Wolverton Thriving At Plate, In Circle as Howell Aims High
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
May 18, 2021
HOWELL — Avrey Wolverton is quietly having another outstanding season for the Howell softball team.
As a pitcher, she has 261 strikeouts in 114 innings, with two 20-strikeout games and another with 19 strikeouts. The latter was a perfect game, one of two no-hitters this season. She has a 19-1 record in 22 appearances.
At the plate, she’s hitting .435, with eight homers and 40 RBI for the Howell softball team through May 16. She plays first base when not in the circle.
With a month to go in the season, Wolverton, Howell coach Ron Pezzoni, and her teammates say she hasn’t gotten hot at the plate yet.
“That’s the scary part,” Pezzoni says. “She’ll get hot. I haven’t felt like she’s gotten into one of those grooves. She’s strong and hits the ball hard, but she hasn’t gotten into one of those streaks where you can’t get her out. I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully, she’s saving it for June.”
Wolverton is one of several key players on a Howell team looking to get back to the Division 1 Final this spring. The Highlanders (26-4-1) got there in 2019, but lost to Warren Regina 3-2 in eight innings.
Wolverton hit 17 home runs that season, earning her first-team all-state honors for the second year in a row. Pezzoni has no doubt she’ll get a third all-state nod this year, too.
“We’ve got one of the best hitters and pitchers in the state in the same person,” he said.
Wolverton’s most recent 20-strikeout game came on a cool and cloudy day at Canton in a 12-0 victory. Canton managed only one hit, in the top of the seventh inning, before Wolverton struck out the side to end the game.
Catcher Meghan Farren had an inkling something special was going to happen during warmups.
“You can tell if she’ll be on or off,” Farren said. “You can tell by the spin of the ball, and sometimes it comes in hotter than others.”
Wolverton was Howell’s second pitcher in 2019 behind Molly Carney, who now pitches at Notre Dame.
“I’m just pitching more and able to accomplish more,” Wolverton said of her success this spring.
“She moves the ball around really well inside and outside,” Farren said. “She works the ball well on both corners, and she knows how to bring it up and down.”
And Wolverton rarely misses her spots.
“She does miss sometimes,” Farren said, “and we laugh about it, and she says ‘My bad.’ It’s good.”
That pinpoint accuracy has kept hitters guessing this season. She’s held opposing hitters to a .145 average.
“I see the looks in hitters’ eyes, where they don’t know how they missed a pitch,” Pezzoni said. “I don’t know how they missed it, but they just keep missing them. She gets so many swings and misses.”
Wolverton accomplished what she did May 10 despite not getting a lot of sleep the night before.
That performance came after a late night coming home from Greenville, S.C., where she was visiting Furman University for the weekend. She got home around midnight and got up early to go to school, then pitched.
“I thought she might be a wreck, or tired,” Pezzoni said.
Wolverton plans to major in psychology at Furman.
“I’ve always been interested in what causes people to act the way they do,” she said.
In the meantime, she plans to write a successful final chapter to her high school career in a sport she’s been playing since age 8. She’s been pitching since she was 11.
“I saw everyone else doing it, and I thought it was cool so I wanted to try it,” Wolverton said.
She is mostly a quiet leader for the Highlanders.
“She doesn’t say a whole lot,” Pezzoni said. “Just takes care of her business, and that’s the kind of leader I like. You see some try to be (vocal) leaders, but to me it’s like, take care of your business (on the field) and people will follow you.”
All the way, the Highlanders hope, back to East Lansing.
PHOTOS: (Top) Howell’s Avrey Wolverton steps into a pitch this spring against Canton. (Middle) Wolverton makes her move toward the plate during her 20-strikeout performance. (Photos by Tim Robinson.)
Performance: Richmond's Erin Shuboy
July 1, 2016
Erin Shuboy
Richmond freshman – Softball
During a championship weekend of headline-grabbing pitching performances, the most talked about likely came from Shuboy, who threw a no-hitter to lead Richmond to its first MHSAA softball championship with a 2-0 victory over Vicksburg at Michigan State University. Shuboy shut down a lineup batting .433 to earn the Michigan National Guard “Performance of the Week” for June 13-19.
