The Clarkston High School softball team came out with their game faces on and played hard until the end of their district semifinal matchup with Waterford Mott on June 4 at the CHS softball field, but in the end the Wolves could not sustain enough offense to pull an upset.
In the end the Wolves were defeated by the Corsairs by a score of 3-0.
The Corsair’s Tori Rexford drove home the eventual winning run in the first inning and helped seal the game in the top of the fifth with a home run.
Megan Sperry displayed good poise and stamina on the pitchers mound, pitching all seven innings for Clarkston. Sperry’s counterpart, Sasha Wardach also pitched a complete game for the victory.
‘They had real good defense. Clarkston doesn’t just give you anything. Nothing is handed to you when you play them. They do not make a mistake out in the field. (Clarkston Coach) Don Peters is doing a great job,? said Waterford Mott Coach Mark Grattan.
The Wolves managed to get on base in each inning but could never completely solve Wardach’s pitching repetoire.
‘She is the best pitcher we have, she (pitched today with) a broken foot,? said Grattan.
The loss ends a 10-21 season in which the Wolves had no senior players and at times had five freshman players on the team. To make matters worse, Clarkston lost three of their regular players less than three weeks ago to various maladies, including mono and shoulder injury.
‘No one expected much (this year). Next year will be better, we are not getting any worse,? said junior Katy Kleinedler.
The Wolves also integrated nine new girls into the program this year.
‘Next year we may get the whole roster back. That has happened two other times while I was coaching,? said Peters, who has coached softball for over 20 years and has been inducted into the Michigan High School Softball Hall of Fame.
During the summer Peters will still have the girls concentrating on game preparation. He plans to work with them on their individual skills.
‘I want to get them hitting, work on their outfield skills, throwing skills, pitching,? said Peters, ‘At the beginning of this year we had girls who didn’t know what a squeeze was.?
One thing that needs no work is the Wolves attitudes.
‘We are all very close, we talk about everything. Even with losing so many girls and so many new ones coming in we are still so close, it is just really positive,? Kleinedler said.
Let’s hope that positive attitude brings much success to the Wolves next season.