She's Back: South Lyon Ace Bradshaw Returns for Another Title Pursuit
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
April 11, 2024
SOUTH LYON — Two words likely won’t sit well with a lot of Division 1 softball teams around the state this year.
She’s back.
Or to play on the words of former Texas Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger after a Sugar Bowl win in 2019, and others who before and since have added dramatics to the phrase: “She’s baaaaaaaaaaaack.”
“She” is South Lyon senior pitcher Ava Bradshaw. And if anyone who follows high school softball in the state happened to forget that name, let’s do a little refresher.
Back in 2021, Bradshaw burst onto the scene in her first year of high school and played like a freshman …. in college.
Bradshaw was a dominant two-way force both pitching and hitting, so much so that behind her, South Lyon won its first MHSAA Finals title, in Division 1.
In the championship game against Allen Park, Bradshaw threw a three-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking one in a 5-0 South Lyon victory. She also had two RBI.
“I didn’t realize how crazy what we did was,” Bradshaw said. “We really did make that run.”
Bradshaw was even better as a sophomore and seemed destined to lead South Lyon to a repeat.
However, a first inning against Mattawan during which everything that could go wrong seemingly did started a 3-1 Quarterfinal loss that stunningly ended those 2022 aspirations.
But hey, no problem. Bradshaw had two more years to win another championship, right?
Then came the summer prior to her junior year, when Bradshaw suffered a torn ACL during her travel ball season. She was hoping to come back at some point last year as a junior, but understandably didn’t want to push anything too hard, especially since by that point she had committed to play in college for Duke.
This year, it would have been understandable if Bradshaw would have just wanted to sit out her senior year, enjoy the countdown to graduation and simply gear up for the next chapter.
But Bradshaw was having none of that.
“In high school ball, every day I’m practicing and I’m playing with my friends, playing for my town and for my school,” she said. “That’s an honor, and I have so much fun. I couldn’t imagine not playing my senior year. That would be so sad. When I look back on my high school experience, some of the biggest memories I have come from softball. I couldn’t imagine not finishing what I started.”
So Bradshaw is indeed back and not only fully healthy, but stronger and hungrier than she ever has been during her high school career.
Bradshaw said going through rehabilitation for her injury last year has made her better physically.
“I was forced to do certain movements and exercises that I never would have done had I not been forced to go to (physical therapy),” she said. “I became a more well-rounded athlete. I improved flexibility and mobility.”
In her first game this season, Bradshaw struck 12 of the 15 batters she faced and went 4-for-4 at the plate.
“We just plugged her right in,” South Lyon head coach Dave Langlois said.
Not having Bradshaw last year actually could end up making South Lyon even better this year.
“I think we were the only ones to score a run on the state champs, Hartland, in our Regional,” Langlois said. “We were one hit away with a young, inexperienced team for the most part. Those kids got to get experience in crucial times (without Bradshaw) when they may not have gotten (it).”
South Lyon probably still would’ve been formidable if Bradshaw decided not to play this year. But adding her back to a talented roster of underclassmen who are a year older and better?
It’s no wonder why “she’s back” might be the most terrifying two words for softball teams not named South Lyon this spring.
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
PHOTOS (Top) South Lyon’s Ava Bradshaw makes her move toward the plate during a game against Flat Rock this spring. (Middle) Bradshaw, middle, celebrates with teammates after they won the 2021 Division 1 championship at Secchia Stadium. (Top photo by Conner Lipke; middle photo by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
2023 Runner-Up Whiteford, 2022 Runner-up Evart Set to Face Off for 2024 Title
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 14, 2024
EAST LANSING – Ottawa Lake Whiteford clung to a precarious 1-0 lead over upset-minded Clare entering the final inning Friday, but fifth-year coach Matt VanBrandt showed no signs of panic.
After all, his team has learned by experience how to handle the big stage – advancing to state championship games the past two years.
And the Bobcats are led by one of Michigan’s best pitchers in senior Unity Nelson.
“Unity lives for moments like that,” explained VanBrandt. “She is extremely intense and driven and determined to lead this team as far as she possibly can. We believe in her.”
Nelson made her coach look like a prophet, striking out three straight batters on just 11 pitches in the seventh inning to give her team the 1-0 victory over Clare in Friday’s first Division 3 Semifinal.
“Before that last inning, I took a deep breath and got myself centered and ready to go, one batter at a time,” Nelson said.
