The Lake Orion High School girls varsity softball team had a magical run this season, finishing with a 33-7 record and a trip to the MHSAA state semifinal game.
The Dragons’ season ended with a 4-0 loss to Hartland High School in the state semifinal game on June 15 at Michigan State University. Hartland went on to defeat Brownstone Woodhaven 9-1 in the state championship game.
Grace Luby, Sydney Bell, Alexis Hazen and Ellie Britt had hits for the Dragons in the team’s first-ever trip to the state semis, said head coach Joe Woityra.
The Dragons made it to the semifinal game after shutting out Utica Ford 7-0 in the quarterfinals. The game took two days to complete due to rain.
Lake Orion jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning against Utica. Sydney Bell, Anna Gardner, Ellie Britt and Madi Eckert all had hits in the inning. Jada Lopez batted in a run, Woityra said.
Utica Ford loaded the bases with one out in the second inning and with a 1 ball, 2 strike count on the batter the game was postponed until the next day.
When play resumed, pitcher Rylee Limberger struck out the batter and got a grounder to shortstop to end the threat.
The Lady Dragons coasted from there scoring four more in the bottom of the second inning. Luby doubled, while Bell, Lopez, Britt and Gardner each added hits. Alexis Hazen had an RBI and Britt contributed three RBIs on the way to victory.
Limberger struck out nine batters, getting the win from the pitcher’s circle. — J.N.