Pair Powers Mercy Softball to Semifinals
July 16, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Farmington Hills Mercy advanced to this spring’s Division 1 Softball Semifinals on the bats of two powerful hitters – one a senior recently recognized as the best in Michigan this season, and the other a junior likely to be a candidate for the same award in 2016.
Alex Sobczak earned the Miss Softball position player award from the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association and finished her fourth and final varsity season with five career totals in the MHSAA record listings – a .524 batting average, 40 doubles, 40 home runs, 210 runs scored and 112 walks. Her 40 home runs are fifth on that career list and include 17 she hit as a sophomore to tie for third on the single-season list for that category. Sobczak, Mercy’s catcher and leadoff hitter, will continue her career at the University of Michigan.
Teammate Abby Krzywiecki finished her third varsity season making the single-season home runs list with 12 and moving up the career list with 28 to tie for 19th with one more spring to play. She’s also in the MHSAA records four times with at least six RBI in a game plus hit three home runs in a game including two straight in a May 16 win over Mattawan. A first baseman, she’s approaching the career records lists in hits, RBI, batting average and doubles, and hit .574 this season.
As a team, Mercy again made MHSAA lists with 28 home runs this season and 254 RBI over 31 games.
Click the “Softball” heading below to see that sport's record listings in full, and read on for more of this week’s additions in baseball, boys lacrosse and girls lacrosse.
Baseball
- Montague’s 21-9 finish this season included a handful of performances notable for record book inclusion. Junior Jacob Buchberger hit .583 with 11 triples to make those individual lists, while junior Cameron Brayman also made the triples list with eight – those two played large roles as the team finished with 20 triples to tie for third as a team on the single-season list. Junior pitcher Andrew Bobian joined an elite group, walking only five batters in 61 innings pitched. He finished 5-5 despite a 2.52 ERA.
- Mitchell Weber joined a group of players tied for 12th-most doubles in one season, hitting 21 in 37 games this spring. A senior, Weber hit .505 and will play next spring at Kellogg Community College.
- Kaydon Reimer made the single-season hit-by-pitch list with 15 as a junior for Hale, and finished his career in 2014 having been hit with 35 pitches total over four seasons to rank 11th on that career list.
Boys Lacrosse
- Nicholas Lucci continued his climb up the MHSAA career records lists in goals, assists and points with his best season this spring. The Bloomfield Hills junior had 69 goals and 43 assists for a combined 112 points – which tied for ninth on the season points list. He also made the single-game points list with 10 three times and the single-game goals list with eight against Walled Lake Central on March 25. His 221 career points rank 12th with a season to play.
Girls Lacrosse
- Amy Longe finished her four-season varsity career at Hartland as one of the leading scorers in MHSAA history and with 12 entries in the record book. She made the single-season goals list for the second time, this time with 80, and moved up to third on the career goals list with 254. She again made the single-season points list with 112 and moved up to fourth on the career list for that category with 319. Teammates Annelise Kulpanowski and Maddie Thornley both also made records listings multiple times for single-game assists and single-game saves, respectively.
Softball
- Caledonia as a team and freshman Samantha Gehrls among standouts created plenty of buzz this spring as the team advanced past the regional round for the first time, finishing Division 1 runner-up. Gehrls made the record book with seven RBI in a game against Jenison on April 22, and her 15 home runs on the season tied for eighth all-time. Total, Caledonia hit 49 homers – tied for second most by a team, drove in 322 runs to rank sixth on that list and made the team hits list with 429 over 39 games.
- Hudson’s Shian Beekel finished her career with a power-hitting season this spring for the Tigers, driving 23 doubles, which tied for seventh-most for one season. Beekel hit .494 total and also knocked eight home runs.
- Clinton Township Clintondale set a team record for wins in finishing 21-4, and senior Morgan Duda played a starring role. In addition to posting an 11-2 pitching record, she scored the third-most runs in MHSAA history (79), finished the seventh-longest hitting streak (32 games dating to 2014), made records listings with 19 doubles, 10 home runs, and eight RBI in one game and posted the eighth-highest batting average (.692). She will continue her career at Division II University of Minnesota-Crookston.
- Skylar Reed joined an impressive list of Howard City Tri-County players in the MHSAA records with 16 doubles this season, and Alexis Holappa made the list for RBI in a game for the second time, with six April 1 against Evart. They were joined by an older entry now verified – Theresa Dillon had 102 walks from 1983-86, the eighth most now and third most for a career when she graduated. As a team, Tri-County had 397 hits and 249 RBI this season in finishing 16-22.
PHOTO: Abby Krzywiecki (left) and Alex Sobczak teamed up to lead Mercy to a Division 1 Semifinal against Caledonia in June.
Jackson Northwest's Kloack 'Doubles' Up Record Book Achievements
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 13, 2023
Jackson Northwest standout Campbell Kloack reached the MHSAA record book for single-season doubles for the second time this spring, hitting 18 for the second season in a row. But she’s also now on the career list with one more season to play.