Whiteford (30-5-1) will take on Buchanan in Saturday’s 3 p.m. Division 3 Final at Secchia Stadium.
That title game is a classic matchup of the dominating arm of Nelson against the big bats of Evart, which totaled 14 hits – including three long home runs over the left-field fence – in an 8-3 win over Buchanan in Friday’s second Semifinal.
The Bobcats are seeking their first Finals title since 1987, when they capped a run of three Class D crowns over four years. Saturday’s will be their ninth overall appearance in a Final and fourth since 2017.
Whiteford lost last year’s Division 3 championship game to Standish-Sterling (1-0) and fell to Unionville-Sebewaing (4-1) in the 2022 Division 4 Final.
VanBrandt knows that in order to break through and take the final steps, his team’s offense needs to give their ace pitcher more help.
“I feel like our offense is close,” said VanBrandt, whose team has only allowed two runs over the past four games. “We put a lot of pressure on (Clare) today. We had baserunners almost every inning, and if we keep doing that, we will score some runs.”
The Bobcats left nine runners on base, but were able to make the one run they scored in the bottom of the first inning stand up.
Shaylin Alexander and Brooklyn Mills both had singles for Whiteford in the first inning, with Alexander scoring the game’s lone run on a bunt single from sophomore Koralynn Billau.
At that point, it looked like Whiteford was poised to score a bunch more, but Clare hung tough behind outstanding defense and a crafty pitching performance by junior Madison Jones.
Nelson, who entered this week with a 0.82 ERA and twice as many strikeouts as innings pitched, will play her final prep game Saturday before embarking on her college career at North Dakota.
“It’s amazing to get back here again in my senior year,” said Nelson. “This is the reason we have all worked so hard this season, to get one more chance.”
Mills and Billau both had two hits for Whiteford.
Clare, which closed its most successful softball season in 38 years at 36-6-1, was nearly flawless in the field, with just one error and diving catches by right fielder Macie Hensley in the fifth inning and second baseman Alissa Brandon in the sixth.
Jones kept the Bobcats off-balance all game, allowing six hits, two walks and striking out five.
“I never have to worry about effort from these girls, I’ll tell you that,” said third-year Clare coach Shane Kelly. “All year, we’ve always found a way to pull out close games. We had our chances today, but we couldn’t get that timely hit or bunt.”
Morgan Campbell, Breez Yarger and Jones all had hits for Clare.
Evart 8, Buchanan 3
First-year Evart coach Shaun Gray perfectly summed up Friday’s second Division 3 Semifinal with his opening postgame comment:
“We hit the crap out of the ball right from the start of the game,” said Gray, who had just guided the Wildcats to their second Division 3 title game in three years.
The first batter Friday, Evart sophomore pitcher Kyrah Gray, hit a pitch all the way to the warning track, foreshadowing things to come.
Buchanan led 2-1 after four innings, but Gray led off the fifth with a similar shot as her first, and this one cleared the Spartan head in left-center to tie the game. The next batter, Allyson Theunick, followed with another blast over the wall to give her team a lead it would never relinquish.
“That one felt so good,” said Theunick, a senior catcher who now has 11 home runs this season and was a member of the 2022 team that finished runner-up to Millington. “We pick each other up. One of my really good teammates struck out a little earlier, so I said that I was going to hit a home run for her.”
Katelyn Gostlin put the game away in the sixth inning with the biggest blast of all, clearing the Secchia Stadium scoreboard for a three-run homer.
Emily Miller led fourth-ranked Evart (36-4) with three hits, while Gray, Gostlin and Mattisen Tiedt all had two.
Gray picked up her 26th win of the season, going all seven innings, allowing five hits and one walk, while striking out seven.
Buchanan (35-6), which was ranked third, was led by senior shortstop Hannah Herman, who went 3-for-3. Camille Lozmack had two RBIs, and Hailee Kara had a hit and the final RBI.
“We got out-hit today. That’s really all there is to it,” said seventh-year Buchanan coach Rachel Carlson. “But these girls rallied an entire town. They have changed the face of Buchanan softball forever.”
PHOTOS (Top) An Ottawa Lake Whiteford hitter drives a pitch during Friday’s Semifinal win. (Middle) Evart’s Mattisen Tiedt stretches to make an out as Buchanan’s Aspen Berry races for the bag.