Source: Hometown Life

Author: Dan O'Meara

Anna Dixon saw the ball drop in center field and never stopped running. When she finally did, she was on home plate.

The sophomore catcher’s inside-the-park home run helped Farmington Hills Mercy clinch an 11-7 victory over Lake Orion in a Division 1 quarterfinal softball game Tuesday.

She came to bat in the top of the sixth inning at Wayne State University after back-to-back singles by the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, Megan Satawa and Mary Reeber.

Dixon lined a two-out pitch that got past the outfielder and rolled to the wooden fence in the deepest part of the stadium.

“I was running for at least a double,” Dixon said. “Once I saw it get past her, I was trying to run for three.”

She never slowed down as coach Alec Lesko waved her around third base. Dixon scored easily and upped the Mercy lead to 11-3 with the three-run blast.

“I was going to keep going until he told me to stop,” Dixon said. “When he didn’t, I was, ‘OK, I’ll go!’ I knew it was going to give us some runs to keep the game going.”

Dixon was 2-for-3 and scored three runs; Reeber and Sophie VanAcker, who bats second in the order and had one RBI, went 3-for-4; Reeber also scored three runs and VanAcker two.

“Our table-setters with Dixon, Reeber and Sophie: They get on and somehow we find a way to work them around and get them in, and we’ve been doing it all year,” Lesko said.

“Anna has that (home run) ability. She’s done it a couple times and has come up big for us.”

The Marlins were ahead all the way and had the Dragons chasing them from the start after scoring four runs in the first half inning.

Abby Krzywiecki made it a 6-1 ballgame with a two-run double in the second. She was 2-for-4 and junior Nicole Belans 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and an RBI in the first inning.

“We came out knowing we had to start off well,” Krzywiecki said. ‘We had to score first and get on top early. Obviously, the four runs we got in the first innining helped win the game.

“I don’t work for my individual stats. It’s for the notch on the board. It felt good to do that for my team. It was going to be a tight game if we didn’t produce hits.”

Other contributors

Senior Cari Padula didn’t have a hit in five at-bats, but she did have two RBIs with a pair of sacrifice flies.

Senior pitcher Andrea Elmore and junior Shannon Gibbons helped get the Marlins (41-2) off to a good start with consecutive RBI singles in the first.

The Marlins had 15 hits off Lake Orion pitcher Sierra Gonzales. The Dragons, who left the bases loaded in the second and sixth innings, had 10.

“I give them credit,” Lake Orion coach Joe Woityra said. “Our pitcher was 21-2, and that’s the hardest she’s been hit. They hit the ball well.

“I thought we could keep the middle to the bottom of their lineup in check. Their lefties did a phenomenal job. They got a lot of opposite-field hits.”

Tough day in circle

Mercy picked up single runs in the third and fifth innings for an 8-1 score before Lake Orion began to have some success offensively.

The Dragons (35-6) scored two in the bottom of the fifth and batted around during a four-run sixth to make the tally 11-7.

It was a battle both ways as the Dragons got nine hits off Elmore, who didn’t have her usual control. She walked five batters and hit three.

“I haven’t seen her like that in a couple years,” Lesko said. “I’m not sure what it was. We’ll go back and take a look at some stuff and check out our mechanics.

“For a team that puts runs on the board like (the Dragons) do, for her to get us as far as she did, it still shows she’s a competitor.”

Next stop MSU

Lesko said Elmore will be ready for the state semifinal game Thursday at Michigan State University. Mercy will play Mattawan at 12:30 p.m.

“I told her: ‘You’re not going to be perfect every day,’” Lesko said. “I said: ‘When you go home, you analyze yourself a little bit. But, when the sun goes down, it’s over.’”

He also said to Elmore: ‘“Let me tell you, at the Division 1 level right now, there are only four starting pitchers left, and you’re one of them. That’s what you need to build on.’”

Krzywiecki replaced Elmore with two out, the bases full and a 2-0 count on McKenna Roy in the sixth inning. She closed out the game, giving up a run on a walk to Roy and one hit in the seventh.

“It was nerve-wracking because I haven’t pitched in a while,” Krzywiecki said. “I have her back because I know she has mine. I wanted to do that for her. I wanted to pick her up and do what I could to help the team.”

Leading Dragons

Lake Orion’s Tessa Nuss and Shelby Misiak went 3-for-5, Paytin Shadaia 2-for-4. Nuss, Misiak and Kasidy Carson also scored two runs each.

Erin Schroeder, who knocked in the team’s first run with a triple in the first inning, Misiak, Carson, Shadaia and Roy had one RBI apiece.

“We just couldn’t get the big hit when we needed it,” Woityra said. “I was hoping we would capitalize on one of those innings. We were so close.

“I still felt confident going into the seventh. Even though we were down four, we had the top of our lineup up.

“We played well; they played better. They played a little better and a tighter game than we did.”

Final four again

The Marlins, who lost to Caledonia in a state semifinal last year, are looking forward to the return trip.

“If we play like we can and know we should, I think we can do well,” Padula said. “We just have to make sure we play as a team. This is what we’ve been working for all season, so let’s hope we come out on top.”

“It’s going to be really fun,” Dixon said. “We’re all excited to go back to Michigan State and, hopefully, go farther than we did last year.”

“That was one our main focuses,” Lesko said. “The first was the Catholic League. We said: ‘We have to get back there and see if we can take it a little further.’ We’re working on it.”