Last season, Macomb Dakota was swept in the regular season by New Baltimore Anchor Bay, only to beat Anchor Bay in the district round of the state tournament.
The odds of that happening again seemed longer this year entering a district final matchup between the teams Saturday, given Anchor Bay went unbeaten in the Macomb Area Conference Red during the regular season, was ranked No. 2 in the state and had a senior-laden roster.
But Dakota wasn’t rattled and history repeated itself, with Dakota pulling off a 7-5 win in a district it hosted (Anchor Bay was the home team for the game following the pregame coin flip).
“They’re just tough girls and they want to win,” Dakota head coach Shelby Weeks said of her players. “Postseason always comes with a little bit more energy and a little bit more of a lock-in. I think our energy and our dugout really helped push us through in some innings.”
It was a challenging regular season for a Dakota team that has become used to being in the state rankings throughout every spring.
Some younger underclassmen were thrown into the fire right away, and Dakota for a majority of the year was minus its best player, senior Kiley Phelan, a Central Michigan signee who was out with a wrist injury.
Phelan returned to the lineup a couple of weeks ago, which made a world of difference.
“I think her presence has really helped us,” Weeks said. “I think she has helped us defensively as well.”
Against Anchor Bay, Phelan had two hits, two RBIs and two walks, senior Chloe Dunn had two hits and two RBIs, and freshman Ella Goike had two RBIs to lead the Dakota attack.
Junior pitcher Alivia Reardon was effective for 6⅔ innings in the circle against a powerful Anchor Bay lineup to help Dakota move on to a regional semifinal Saturday against fellow MAC Red foe Utica Ford.
“We’ve had a lot of growth in a lot of our players,” Weeks said. “Just playing a lot of games and trying to get things fine-tuned for the postseason played a big part.”
Dakota swept Ford during the regular season, but as is the case with Dakota, Ford has been a younger team all season that has matured and is playing its best ball at the right time.
Ford was a state semifinalist last season.
“We always have tough games against Ford,” Weeks said. “They always fight back and are scrappy.”
Keith Dunlap is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Dakota softball solves Anchor Bay in districts again; another MAC Red foe awaits
Reporting by Keith Dunlap, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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