By Chris Hagan
Review Staff Writer
As the spring weather moved in and brought with it a much-desired heat wave, Lake Orion’s varsity softball team has also warmed up.
The Dragons, made up of five seniors, four juniors, five sophomores and a solo freshman, Tessa Nuss, has an 8-0 record leading into a busy week.
The girls were playing Rochester Adams in a doubleheader on Tuesday. The girls get a day of rest before taking another on Thursday, followed by hosting an eight-team tournament on the weekend.
The Dragons are batting a robust .445 through eight games and have out-scored their opponents 71-11. Sophomore shortstop Kasidy Carson is hitting .500 with seniors Carly McGee and Mackenzie Case batting .400.
Senior pitcher Sierra Gonzales, who’s been all regional for the past three years, has earned four wins, while juniors Shelby Misiak and Alexis Aguilar both earned two wins apiece.
Though head coach Joe Woityra is pleased with the season’s start he said he’s still looking for some offensive punch.
“We knew we would pitch with anybody and the defense always works itself out because we have athletes that can move around from position to position,” he said. “The biggest thing we had to figure out, and we’re still figuring out, is that in the past wo years we’ve lost a couple big hitters, which is a lot of RBI’s to replace.”
Who’s going to supply the RBI?
Right now it’s looking like Misiak and Nuss are the answers. Misiak has driven in 14 so far and Nuss has 11. Woityra said they’ve done a nice job.
The five sophomores, Bethany Grader, Carson, Susan Bielecki, McKenna Roy and Erin Schroeder, were all on the team last year as freshmen. They have some pressure on them as Woityra said he is looking for more run production from them.
Year after year, Lake Orion has been at the top of the OAA Red standings. This season should be no exception.
“There are four teams that think they have a shot at winning the OAA Red and I think we’re one of them,” he said. “I just think it’s a matter of if we’ll perform under pressure in game situations. That’s the consistent battle is to keep them focused at the game at hand.”
In a tournament over the past weekend, the girls rolled to four victories that were culminated with a 4-0 victory over Oxford in the championship game.
The Dragons began by defeating Davison 13-3.
Aguilar earned her first victory of the year on the mound. Schroeder had three hits, Bielecki was 2-3, Roy was 2-3 and McGee chipped in two hits for the Dragon’s offense.
Lake Orion then defeated Imlay City 13-2. Gonzales got the win to remain undefeated on the mound.
The offensive attack was lead by Misiak, who had three hits and four RBI. Carson also had three hits, including a home run, and 4 RBI. Gardner added three hits senior Alaina Basso contributed two hits to the Dragon victory.
In the third game, Brandon played the Drag