Shuboy struck out seven and walked only one batter, following a Semifinal where she struck out eight and walked two in a 6-2 win over Escanaba. Batting cleanup, she also drove in runs in both games. She finished this spring with a 17-3 record and 199 strikeouts, and carried a .348 batting average into the final week.
Shuboy’s mom, Bridgette (nee Moore), also was a standout pitcher for Richmond coach Howard Stuart, who has won 954 games over 38 seasons leading the program. Erin Shuboy also plays volleyball and basketball.
Coach Howard Stuart said: “We had to slow her down several times, because even the official said, ‘She’s working too fast. Slow her down.’ So we had to physically slow her down. She was in such a hurry to get the ball and throw it. And there was no mention of no-hitter. Not one word was said to her at all. At the end of the game, she didn’t know. She was so focused. ... What makes her special is her confidence, I think. She believes in herself. She’s not just a pitcher; she pounds the ball. (In the Semifinal), she hit a ball down the left field line that was a line shot, went 150 feet five feet off the ground before it ever slowed down, just a screamer. She can hit. She can do everything. She fields her position well. She used to play shortstop. She plays first base. She’s a pitcher. She’s a solid kid.”
Performance Point: “I didn’t really know it was (a no-hitter) until someone told me. This is just crazy. I just gotta stay focused about every batter, keep taking a batter at a time and play at a time. My change-up was working really good; it normally doesn’t work that good. My fastball, the outside corner, that really helped us out.”
Like mother, like daughter: “She’s always helped me out with everything. She taught me how to throw. She gave me so much advice over the last couple of years. It’s just been a great experience having her.”
Pitching first, batting second: “I like pitching better. It’s just fun being the leader on the mound.”
Learning from a legend: (Coach Stuart) knows what he’s doing. It’s awesome to have him here to tell me what I’m doing wrong and help me with my errors. (He taught me) always keep your composure on the mound and never let anything get to you.”
Sending out the seniors: “I just wanted to help them out, have them have a good end to their senior year. And a state championship would be a good way. … We predicted we were going to have a good season, but I didn’t know we were going to be state champs.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2015-16 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard recognized a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2015-16 honorees
June 15: Andrew Walker, Battle Creek Lakeview boys golf - Read
June 8: Sekayi Bracey, East Kentwood girls track & field - Read
June 1: Anna Jefferson, Oak Park girls track & field - Read
May 25: Connor Bandel, Oxford boys track & field - Read
May 18: Kalyn Breckenridge, Birch Run girls soccer - Read
May 11: Morgan Beadlescomb, Algonac boys track & field - Read
May 4: Abby Krzywiecki, Farmington Hills Mercy softball - Read
April 27: Mike Mokma, Holland Christian baseball - Read
April 20: Abby Divozzo, Cadillac girls soccer - Read
March 30: Cassius Winston, Detroit U-D Jesuit boys basketball - Read
March 23: Kierra Fletcher, Warren Cousino girls basketball - Read
March 16: Jacob Montague, Grosse Pointe South swimming & diving - Read
March 9: Kyle Tuttle, St. Charles boys bowling - Read
March 2: Brittney Schnicke, Caledonia girls bowling - Read
Feb. 24: Kamari Newman, Detroit East English boys basketball - Read
Feb. 17: Jason Whitens, Powers North Central boys basketball - Read
Feb. 10: Rachel Hogan, Grand Ledge gymnastics - Read
Feb. 3: Nehemiah Mork, Midland Dow swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 27: Mardrekia Cook, Muskegon girls basketball - Read
Jan. 20: Sage Castillo, Hartland wrestling - Read
Jan. 13: Rob Zofchak, Dexter swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 6: Tyler Deming, Caro wrestling – Read
Dec. 15: Jordan Weber, East Jordan boys basketball – Read
Dec. 8: Kaitlyn Geers, Kent City girls basketball – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Richmond’s Erin Shuboy steps toward the plate during the Division 2 Final on June 18. (Middle) Shuboy unloads a pitch during her no-hit performance.