Prep highlights: Hartland survives scare as it begins state soccer title defense
Hartland began its defense of the state Division 1 girls soccer championship by surviving a scare from upset-minded Milford.
The third-ranked Eagles scored twice in the first 15 minutes, then hung on to beat the Mavericks, 2-1, in a district semifinal Tuesday night at Parker Middle School in Howell.
Unranked Milford was the fifth-place team in the Lakes Valley Conference, finishing its season with a 6-4-4 record. Hartland is 12-2-3, having finished second in the tough KLAA West.
Hannah Kastamo scored off a pass from Charlotte Toor before setting up Toor for a goal to give the Eagles the early 2-0 lead.
Milford scored on a long shot off a corner kick early in the second half to keep the pressure on Hartland.
“We were looking pretty good there in the first 15 minutes,” Hartland coach Andrew Kartsounes said. “Then we stopped finishing. We hit the crossbar, we hit the post, we had one called back in the second half and their keeper made some real nice saves, especially in the second half.
“We kept shooting and trying to put the game away. Milford hung around and kept working pretty hard. Overall, I’m happy to get the win and get one down here in the tournament.”
Hartland will face South Lyon at 6 p.m. Thursday for the district championship at Parker. South Lyon (12-4-2) was the fourth-place team in the Lakes Valley Conference, but has beaten Brighton and Okemos so far in the tournament.
Boys lacrosse
Hartland 26, Bloomfield Hills 0
Hartland won its fifth straight regional championship, earning a trip to the state quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Friday against Grand Ledge at Parker Middle School.
Grand Ledge beat Brighton, 10-9, in a regional final.
The Eagles have won their three postseason games by a combined score of 83-0, with each game ending after three quarters because of the mercy rule.
Bo Lockwood had five goals and 11 assists; John Weber had five goals; Mac Tognetti had three goals and three assists; Drew Lockwood had three goals and two assists; and Ryan Krause, Dylan Ayotte and Dylan Fallon each had two goals and one assist.
Hartland led 21-0 at halftime.
Girls lacrosse
Brighton 19, Northville 10
Amanda Granader scored eight goals and Gabby Mainhardt scored four for Brighton, which will face Livonia in the regional championship game at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Novi.
Brighton beat Livonia, 26-6, in the KLAA championship game on May 16.
Amaria Whitby had six assists, while Ella Boose and Georgia Gill each scored twice for the Bulldogs.
Baseball
Howell 7, Mason 2
Justin Militello had a home run, a double and struck out eight batters in six innings for Howell in a Division 1 pre-district victory.
Also getting two hits for the Highlanders were Owen Elsey, Jackson Militello and Andrew Hiller.
Howell (29-8) will face Okemos at 10 a.m. Saturday in the district semifinals at MacDonald Middle School in East Lansing.
Charyl Stockwell 15, Burton Atherton 0
Aidan Liedeke struck out all nine batters he faced in a three-inning Division 3 pre-district game.
Caleb Moore homered, while Liedeke and Oliver Gottbreht each drove in three runs for the Sentinels (17-5). Chris Petroski was 3-for-3.
Stockwell will face Burton Bentley in the district semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday at Burton Bendle.
Owosso 2, Fowlerville 0
A double by Brendan Ray was the only hit for Fowlerville (6-20-1) against Jay Tuttle, who struck out eight, in a Division 2 pre-district game.
Griffin Gonzalez struck out six and allowed only one earned run in seven innings for the Gladiators.
Brighton 11, Ypsilanti Lincoln 3
Brighton 11, Ypsilanti Lincoln 11
Connor Prahl’s sacrifice fly for Brighton in the top of the seventh inning tied the second game, which didn’t go into extra innings. Prahl had four RBI in the game.
Evan Larson was 3-for-5 in the first game, while Lane Petit was 3-for-4 with two RBI in the nightcap for Brighton (18-11-1).
Pinckney 14, Stockbridge 7
Pinckney 6, Stockbridge 4
Dale Westphal was 3-for-5 with five RBI in the first game for Pinckney (10-20). Jonny Hoffman went 3-for-4.
In the second game, Brett Madden struck out seven, allowing only one run and three hits in five innings.
Softball
Hartland 5, Pinckney 4 (10)
Riley Phillips drove in the winning run with her fourth hit of the game with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Pinckney had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th on a single by Kylee Douglas. Hartland (19-8) tied it 4-4 on a single by Faith DeLanoy.
Megan Miller was 3-for-5 with two triples and two RBI for Pinckney (28-8-1).
Hartland’s Kylie Swierkos and Pinckney’s Sydney Pease each pitched the entire game.
Track and field
Larry Steeb Meet of Champions
Hartland senior Riley Hough secured a school record he didn’t already own, winning the 800-meter run in 1:52.72. He broke the school mark of 1:54.00 set by Brett Flowers in 1989.
Brighton’s Quinn Cullen won the 1,600 in 4:15.71, while Pinckney’s Lucas Pasternak won the 300 hurdles in 40.79.
Greater Lansing Honor Roll Meet
Fowlerville senior Sarah Litz was fourth in the 100 hurdles in 16.58, fifth in the 300 hurdles in 49.17 and was on the second-place 800 relay team with Princess Nzaou-Pambou, Alana Chappell and Fiona Gitulli.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Preps: Hartland survives scare as it begins state soccer title defense
