Just how decimated was Farmington Hills Mercy’s softball team due to graduation losses?
When March came around, there essentially were no tryouts for this year’s squad.
“We started out and literally had 13 kids come to try out,” Mercy coach Alec Lesko said. “That first day we were like, ‘OK, this is no longer a tryout. We’re going to take all 13 of you and we’re going to do the best we can. We’re going to to train you up and make this game fun. Learn the basics and continue to move on.’”
If Mercy having such a low number of players at tryouts sounds startling to many softball pundits around the state, it should.
After all, this is a Mercy team in recent years that won a Division 1 state title in 2016 and has consistently been highly-ranked in Division 1, including last year when it was ranked No. 1 for most of the season until getting upset by Northville in the regional round with a roster heavy on seniors, including Miss Softball winner Kaitlyn Pallozzi (now at Alabama).
Bumped down to Division 2 this year, Mercy had its ups and downs during the regular season with a more inexperienced roster, including seeing its streak of five Catholic League tournament titles come to an end.
But despite the transition and losses, Mercy is bearing some fruit after a laborious spring.
Mercy is still playing in the final week of the season, as it won its regional over the weekend and will play Carleton Airport in a 4 p.m. Division 2 quarterfinal on Tuesday at Ypsilanti Lincoln.
The record of 19-17 might be not what Mercy is used to, but it is playing its best ball at the right time.
Mercy has been led by a trio of veterans in senior outfielder Sophia Chaput, junior infielder Taylor Selimi and senior pitcher Anna McGavin.
Chaput, a returning all-league player from last year who has signed to play in college for Oakland University, is hitting .510 with 31 stolen bases.
Selimi is hitting .404 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs, while McGavin is 17-10 with 277 strikeouts and a .186 batting average against in 170 innings pitched.
McGavin waited her turn for most of her high school career behind Pallozzi, but is now thriving after sticking with the process.
“Kaitlyn’s senior year, she had some offseason things happening where they weren’t even sure if she was going to be able to play her senior year,” Lesko said. “For Anna McGavin, she really kicked it up thinking she was going to have to take over the circle for Mercy in Kaitlyn’s absence. But I was so happy for Kaitlyn that she was healthy enough to be able to come back and play. But all that work Anna did in the winter really didn’t get to show itself. But she continued to work, knowing her chance would come this year. She has just blossomed.”
As much as Mercy has come together, Lesko knows the next challenge on Tuesday will be the biggest one of the season.
Carleton Airport made the semifinals last year, was one out away from making the championship game and returned most of its roster from last year. Up to this point, Carleton Airport has played to high expectations from the start of the year, bringing a 35-5 record into the quarterfinal matchup with Mercy.
“They’re just such a solid club,” Lesko said of Carleton Airport. “They’re well-trained and know how to play. I know they know how to win. It’s definitely going to be our biggest challenge this year.”
Traditional power won’t be in East Lansing
From a statewide perspective, the most interesting development during regionals on Saturday was that traditional Division 4 power Unionville-Sebewaing didn’t make it to the quarterfinals after appearing in six straight state championship games, winning five in a row before falling to Mendon in last year’s final.
Unionville-Sebewaing, more commonly known as “USA” for short, lost in a regional semifinal to Brown City, 10-8, ending a streak of 21 consecutive regional titles.
The last time USA failed to make it out of the regional round was in 2003.
In addition to USA, another team that’s usually a fixture in East Lansing, Hudsonville, was upset by Grand Haven in a Division 1 regional final, 3-1. It was Grand Haven’s first regional title.
All-Macomb County quarterfinal will be rubber match
Macomb Dakota and Romeo likely will be playing under the lights when it plays a Division 1 quarterfinal at Marysville City Park on Tuesday.
The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m., right after a 5:30 Division 2 quarterfinal between Armada and Frankenmuth.
It will be the third meeting of the season between the teams, with each winning one during the regular season. Romeo won the first game 7-4, while Dakota captured the second, 2-0.
Neither team was even an honorable mention in the state rankings when the tournament began, but both have had good runs and one will be in the final four come Thursday.
Northville knocks off state champs, gets past regional hump
There will be a new Division 1 champion this year after last year’s winner, Saline, was knocked out in a regional final by Northville, 2-1.
Northville had lost in the regional final the last two years, but got it done this time and advanced to meet Howell in a state quarterfinal at Ypsilanti Lincoln.
Keith Dunlap is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: High school softball roundup: Rebuilding Farmington Hills Mercy still on run
Reporting by Keith Dunlap, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Keith Dunlap, Special to The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
