BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Lady Hitters took down two state ranked teams last week as they split a double header against a familiar foe.
The Clarkston Varsity Softball team ended the week going 2-1 on Saturday at the Macomb Classic.
“It was fun,” said Don Peters, head coach. “It was a beautiful day. We played three good teams, two state ranked, which we beat. All three games, they played well and the pitchers battled.”
Clarkston opened the tournament with a 5-2 win over St. Clair.
Hitting highlights include Paige Blevins went 2-for-4 with a homerun and two RBIs.
Hannah Cady went 2-for-3 and had three stolen bases. Nyah Ansel, Anna Skvarce and Abbey Barta had one RBI each.
Abbey Tolmie pitched for three innings and had two strikeouts. Sarah Gladding pitched three innings and had eight strikeouts.
“We had good pitching and good defense behind it,” Peters said. “We had some clutch hits.”
The Lady Wolves went on to lose a close game to L’Anse Creuse, 9-8.
“We hit the snot out of the ball, but we couldn’t hold onto our lead,” Peters said.
Hitting highlights included Blevins had another homerun and a double as she went 3-for-3 at the bat and had four RBIs.
Gladding and Hannah Chadwell both hit homeruns off their lone hits. Chadwell brought in two runners and Gladding had one RBI.
Sierra Kersten hit a double off one hit and Hannah Cady hit a double, had one RBI and went 2-for-3.
Tolmie pitched for three innings and had one strikeout. Gladding pitched for 1.1 innings and also had one strikeout.
Clarkston went on to defeat Waterford Kettering in their final game, 6-5.
“It was awesome,” said Peters, explaining Kettering was up to bat with bases loaded with two outs. “We got the ground to the short stop. Clutch pitching situation when we needed it again from Gladding.”
For hitting, Cady, Kersten, and Ansel hit a double and had one RBI each. Tolmie, Blevins, Kassidy Moonen had one RBI each and Skvarce hit a double.
Barta pitched for 4.1 innings and had six strikeouts, while Gladding pitched for 2.2 innings and had two strikeouts.
“I like what I see,” said Peters. “Sierra and Nyah battled. They both seemed unfazed by pressure.”
The Lady Wolves split their double header against Oxford on April 18 with a 5-3 loss the first game and a 7-4 in the second game.
“They have two really good pitchers and we battled,” said Peters. “I liked that they stayed focused and stayed tough and put some runs together. They did a nice job hitting. They battled and that’s a good thing. I was very pleased.”
Tolmie went 4-for-7 during the double header hitting two doubles and had two RBIs. Moonen and Cady had two RBIs during the night while Blevins, Chadwell and Barta had one RBI each.
Tolmie pitched the entire first game and had three strikeouts. She pitched for six innings in the second game and had five strikeouts. Kuenzel pitched the final inning.
The Lady Wolves opened the week against Lake Orion on Tuesday.
“It is a big rivalry and we are looking forward to seeing where we are at in pecking order in the league, and how the girls stack up in another big game,” Peters said.
They host Brandon on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. before heading to a tournament at Midland Dow on Saturday.
“This weekend going into another tough tournament with multi-state ranked teams,” Peters added. “We play a tough schedule. We play a lot of state ranked teams and the goal is to keep getting better and learn from that. I am looking forward to it and I think the girls are, too.”

  clarkston, Varsity Softball