The now-senior has 51 doubles over her first three seasons. She’s committed to sign with Saginaw Valley State to continue her softball career after she’s done at Northwest.
See below for more recent additions to the MHSAA softball record book.
Softball
Rylee Scheurer made a significant impact on Portland St. Patrick as a sophomore in 2022, making record book lists with 70 runs and 70 hits both over 36 games as the Shamrocks as a team made the records with 399 hits, 88 doubles, 308 RBI and a .407 team batting average. Senior teammate Lydia Meredith also was added after being hit by three pitches in one game that May 31, 2022, against Ionia. Scheurer then earned another entry this spring, for RBI in one game, while eighth-grade teammate Graceyn Rockey earned listings for home runs in her first two varsity at bats and 11 home runs for the season. St. Patrick as a team again was added as well, this time for 278 RBI and a .446 team average over 28 games – the team average ranking fifth all-time.
Olivia Turner’s big numbers as a Grass Lake sophomore in 2022 earned her three more individual record book entries and put her on three career lists as well. Turner’s 27 doubles over 42 games tied for fifth-most in one season, and she also hit 12 home runs and totaled 84 RBI – the latter ranking 11th for one spring. She’s on those career lists as well with 50 doubles, 28 homers and 176 RBI over 78 games before this past season.
Edwardsburg’s Caitlin Tighe will be playing her senior year of softball next spring, but has been added for several achievements from her freshman season. On April 22, 2021, she had three home runs, in consecutive at bats, and eight RBI in her team’s win over Niles, and she also was added for 17 doubles and 10 homers total that season. Teammate Abby Bossler was added for back-to-back homers in the same inning during the second game that day against Niles – as the Eddies made the team record book with five homers total that contest – and then 16 doubles the following spring in 2022. As a team, Edwardsburg also was added for 394 hits, 81 doubles and 293 RBI over 37 games in 2021 and 418 hits, 83 doubles, 34 home runs and 276 RBI over 37 games in 2022. Bossler graduated this spring and is continuing at Radford University in Virginia, and Tighe is committed to Western Michigan.
Hillman senior Nicole Barbeau earned her school’s first softball record book individual entry as a sophomore in 2022. She hit 12 home runs over 35 games to make the single-season list in that category.
Parchment’s Kassidy Butler put together one of the most impressive careers over the last quarter century of MHSAA softball, and it’s reflected with 13 record book entries. Among the most notable, Butler tied for 10th on the single-season doubles list with 25 as a freshman in 2012 and is tied for seventh with 69 for her four-season career; her 20 home runs as a senior in 2015 are tied for 12th on that list, while her 243 RBI are third-most for a career and her .581 batting average ranks 13th. She went on to play at Kellogg Community College.
Kinde North Huron enjoyed a power-packed 2022 season, making the team record list with 34 home runs over 28 games and with Brooke Gordon and Maggie Koroleski both making the individual homers list with 12. Gordon was a senior and signed with Northwood, and Koroleski was a senior this spring and signed with Cleary.
Algonac’s Kenna Bommarito became the fifth pitcher to record all 18 outs of a six-inning game by strikeout, doing so during a no-hitter April 11 against Algonac. She also just missed the single-game RBI list with five. She’s a senior this school year.
Abby Fowler was a catalyst for Holton’s lineup during its 22-3 win over Grand Rapids Covenant Christian on April 26. The senior drove in 10 runs, tying for third on the single-game RBI list.
Niles Brandywine’s Chloe Parker added four more record book entries this spring as a junior to her sophomore listing for doubles. She bested that 2022 total by one with 21 doubles and now has 54 for her career with a season to play. She also made lists for back-to-back home runs and seven RBI in a game. Teammate Adelyn Drotoz also was added for a seven-RBI game this spring as a sophomore.
Petoskey’s Andi Gasco tied the single-game extra-innings strikeout record on June 1, 2009, when she struck out 32 batters during a 21-inning Quarterfinal loss to Clio. She also has been added to the record book for 409 strikeouts that season and 1,364 for her career – which ranks 11th on that list. She went on to star at Trine. More recently, Kenzie Bromley turned a powerful senior season into a pair of record book entries in the spring. The Petoskey senior hit 18 home runs over 33 games to make the single-season list in that category, and also made the career list with 34 over three seasons. She’s continuing at Kent State.
A pair of Holt standouts were added for offensive contributions over the last two seasons. Jadyn Joseph, a 2022 graduate, was added for scoring 73 runs over 39 games as a senior. Marlie Rehm, now a sophomore, was added for 16 doubles over 36 games in the spring as a freshman. Joseph plays at Ferris State.
Three decades later, Susie Ritums has been added for her back-to-back no-hitters as a Comstock senior on May 5 and May 7, 1993. Ritums struck out 22 hitters over the 11 innings needed to earn that pair of victories.
PHOTO Jackson Northwest’s Campbell Kloack owns three record book listings for doubles as she prepares for her senior season next spring. (Photo courtesy of the Jackson Northwest softball program.)