Source: MI Prep Zone

Author: MATTHEW B. MOWERY

FARMINGTON HILLS >> It’s not always easy to remember your first home run, when you’ve hit so many that each new one attracts attention like it’s your first.

For Abby Krzywiecki, Michigan’s newly-minted home run queen after breaking the state’s single-season record in districts, an early one still resonates as one of the most memorable.

“It wasn’t my first one, but my first memory — I think I was in Florida, at the ESPN fields, at Disney, and it went out, and we won the game because of it,” she reminisced recently.

That was before Saturday, June 4, when she apparently broke a three-way tie for the record with a seventh-inning homer against North Farmington in the district championship game. There is reportedly another pursuer for the single-season home run title, though — Gladwin’s Dayna Fennell, who reportedly hit 19 before her Flying G’s team was eliminated by a 6-5 loss to Ogemaw Heights in Division 2 district play.

Krzywiecki’s home run in the regional championship game — which bounced off the top of the wall and over (she had one do the opposite in districts a week ago, bouncing back onto the field) — put her past Fennell’s total, no matter what.

Just one more before this postseason run ends, and Krzywiecki will tie the state’s career record (49), currently held by Addison’s Erika Underwood (2012-15) and Belding’s Taylor Johnson (2007-10). (Only Brighton’s Drew Henson, with 70, has hit more round-trippers in either baseball or softball among Michigan players.)

So undoubtedly, every eye was upon her in this Saturday’s regional tournament. The No. 2-ranked Marlins beat Lakeland, 3-0, with two doubles from Krzywiecki, then knocked off Walled Lake Northern, 11-1, in five innings, the final run coming from that homer which hit the top of the wall and went over.

That’s a lot of pressure for a high school kid, even if she has been dealing with ever-increasing scrutiny from opponents since her freshman year.

“Her work ethic here is just tremendous. What I like, this year as a senior — it’s no secret, she’s getting a lot of attention — it’s tough on anybody,” Marlins coach Alec Lesko said earlier this season. “You’re talking a high school kid, and the walls start caving in a little bit. We had a little conversation, ‘Just have some fun.’ You got here because you enjoy and love this game. Don’t change any of that. And she does. She’s responding well. I’m real proud of her.”

Even if all anybody wants to talk about are her home runs, Krzywiecki has dealt with the scrutiny well, by all appearances.

The Mercy senior, a University of South Alabama signee, continues to stress that the stats are just stats, and that she’d prefer the ‘W’ without the ‘HR’ to a ‘HR’ without a ‘W.’ She’s not trying to crush the ball — she’s just barreling it up, and putting a good swing on and, well, sometimes really good things happen.

“It’s just hard for me to focus on hitting it out of the park. I think I’ve done that before, in the summer, and it’s never successful. Just come out here and have fun. I love high school season — to play for my friends, and play for my teammates, that’s the biggest goal for me, is to produce for them. It’s not for myself. I don’t want the individual stats, I want the win,” she said, admitting she can tell when she does connect just right.

“Yeah, I can tell. There are sometimes when the wind’s blowing out, you’ll be like ‘Well, that was pretty high … I can’t believe that made it.’ But, yeah, you can just tell. It’s definitely a different pop off the bat than normal.”

It’s a sound she’s very familiar with.

She hit nine her freshman year, and seven as a sophomore. Last year, it was 12 — including three in one game in May, against Mattawan, itself a rare feat — a single-season total that ranked top-25 in state history. Now, she’s added 20 more.

“Yeah. You know, it’s funny — some think they should pitch away, some think they should pitch in. Some think they should go off-speed, some think they should go up or down. The thing is, I’ve seen her hit every single one of those pitches, on the nose. So, she’s just a good hitter. She understands what they’re trying to do,” Lesko said. “Abby’s a good hitter. She doesn’t swing for the fences. She swings to drive the ball every time she gets up. Every so often — boy — she gets the ball up, and it goes a long way.”

But it’s not just the homers that have made her such an impactful player for the Marlins. She’s hit over .500 in each season after her freshman year, her career batting average of .528 ranking tied for 17th-best in state history.

Her 45 doubles and 227 hits both rank in the top 25 in state history for a career, while her 234 career RBI are second. This year’s been the cherry on top, with 90 RBI and counting, ranking fourth-best (she’s still 15 from Kelly Kennedy’s 1993 record of 105), while her 77 hits this season are tied for 17th-most in a single season.

When the Michigan High School Athletic Association verifies all of Mercy’s paperwork, the state record book will be absolutely littered with Krzywiecki’s name.

(That’s not even mentioning her 51-5 career record in the pitching circle, and 2.02 career ERA, which aren’t record-worthy, but are still impressive, nonetheless.)

So will the National Federation of High Schools’ record book. Her single-season and career RBI totals rank in the top five nationally, while her single-season and career home run totals are top 10 nationally.

That’s the part that’s taken Krzywiecki back a little, made her reflect.

“I think it’s rewarding, is the word for me, because I’ve worked my butt off to get where I am today, and to be able to produce those numbers. So it’s cool that it’s inspiring for other people — like, look, if you want to do something, and you work hard for something, it’s going to pay off. Karma’s a big thing — your work’s totally going to come back around, full-circle,” she said.

“It’s just cool to see that my work is actually producing me efficient numbers. It’s awesome. I love it.”