Prep highlights: Hartland softball makes statement vs. elite teams
Hartland showed it can compete with the best softball teams in Michigan after taking second place in the BackYard Challenge in Wixom.
The Eagles reached the championship game before losing 3-1 in nine innings to second-ranked Macomb Dakota on a walk-off homer by all-stater Megan Nuechterlein.
In the second game of the tournament, Hartland won 5-4 over top-ranked Allen Park, the defending state Division 1 champion.
The Eagles also had a 0-0 tie against South Lyon East in the first game and a 9-4 victory in the semifinals over Walled Lake Northern. Both teams received honorable mention in the preseason Division 1 rankings.
Hartland’s other victory was 8-0 over unranked Tecumseh, a Division 2 team.
The championship game was scoreless through seven innings. Runners were placed on second to begin extra innings. Hartland took a 1-0 lead on an Abby Gardner single in the top of the eighth, but Dakota countered by scoring on a groundout to tie the game.
Nuechterlein homered on the first pitch of the ninth inning, scoring herself and a runner placed on second. It was the first loss of the season for the unranked Eagles (11-1-1).
Only an error prevented Hartland pitcher Kylie Swierkos from pitching a perfect game in the opener against South Lyon East. She had 13 strikeouts and didn’t issue a walk in a seven-inning no-hitter. The Eagles had only two hits off East’s Kaitlyn Solberg.
For the tournament, Swierkos struck out 31 batters in 27 innings, issuing her first three walks of the season. The first walk was an intentional pass with two outs in the seventh inning to Allen Park all-stater Morgan Sizemore, who hit two home runs in the game. Swierkos has 95 strikeouts and three walks this season.
Swierkos hit a grand slam against Allen Park to highlight a five-run second inning.
In the semifinal game, Faith DeLanoy hit a home run and drove in three runs for Hartland.
Hartland used freshman pitcher Oliva Forrest against Tecumseh. She threw a four-hit shutout, striking out eight. Kate McIntyre hit two homers and Sadie Malik one for the Eagles.
Howell struggled in the tournament, getting shut out three times in five games and scoring only two runs in the first four before breaking loose in a 13-11 victory over Warren Regina.
The Highlanders lost 3-0 to New Baltimore Anchor Bay, 5-0 to Gaylord, 14-2 to Novi and 6-0 to Lakeland in their first four games.
In a rematch of the 2019 state Division 1 championship game against Regina, Brooke Keller was 3-for-3 with a home run and five RBI, Natalie Savage homered and Emma Banfield was 3-for-4 with two RBIs for Howell (9-6).
Pinckney 15, Jackson 0
Pinckney 16, Jackson 0
Pinckney junior CeCe Thorington was 6-for-6 with a home run, triple, three doubles and eight RBIs. She is 22-for-24 for a .917 average in seven games.
Pinckney (6-1) scored 11 runs in the first inning of the opener and 16 in the first inning of the nightcap.
Abby Rauser pitched a three-inning perfect game in the opener, striking out eight. Alli Novick drove in three runs. Violet McWhinnie homered and drove in three runs in the second game.
Baseball
Brighton 14, Ypsilanti Lincoln 3
Brighton 12, Ypsilanti Lincoln 2
Brighton’s Braeden Chiles hit two home runs and drove in five runs in the second game.
Conner Prahl homered in the opener for the Bulldogs (12-3).
Hartland 12, Saline 5
Hartland 5, Saline 3
Michael Zielinski was 3-for-6 with three RBIs in the doubleheader for Hartland.
Gannon Grundman was 3-for-4 in the opener, allowing four hits and one unearned run in four innings.
Colton King struck out six batters in four innings in the second game. Brayden Crowe drove in two runs for Hartland (7-4), which has won five straight games.
Milan 3, Charyl Stockwell 1
Milan 5, Charyl Stockwell 1
Braden Leverenz doubled home Stockwell’s only run in the first game.
Soccer
Pinckney 3, Milan 2
Kailey Lambert scored on a 35-yard free kick with two minutes left to give Pinckney (5-1) the victory against the 13th-ranked team in Division 3.
