Source: MI Prep Zone

Author: MATTHEW B. MOWERY

DETROIT >> Sometimes, it’s not as much about how hard you hit, but rather about how hard you hit back.

Walled Lake Northern got to the regional championship game by counter-punching when Novi threatened to tie it up in Saturday’s first semifinal.

The Knights, though, weren’t as effective at counterpunching as No. 2-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy proved to be, as the Marlins scored nine unanswered runs after the two teams swapped early scores in the title game, winning it easily, 11-1 in five innings.

“They just seemed so relaxed, and never panicked. In that first game, there was a lot of opportunities for someone to start to put runs up, and we just kind of buckled down, and did what we normally do,” Mercy coach Alec Lesko said of his team’s no-nonsense demeanor. “Then our bats finally came alive, and finally got some hits in.”

Mercy (40-2) will face No. 6-ranked Lake Orion in a Division 1 quarterfinal game at Wayne State on Tuesday.

It looked like Northern (30-13) might give the Marlins a game, like Lakeland had in the second semifinal, losing 3-0, answering a pair of first-inning Mercy runs with one of their own in the bottom of the first, cutting the lead in half.

Game on, right?

Eh. No. Mercy scored three times in the second inning to make it 5-1, then pushed their run tally to double digits with a five-run fifth, helped by a Northern throwing error.

“I think it just kind of deflated us when they came right back. I think maybe if we held them, it might’ve been a little different,” said Northern coach Kristen Woodard, who had to pull starting pitcher Cassie Frankowiak partway through the second-inning rally, and replace her with freshman McKenzie Knight, who’d just faced the Marlins in a tuneup before districts.

“I think they just got so many hits together, we just had to try to change it up. Maybe something different would happen.”

It didn’t. Sophie Van Acker’s bases-loaded, two-run double brought in the first two runs of the inning, and spelled the end of the day for Frankowiak. Abby Krzywiecki drove in another with a fielder’s choice, but Van Acker was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a grounder by Nicole Belans.

The Marlins would bat around again in the fifth, starting the scoring with Krzywiecki’s RBI single, followed by a bases-loaded infield hit by Andrea Elmore — when a throwing error plated two more runs — before Shannon Gibbons made it 10-1 with an RBI single.

“When we scored those two, and they got one back, and we came back and got some more, it really helped us, in our bounce-back. It’s hard when you think you’ve cut that lead in half — I’ve been on that other side. It’s difficult,” Lesko said. “I think the big play, when the ball went down the foul line, and we scored a few more. Because I know they (Northern) can hit — they hit really well all year. I know they put up big numbers all year.”

Mercy’s finally run to push it to the mercy rule margin came on a home run by Krzywiecki that bounced off the top of the wall and over. She’d had one bounce the opposite way last week in districts.

“Yeah, she finally got the right bounce. It was like somebody hit the pause button. It hit the top of the fence, and everybody was silent. And then it fell on the other side,” Lesko said of Krzywiecki’s record-extending 20th homer. “I’m happy for her. I’m sure there’s never been another 20 (HR)-90 (RBI) kid — 20/90 when you play 42 games, that’s crazy numbers.”

Lakeland held Mercy to just three runs in the day’s second semifinal, but couldn’t get any offense going on its own, held to three hits by Elmore, who notched both wins in the circle.

“I don’t know if anybody thought we had a chance but me. I thought we had a chance of beating them. The kids played well. They certainly weren’t intimidated, coming in, and they were certainly ready to play,” Lakeland coach Joe Alsup said.

“It’s a funny game sometimes. They have five bloopers that fall in, and I thought we hit the ball hard at times. I thought we hit the ball harder than they hit the ball — but they didn’t drop in, and that’s how this game works, sometimes.

“You need a little bit of luck to go your way, and it didn’t go our way.”

Novi made Walled Lake Northern’s path to the regional championship game difficult, cutting an early 5-0 lead down to just two with a three-run fifth inning before the Knights counterpunched themselves with two insurance runs in the sixth to win, 7-3.

“We’ve come back so many times in games all season, we just had a belief we could get it done. And I appreciate that. It’s hard for kids — sometimes kids are too cool for school, and it’s hard for kids to kind of care enough to make it hurt if you don’t get it done,” Novi coach Bruce Lenington said. “When we came back and made it 5-3, I thought all the momentum was with us. And then when they got kind of two cheapies on the next inning, that kind of let some of the air out of the balloon a little bit for us.”

Novi's rally was punctuated by Ireland Whalen’s gutsy delayed steal of home.

“I’ll be honest with you: I didn’t see either of them. That’s that kid’s read. I can’t tell you how much we spend on baserunning, and that’s that kid’s read,” Lexington said. “That’s not signed by me. If’ I’m telling that kid to go, it’s going to be too late. Those were great reads — and she did that twice in one inning.”