Northville softball coach Scott DeBoer hopes Mary Gugala’s performance in a 6-0 win over Salem in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship on Wednesday, May 20, finally puts the senior pitcher in the first-team all-state conversation.
The Wayne State signee went the distance, striking out 10 while allowing four hits and one walk to help the Mustangs three-peat as league champions. That’s something, considering she had only 30 minutes to prepare for the ninth-ranked Rocks.
Because of two rainouts this week, the conference semifinals were played just before the championship. Gugala threw 100 pitches in a 4-0 win over Livonia Stevenson, striking out 12 while allowing two hits and one walk before immediately going toe-to-toe with travel teammate Shannon McAuliffe, Salem’s Murray State commit and a likely candidate for the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association’s Miss Softball honor.
“Mary has never been given the attention she deserves,” DeBoer said. “She’s always been one notch lower than the other top girls. But today, she gave up no runs, and I think she cemented herself as a very strong candidate to be an all-state pitcher, and I hope it gets recognized.”
The win improved Gugala’s record to 26-2 this spring. She has four wins over top-10 opponents, including two against the Rocks. The No. 4 Mustangs (28-4-1) split with Salem (28-6) on April 27, leaving the two tied for first in the KLAA West at 9-1 entering this week’s conference tournament.
The third meeting wasn’t any easier. And guess what? The rivals will open the Division 1 district tournament against each other on May 30. At least that semifinal will be Game 1 of the day and not immediately after a battle with the Spartans that wasn’t decided until the final inning.
“It’s pretty hard pitching two games like this in one day, but I’m pretty used to it because of doubleheaders, so that’s been good preparation for this,” Gugala said. “But it was really tough, especially knowing Salem is a really hard-hitting team. But I had my teammates behind me.”
She certainly did.
Led by Ohio State commit Kennedi Adams in center, the defense never wavered against Salem’s elite hitters, including third baseman Mikayla Roberts, another WSU signee.
But the Mustangs’ bats helped, too.
Small ball led the way as DeBoer had his players laying down bunts to manufacture runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Mia Petrovski’s bunt was narrowly snagged by a diving McAuliffe, but it gave Carol Rys enough time to score from second base for a 1-0 lead. Two wild pitches later, Petrovski advanced to third and then scored to make it 2-0.
During the next inning, with Petrovski at the plate, Kendall Heron scored from third on a dropped third strike, while Alyssa Spencer doubled to center to score Petrovski and make it 4-0.
Sacrifices by Jocelyn Burns and Petrovski scored Adams and Rys for two insurance runs in the final inning.
Considering the Mustangs had scored only four runs off McAuliffe over the previous three meetings with Salem, including last year’s KLAA championship game, collecting six hits and five earned runs was impressive. Especially with McAuliffe coming off a 19-strikeout performance in a 1-0 win over Livonia Churchill earlier in the day.
“Shannon and Mary could go 10 times and finish 5-5 because they’re superior pitchers,” DeBoer said, showing admiration for the 13 strikeouts McAuliffe recorded. “Shannon and Mary were not going to give up a lot of hits in this game, which was very obvious with six hits and four hits between the two.”
For fans who missed the previous three meetings between Northville and Salem this spring, it’s safe to say their playoff opener will be can’t-miss softball.
DeBoer joked it’s unfair the rivals have to meet so many times in one season, especially in the opening game of the postseason. But they were bound to cross paths at some point in the first five rounds, regardless of how districts were drawn. So they might as well duke it out from the start because the winner is likely headed for a long playoff run, perhaps all the way to the state semifinals in East Lansing next month.
“We’re both top-10 teams, and we’ve both proved it all year long,” DeBoer said. “It’s a little unfortunate we’re going to see each other in a week. But with these two teams, anything can happen, so at least we [won] one [trophy]. They’re going to come to our place for districts, and they’ll have a chip on their shoulder. We’re going to have to continue to embrace hard, which has been our motto all year, and we’re going to step it up one more notch.”
This story was edited to correct typographical errors.
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Gugala, Northville softball blank rival Salem in KLAA championship
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
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