Eaton Rapids, shown celebrating its 2014 Softball Classic title, has won the annual tournament five of the last seven seasons.
No area team has won the Softball Classic as often as Eaton Rapids over the last decade.
And the Greyhounds will be trying to earn area bragging rights once again when the annual event starts Saturday at Ranney Park.
Eaton Rapids, which is one of the top seeds in the eight-team field, will be after a sixth title in eight years when it kicks off the single-elimination tournament against DeWitt.
“It’s something certainly we gear up for because it’s sort of a pride (thing) of showing how you stack up against local area softball teams,” Eaton Rapids coach Scott Warriner said of the Classic, which is in its 36th season. “We’ve enjoyed it and we have had some success. Last year we got knocked off, but we had won it five of the six years prior to that. We enjoy just competing and seeing how we stack up against the best teams in our area.”
As just one of two teams in the field with players that have experienced winning the Softball Classic, Warriner believes that’s an advantage for the Greyhounds, especially with any of the eight teams capable of capturing the title in his mind. Seniors Shelby Steele and Mandi Prieskorn and junior Elly Wythe were members of the 2014 Eaton Rapids team that knocked off Okemos in the championship game.
““Having three girls that have been there and won it before, they know it can be done,” said Warriner, whose team was 17-3 entering the weekend. “Hopefully they can help elevate the game for the other seven, eight girls that haven’t been part of a championship team. Having three girls that we know that have some experience and have won it before, the only other team that has girls that have won it is Holt. Even though it’s only three, it feels good to have three girls that have won it.”
The Softball Classic is part of a challenging late season schedule for Eaton Rapids, which also has a big CAAC White doubleheader with Division 2 No. 8 Portland on Monday among other challenging tests.
And Warriner believes that upcoming schedule and the single-elimination format of the Softball Classic can help get the Greyhounds prepared for the postseason.
“The old format you could maybe have a bad game and still come out and win your pool,” Warriner said. “Now if one team is really hot and you’re maybe not so hot, you’re done and you’re out of the tournament in game one. It’s definitely going to make each and every game very exciting because every game is pivotal now.”
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.
SOFTBALL CLASSIC
When: 11 a.m. Saturday
Where: Ranney Park
Admission: $3
Saturday, May 14
11 a.m. – Eaton Rapids vs. DeWitt
1 p.m. – Grand Ledge vs. Mason
3 p.m. – Lakewood vs. Laingsburg
5 p.m. – Holt vs. Morrice
Monday, May 16
5 p.m., 7 p.m. – Semifinals
Tuesday, May 17
6 p.m. – Championship