Zaryah Griffin scored the Pirates’ other two goals.
Livingston Christian 6, Charyl Stockwell 5
Sophomore Audrey Johnson scored five goals and assisted on Livingston Christian’s other goal, giving her 15 of the Falcons’ 16 goals in four games this season.
Freshman Allie Johnson had one goal and two assists for Livingston Christian (3-1).
Golf
Wayne Wire Cloth
Brighton finished third out of 18 teams with a score of 314 at The Fortress in Frankenmuth.
Detroit Catholic Central, which fielded two teams, was first with a 311 and second with a 312.
Winston Lerch tied for third with a 73 and Andrew Daily tied for 10th with a 76 to lead the Bulldogs. Adam Forcier tied for 38th with an 82 and Jacob Davettila tied for 43rd with an 83 to complete Brighton’s score.
Dick’s Sporting Goods Invitational
Fowlerville finished 11th out of 21 teams with a 369.
Alex Mack tied for ninth with an 83 and Cole Sova tied for 19th with an 86 to lead the Gladiators.
Grass Lake Invitational
Pinckney placed 10th with a 374, led by a 90 from Michael Kundrot.
Boys lacrosse
Howell 7, Oxford 4
Thomas Haataja had four goals and an assist, Marshall Chambers had two goals, and Ryan Tedesco had one goal and two assists for Howell (7-1), winner of six straight. The Highlanders will host Brighton at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Parker Middle School in a clash between two one-loss teams.
Brighton B 11, Chelsea 10 (2 OT)
Dan Copple’s third goal of the game gave Brighton’s B team the victory in the second overtime.
Zach Watkins scored four goals for the Bulldogs (3-4).
Girls lacrosse
Forest Hills Central 21, Brighton 9
Cece Mainhardt had a hand in all nine Brighton goals, scoring seven and setting up two by Georgia Gill.
Tennis
Plymouth 6, Howell 3
Singles: Estie Sura (H) d. Lilliana Neme 6-0, 6-0; Kelly Melby (H) d. Olivia Tsakoff 7-6 (8), 6-3; Natalie Capobres (P) d. Gabby Lovich 6-0, 6-0; Rhyan Stearn-Raskin (H) d. Rhea Modi 6-1, 6-1.
Doubles: Gracie Bowles-Sophia Georgieva (P) d. Karenna Shinn-Stella Shinn 7-5, 6-1; Maddy Moran-Shreya Patel (P) d. Brooke Rienas-Ellie Wolfe 6-4, 6-1; Mia Milacic-Shloka Patel (P) d. Sienna Mccurdy-Scarlett Purcell 6-1, 6-1; Juliana Edmunds-Veronica Hartmaier (P) d. Madison King-Krista Lennon 6-2, 6-1; Maithri Paturi-Reshmi Harikrishnan (P) d. Dagmar Jensen-Krista Lennon 6-0, 6-0.
Novi 9, Hartland 0
Singles: Alicen Liu (N) d. Lizzy Arnold 6-0, 6-0; Haruka Ishibashi (N) d. Rachel Fraser 6-1, 6-2; Rebecca Liu (N) d. Arianna Kinney 6-3, 6-0; Arushi Singh (N) d. Karissa Szczechowicz 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles: Mandira Sardar-Natalie Restuccia (N) d. Leah Parrish-Zaylee Parrish 6-0, 6-1; Grace Chacko-Abi Parivakkam (N) d. Liana Petrous-Audrey Tithof 6-0, 6-0; Mahi Sharma-Rashi Bajpai (N) d. Talia Smolinski-Aiden Green 6-0, 6-0; Kyra Thomas-Samaara George (N) d. Gabriella Wiseman-Kennedy Causey-Kangas 6-0, 6-0; Aahana Ashok-Anisha Menon (N) d. Charlotte Caramagno-Lilli Poetke 6-1, 6-0.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Prep highlights: Hartland softball makes statement vs. elite teams
