Source: State Champs Sports Network
Author: Jeff Dullack
Farmington Hills Mercy’s Abby Krzywiecki named 2016 Total Softball Michigan High School Softball Player of the Year
June 18, 2015 – On Tuesday afternoon, State Champs! Sports Network and Total Softball announced that Farmington Hills Mercy’s Abby Krzywiecki has been named the recipient of the 2016 Total Softball Michigan High School Softball Player of the Year Award.
“I think it was more of a surprise, because it’s rewarding to know that my work paid off,” Krzywiecki said of winning the award. “I’m having huge numbers this year, but it’s not for myself, it’s for my team. So I think personally, it’s more like ‘Wow’, it’s my last year of high school softball, it’s one of my last year’s of travel too so it’s rewarding to see the end result of what I can do.”
State Champs! Senior Editor and Analyst Tom Markowski said Krzywiecki’s consistent play and performances in Farmington Hills Mercy’s key games this season is what separated her from the rest of the field to win this year’s award.
“Consistency, big game performance, you look at all of the wins that Mercy has had this year, winning the Catholic League title two out of three years, getting to the quarterfinals again, reaching the semifinals as a junior,” he said. “She had a little bit of a slump, but that slump happened in late April and if you’re going to have a little bit of a slump, that’s the time to have it. Ever since the first week of May until now, she’s been right on.”
Signed to play softball at the University of South Alabama, Krzywiecki earned an automatic spot in the Final Four as she won the online fan vote with 21,246 votes. Unionville-Sebewaing’s Nikki Bauer, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central’s Meghan Beaubien and Clarkston’s Abby Skvarce were named the three other finalists for the award.
In her senior season, Krzywiecki broke the MHSAA home run record, hitting her 20th home run of the season in the regional final against Walled Lake Northern. The previous record was 18 home runs in a season. Krzywiecki is currently hitting .565 on the year with 90 RBI, leading the Marlins to a 40-2 record and into the Division 1 quarterfinals. Krzywiecki also has 12-1 record with a 1.69 ERA in 15 games in the circle this season.
“It just meant a lot, first that I beat my own record, so that was kind of cool to one up myself within a week,” she said. “But first of all, that field is super long, it’s like 230 (feet), so to even hit it that far and hit it off the top of the fence. Last week, I hit the top of the fence and unfortunately, it back in, so that was kind of a bummer. But it was kind of a cool moment because when I was rounding second I was watching it and it went over, it was dead silent, you could hear a pin drop and right when it hit the ground, the crowd exploded and it was such a cool moment for me. Thank God it was caught on film because I’ve watched it 10 times already. I just love watching it because it’s such a pure and happy moment.”
This is the second straight year where a player from Mercy has won the Softball Player of the Year Award as Alex Sobczak won the award last year. Sobczak currently plays for the University of Michigan.
Krzywiecki has been one of the state’s best hitters throughout her four-year high school career, totaling 48 home runs and 234 RBI to go along with a .528 career batting average and has struck out just 18 times and walked 55 times in the last four years. Her 48 home runs is just one shy of the MHSAA career home runs record, set by Addison’s Erika Underwood in 2015 and Belding’s Taylor Johnson in 2010.
“It was exciting to me to really dig in and look at all of the high school players that participated in this,” he said. “The depth of the talent is amazing. We would list a top 10, but we easily could have listed a top 30, there’s some great players out there. I really enjoyed getting to know the players, seeing how the stats built up. It was impressive, it was a lot of fun.”
Fans can watch the Total Softball Michigan High School Softball Player of the Year award presentation on the State Champs! High School Sports Show, this Sunday, June 19th at 9:00 am on Fox Sports Detroit
State Champs! Sports Network recognized Total Softball for being great supporters of the Michigan Softball Player of the Year Award and also being great supporters of high school sports across Michigan.
“I can’t say enough positive things about our partnership this year with Total Softball, ”State Champs! Executive Producer Lorne Plant said. “Our goals, are their goals, to shine a spotlight and celebrate the great sport of high school softball.”
Editor’s Note: Remember to tune into the State Champs! HS Sports Show on Sunday Morning at 9:00 am on Fox Sports Detroit for highlights from the softball, baseball and girls soccer state finals.