BY WENDI REARDON
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Lady Hitters split their run in the Ann Arbor tournament and had quite a few highlights through their play.
“They played really well,” said Clarkston Varsity Softball Head Coach Don Peters. “They were outstanding performers. Everyone contributed. It was the best we played all season. Plus, we had a lot of nice compliments from college coaches about how well they play together.”
The team had two players named All-Tournament – Abby Skvarce and Paige Blevins.
“Abby was awesome and had some great defensive plays,” Peters said, adding their pitchers were really good. “Hannah Chadwell had multiple clutch hits and Mariah Hood had a homerun and had some great defensive plays.”
The Lady Wolves went 2-2 with wins against Allen Park, 9-0, and East Kentwood, 13-2 with eight runs in the fifth inning; and losses against Macomb Dakota, 4-3, and Tecumseh, 6-5.
Dakota is currently ranked No. 1 in the state and Peters explained the ladies held them back.
“We lost to them in the last inning in the last play,” he said.
Allen Park is also ranked and was defeated in a shutout with Hailey Minton as the winning pitcher.
“We tied in pool play to go on and lost the tie breaker,” Peters said, adding the tournament will help as the girls prepare for the post season.
“Three of the four teams we played were state ranked,” he explained. “We were playing tough competition and it shows them how they measure up which was right there. Our two losses were by a run so it could have gone either way. We walked away feeling better about ourselves because they played really well against tough competition.”
The Lady Wolves split their double header against North Farmington last Wednesday. They ended the night with a 14-0 shutout against the Raiders in five innings.
Chadwell hit was caught, but it gave Clarkston enough time to get a runner home for the first point. The girls scored their second run while Blevins was at bat.
It was North Farmington next to bat and the Lady Wolves defense was quick to get them out and move to the second inning.
During the inning, Maddie Beck, Isabella Roselli, Mariah Hood and Chadwell each had an RBI to bring the score up to 6-0.
Maddy Scarsella had two long throws to Beck on first base to give North Farmington two outs during the bottom of the second inning.
The Lady Raiders third batter didn’t fair too well either as Hood throw another ball to Beck to mark the end of the inning with the third out.
Hood hit 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Abby Skvarce had four RBIs. Chadwell and Roselli had two RBIs during the game. Anna Skvarce, Kaylee Percival and Kuenzel had one RBI each.
Minton was the winning pitcher after throwing for three inning. Sarah Gladding and Kuenzel both pitched for one inning.
Clarkston lost the first game to North Farmington, 2-1.
Both teams were tied after the third inning. The Raiders had one run in sixth inning to take the game.
Gladding and Hood both had hits during the game. Hood hit a triple and had one RBI and Gladding hit a double.
Minton pitched for seven innings with five hits and six strikeouts.
The Lady Wolves opened the week against Troy and head to Rochester Adams on Wednesday and Lake Orion on Thursday for make-up games before they get ready to play in the MHSAA Softball Districts, which begin on Tuesday at Oxford.