hills Mercy at Ypsilanti Lincoln.

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“Obviously the two we had on the mound (Brooklyn Martin and Julia Dyson) were great today,” Irwin said.

Martin went the distance in the first game, then finished up the finals after a strong start by Dyson.

Brityn Duffy, Peyton Zajac and Jillian Baker collected two hits each in the opener.

Dyson and Olivia Tilley led the offense in the title game. Each logged two singles and a double. Martin, Zajac and Kennady Kroll contributed two hits apiece.

Milan’s Charleigh Meggison went 2-for-2 with a walk and teammate Reese Knox collected two hits.

The Big Reds fought back from an 8-0 deficit to pull within four runs of Airport.

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“These girls are so resilient,” said Milan coach Micah Higa. “They’ve been that way the whole season.”

Milan reached the finals by outslugging Jackson Parma County Western 19-8 in the semifinals.

Kenzie Chrysler rang up four hits and drove in five runs in that game and Georgia Linzell also collected four hits.

Milan broke the game open with a seven-run sixth inning highlighted by an run-producing triple from Mya Vance and a two-run home run by Meggison.

The Big Reds finished Higa’s first year as head coach with a 15-13 record.

“This absolutely means the world to me,” Higa said of a hot finish that lifted Milan over .500 and produced a district championship trophy.

WIXOM – Long runs in the state tournament are nothing new for Whiteford.

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The Bobcats won state titles in 1984, 1985, 1987 and fell 1-0 in the championship game in both 2023 and 2024.

So, an early exit last year didn’t sit well with the players.

“We had a very good season last year, but we were very young,” said coach Matt VanBrandt. “We’re still very young. This has been a very special year.

“We are who we are. It’s always our mindset to compete in districts and regionals.”

The young Bobcats were in command all day Saturday, beating Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett in a 10-0 mercy in the semifinals, then whipping Plymouth Christian 7-2 in the championship game.

Avy Wood had a big day at the plate, going 5-for7 with two doubles and a triple. She scored three times.

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Ava Stevens and Bailey Spradling also collected four hits apiece and Peyton Welch won both games by now allowing an earned run and striking out 18 in 13 innings.

She was perfect over the first four innings in the semifinals before freshman Macy Ovall came on to pitch the last two innings.

“It was another great challenge for our team today, especially in the championship,” VanBrandt said. “We had to answer back several times.  Welch threw great again, but more impressive was her poise when things were not going as planned.

“Once again, our dugout proved to be a factor in the outcome. They were loud and relentless, even when the score wasn't in our favor.”

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Whiteford (23-11) will travel to Novi for a quarterfinal game against Grass Lake at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

“We’re on Cloud 9,” Summerfield coach Christine Zappone said after her team beat Reading 12-1 and Dansville 3-1 to win its first regional title since 2012.

Senior Brea Olmstead was at the center of it all, winning both games.

She allowed just one hit in the championship game.

“Brea Olmstead was solid all-around,” Zappone said.

The defense, led by Aleiah Addis at third base and Hayley Kohls at shortstop, was outstanding.

Claire Franzen drove in two runs and Lilly Delmotte one.

“We put a couple of bunts down and created chaos to score some runs,” Zappone said.

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Summerfield (20-12) moves on to play Mendon in the quarterfinals at Bailey Park in Battle Creek at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

TEMPERANCE – Northville, ranked No. 4 in the state, was too much for Gibraltar Carlson, rolling to an 11-1 semifinal victory.

Freshman Addison Burgei homered to plate the only run for Carlson.

Kennedy Warren had the only other hit for the Marauders.

Lauren Dunwoody made six plays to lead an errorless defensive effort for Carlson.

Northville went on to nip No. 3 Saline 2-1 in the finals.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Airport, Whiteford, Summerfield softball reach state quarterfinals

Story byThe Monroe News