MARYSVILLE, Mich. – What a day for the Monarchs! Macomb Softball went 2-0 on Thursday (May 9) to open NJCAA Division II Great Lakes District A Tournament play, topping Edison State Community College 6-3 in the opener before moving on to upend the bracket's top seed, Lansing Community College, by a 9-5 final. Thursday's wins pushed the Monarchs record to 29-13 on the season.
 
The pair of wins keeps the Monarchs in the winner's bracket of the tournament and sets up a showdown with OCCAC Champion, Hocking College, Friday at 4 p.m. The winner of Friday's game secures a spot in the Great Lakes District A Championship as the lone unbeaten team in the bracket.
 
The Monarchs lost to Hocking in their only meeting of the season, a 14-1 decision in Florida on the opening day of the season.
 
GAME ONE: Macomb 6, Edison State 3
Grace Dzikowski (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Lakeview) made her return to the circle in game one and went on to collect her 11^th win of the campaign after striking out five across four innings of work. Allison Vogt (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) came on in relief and shut Edison State down to the tune of allowing one hit over three innings while fanning four batters. The strong performance in relief helped Vogt earn the save, her first of the season.
 
The Monarch bats went to work early and built a 6-0 lead before Edison State chipped away in the 6-3 decision. Zoe Hunt (Warren, Mich./Regina) got the scoring started in the three-run second inning with a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Chloe Cantin (Macomb, Mich./Eisenhower). Lexi Murray (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley) hit a sac fly of her own one batter later to make it 2-0 and Katelyn Thomas (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) doubled to bring home Ally Prasnjak (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Lakeview) to make it 3-0 Macomb.
 
Kaycee Stang (Fraser, Mich./Fraser) stepped to the plate in the third inning with two runners on and hit a no-doubter over the center field wall to extend the Monarchs' lead to 6-0. The game-winning, three-run home run was Stang's second of the season. The freshman C/3B added a double in the opener to finish 2-for-2 with a home run, double, three RBIs and a pair of runs scored.
 
GAME TWO: Macomb 9, Lansing 5
One home run in game one to bust things open, four in game two as the Monarchs answered every Lansing rally to win, 9-5, and remain unbeaten in Great Lakes District A Tournament play. Carleigh Bilpo (Sterling Heights, Mich./Henry Ford II) hit the first of the team's four home runs, a two-run shot in the opening inning that was blistered over the center field wall to give the Monarchs an early 3-0 lead.
 
Brynn Beyer (Chesterfield, Mich./L'Anse Creuse North) hit an RBI single up the middle to plate Savanna Clark (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) to get the scoring started before the Bilpo home run.
 
Lansing eventually took the lead in the fourth, 4-3, but Beyer evened things up with another RBI single, this time bringing Ally Prasnjak in to score from second base. Kaycee Stang would then step to the plate and hit her second long ball of the afternoon, this one of the two-run variety, to give the Monarchs the lead for good at 6-4. The home run marked Stang's second game-winning hit of the day, both coming on fence-clearing blasts.
 
Prasnjak hit a two-run home run of her own in the sixth on what was one of the hardest hit balls anyone has witnessed this season. Prasnjak's laser to left was her 13^th home run of the season.

Beyer capped off the home run spree in the seventh as the sophomore gave the Monarchs an insurance run in the 9-5 win. The home run was Beyer's sixth of the campaign and the 15^th of her career.
 
Allison Vogt picked up where she left off in game one and went on to earn her 10^th straight win with a complete-game performance against a strong Lansing lineup.