BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
The Wolves finished in the Final Four of the MHSAA Division 1 Softball Semifinals with a 9-6 loss to Howell last Thursday.
“It was heartbreaking,” said Don Peters, head coach for Clarkston Varsity Softball. “We battled back to tie it up and just couldn’t hold them. It was an amazing effort to get back into the game and tie it up. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

The Wolves were behind going into the fourth inning as Howell led 6-1 before junior Nyah Ansel hit a solo home run.
Junior Hannah Cady hit a triple to the fence to bring in three runners. She tied the game at six during the sixth inning when she ran in off a double by junior Sierra Kersten.
Peters added it was one of the craziest days he has ever had as a coach with a number of things going wrong including rain delays.
“Anything that could you get you out of your focus happened,” he said.
The Wolves defeated Hartland in the quarterfinals on June 11 in Novi, 11-3.
“It was awesome,” Peters said. “The girls played great. It was lots of fun.”
He added highlights from the game included great pitching by Olivia Warrington and great hitting from batters.
“Olivia really pitched a great game,” Peters continued. “She had the bases loaded and she got out of a jam. We had two key home runs with a solo play by Abbey Tolmie and a 3-run home run by Nyah Ansel – we had some clutch hitting.”
Clarkston lost to Hartland earlier in the season with a 1-0 score at a tournament in Ann Arbor.
“The girls were really determined and focused this time to play at a high level against them,” Peters said.
The Wolves finished the season with a 36-3 record
“It was a great season. The girls did some amazing things all year,” Peters said, adding they beat the Division 2 and Division 3 state champions, Escanaba and Millington, during the season and also scrimmaged against Regina who finished as state champion in Division 1.
“They showed all season they are one of the best teams in the state,” he added. “On top of it they are wonderful young ladies who do extremely well in the classroom, the team GPA is 3.7. We didn’t win the last one like we wanted to but the big picture is they had a great season and they were fun to coach.”
The team graduated five seniors – Warrington, Chelsea Barnes, Mary Gallagher, Mac Ming and Bre Schmidt who leave a legacy to have great attitudes and be good team players.
“They are amazing team players,” Peters said “Not all of them were starters, but the non starters worked their butts off to help the team be better. I always think that is the hardest thing to do is not be selfish and do whatever it takes to help the team and they did. The three starters showed tremendous leadership on and off the field and always positive in the dugout. We are going to miss them. They were a great group of girls.”
The team has 11 players coming back including five who have been on the team for the past three years and have helped with three consecutive league, district and regional titles. Peters said ending in the semifinals will continue to motivate them.
“They keep knocking on the door. They couldn’t work any harder,” he said “They regroup and refocus and say okay we are going to battle again. Good things are going to happen. They are wonderful young ladies. Have put into the perspective they did have an amazing season.”

  MHSAA Softball Quarterfinals, semifinals, softball