MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP – Sometimes revenge can be a great motivator.

The Ravenna softball team obviously had paybacks on its mind on Saturday against Oakridge in the finals of the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association Tier 1 Baseball Tournament.

The Bulldogs, who lost their first two games of the season last Wednesday against Oakridge by scores of 11-6 and 9-6.

The Bulldogs used a couple of strong offensive innings late in the game to secure a 7-4 win over the Eagles at Reeths-Puffer High School.

Ravenna had not won a city tournament in years, and had a crack at the Tier 1 title this season because the teams were placed in brackets based on seeding, rather than the size of schools.

The Bulldogs, a Division 3 school, beat Division 2 Whitehall and Division 1 Mona Shores in the first rounds of the tournament, before beating Oakridge, a Division 2 school.

The Bulldogs improved to 19-2 on the season.

The loss was significant for Oakridge, which came into the game undefeated and had won four county tournament titles in a row. The Eagles are now 15-1.

“The girls were looking forward to facing them again,” said Ravenna Coach Dave Sherman. “They were ready to play today and they played really well. It feels good walking away with the Tier 1 trophy. We think that is a big deal.”

The contest started as a pitching battle between two freshmen.

Ravenna’s Addison Gillard allowed four runs on seven hits in seven innings while striking two batters.

Oakridge pitcher Kylee Willea also went the distance, allowing seven runs on 11 hits while striking out five hitters.

The game was scoreless until the third inning when Maddie Kilbourne knocked in a run on a single to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

The Eagles tied the game 1-1 on an RBI single from Brooklyn Galdeen.

The game remained deadlocked until the sixth inning when Kendra Denhof hit a two-run single to give Ravenna the advantage at 3-1.

“It was nerve-wracking going into this game because I have been struggling,” Denhof said. “I got it when it counted, and I knew what I needed to do, and I am just happy about that.

“It was a personal loss against Oakridge because it’s a rival game and there is a pressure to beat them. We pushed ourselves hard at practice to prepare us for this day.”

The Bulldogs added much-needed insurance runs in the seventh inning when Addison Gillard knocked in two with a single to increase the Ravenna advantage to 5-1.

Denhof added another two runs with a double that gave her four RBIs in the game and helped gave the Bulldogs a 7-1 lead.

The Eagles fought back after taking advantage of a two-out error in the bottom of the seventh and final inning.

Kaelinn Jozsa had a two-run double to cut the Eagle deficit to 7-3, then Maddie Clark knocked in a run with a double to cut the Bulldog lead to 7-4.

The Bulldogs finally ended the contest with a flyout to their left fielder to seal the city title.

“I just wanted to settle them down,” said  Sherman, who called a time-out to calm his troops before the final outs. “I was pretty confident about the girls getting it done.”