D2 Softball: Two Pitching Heroes, One Title Shot
June 15, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – Briana Combs carried Livonia Ladywood as long as she could Friday before her left knee said no more.
But thanks to the equally heroic relief of sophomore Lauren Hayes, Combs and the Blazers will get a chance Saturday to win their first MHSAA championship.
Combs, the team’s four-year ace, got within two outs of finishing off Wayland Union in Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal. But a knee injury that’s kept her out of practice the last two weeks became just too painful – and Hayes, a rarely-used pitcher who said herself she usually gives up her share of hits, came on to finish the job.
She struck out two batters and Ladywood hung on for a 4-2 win – followed by Combs coming out of the dugout not for the celebration, but to hug her closer.
“She said thank you very much,” Hayes said. “She gave me a big hug and said thank you for getting me through it.”
The No. 2 Blazers (38-3) will face No. 3 Saginaw Swan Valley in Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. Final.
Ladywood has been to the Semifinals three times over the last four seasons, and Combs was a freshman throwing in the 2009 championship game – a 4-0 loss to Niles.
She struck out five and gave up just six hits Friday before calling to the dugout after getting the first out in the seventh inning. She had a small hobble as she walked around the pitching circle, and her coach and father Scott Combs said he was unsure if she’d be able to pitch in the championship game.
Hayes will be ready. Although she’s thrown fewer than 10 innings this season, she’s been putting in a lot more practice of late to prepare for a situation in which Combs can’t go.
“We’ve been trying massages, trying balms, trying Mr. Miyagi (of “Karate Kid” fame), anything we can,” Scott Combs. “We got six innings out of her. I didn’t think we’d get two or three.”
“We’ve gotta be a bullpen (Saturday). We’ve gotta be a staff. We can’t expect someone to go seven innings. … All we can do is ask for a chance to win the championship. We got that chance.”
Hayes also had two hits and drove in a run. Senior catcher Kayla Merice had two hits and junior third baseman Haley Obetts drove in two runs for No. 5 Wayland (38-3-1). Click for a full box score.
Saginaw Swan Valley 2, Coloma 1
Senior outfielder Heather Pollick’s two-run homer in the fourth inning was enough as the Vikings (37-3) advanced to their first MHSAA championship game since 2002.
Pollick drove in senior shortstop Elizabeth Addy, who had walked to open the inning. Coloma got on the board with a run in the bottom of the sixth, but Swan Valley senior Mackenzie Boehler struck out the side in the seventh to finish the win.
She ended with 15 strikeouts and gave up only two hits, with Coloma’s run unearned. Her Comets counterpart, sophomore Emily Najacht, gave up only four hits and struck out six. Coloma (40-3-1) was making its first Semifinal appearance. Click for a full box score.
PHOTOS: (Top) Livonia Ladywood pitcher Briana Combs delivers during Friday's Semifinal win over Wayland Union. (Middle) Swan Valley pitcher Mackenzie Boehler had 15 strikeouts in her team's win over Coloma.
Swierkos Dominates, Hartland Celebrates Decisive Title Clincher
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 17, 2023
EAST LANSING – Hartland senior pitcher Kylie Swierkos entered this weekend as one of the finalists for the state’s Miss Softball Award.
After the dominating, two-game performance she delivered at Michigan State University’s Secchia Stadium, she might have secured the prestigious honor – but that was the furthest thing from her mind Saturday afternoon.
“All I care about is that we won this for our school,” said Swierkos, who tossed her second consecutive four-hitter to lead Hartland to a 9-1 victory over Brownstown Woodhaven in the Division 1 Final.
“We have such a close group of girls; it’s not just me. Now I hope the younger girls take this and keep going with it.”
Swierkos, who improved to 23-1 on the season with a 0.81 ERA, shut out Lake Orion in Thursday’s Semifinal and came within two outs of another shutout Saturday before Woodhaven scored its only run in the top of the seventh inning.
Swierkos, who has committed to pitch at Grand Valley State University, struck out 13 batters on Saturday (20 for the weekend) and didn’t walk a single batter in either game.
“We know Kylie is going to do her job,” said fifth-year Hartland coach Taylor Wagner, who led the school to its first Softball Finals title since winning Class A in 1996. “Then we just have to bat a little bit behind her, and we did that all the way through the order, from one to nine.”
Hartland, 35-4-1, delivered nine hits, with two apiece from Abby Gardner, Kate McIntyre and Reese Dunny.
Senior Riley Phillips smacked a two-run triple for the second consecutive game, this one coming in the second inning. Sophomore catcher Sadie Malik also had two RBIs, including a run-scoring single as Hartland put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“I could not have asked for a more perfect ending to my senior year,” said Gardner, one of four seniors on the Hartland roster, along with Faith DeLanoy, Phillips and Swierkos.
The nine runs were more than enough offense for Swierkos, who pitched eight consecutive innings of perfect ball – starting with the fourth inning Thursday through the fourth inning Saturday, when the Warriors managed the first of their four hits.
Woodhaven, 35-5 and playing in its first Final, scored its only run in the top of the seventh inning after a leadoff double by Grace Walker.
The Warriors struggled to figure out Swierkos, then hurt themselves with three costly errors.
“We definitely put Woodhaven softball on the map, and we will be back,” said second-year coach Ken Kroll. “It was atypical of us to make those errors. But we just didn’t put enough hits together. When we did start to get something going, we got shut down.”
Grace Usher, a junior, allowed nine hits and struck out six over six innings. She finished the season 18-4 with a 1.40 ERA. Alaina Craig had her team’s lone RBI.
Just before her team took the podium to accept the championship trophy, Wagner was asked for two words to describe her feelings after guiding her team to its first Finals title in 27 years. Hartland also had finished Division 1 runner-up in 2018.
She answered with just one:
“Blessed,” said Wagner, who was assisted by Lindsay Brandon. “I am blessed to go through this with these girls and to be a small part of it.”
PHOTOS (Top) Hartland’s Kylie Swierkos (27) leaps into the arms of catcher Sadie Malik on Saturday. (Middle) The Eagles huddle in the pitching circle during the Division 1 Final. (Below) A Hartland hitter drives the ball. (Photos by Olivia Napier/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)