SOFTBALL: Rochester Adams makes headways with OAA-White title
BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
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ROCHESTER HILLS — Sometimes teams exceed expectations.
Then there’s really exceeding expectations.
After finishing under five hundred the past three seasons, the Rochester Adams softball team made a quantum leap this season earning its first league title since 2010 and finishing well above the five-hundred mark.
“We were 15-19, 11-27 and 15-21 the last three seasons,” noted veteran Adams head coach Fran Scislowicz, who is in his 31st season with the Highlanders. “But something with this team just clicked. We’ve played very well. We’re not a top 10 team like Clarkston or a Oxford with all of that talent, but we’ve had a good season for us.”
At 20-7 — the Highlanders’ highest win total in several years — Adams has posted its best regular season in years and clinched the OAA White Division league title with a 9-1 record. Adams has two league games against Royal Oak to be made up in early June. The Highlanders’ sole league loss was a 10-inning affair with Birmingham Seaholm (5-4).
“We thought early in the season that Rochester and Farmington would be the favorites and we swept them both early in the season,” said Scislowicz. “I think we just started to gain confidence. With a young team without a lot of seniors, gaining confidence early on was big. We just kept winning. We have just persevered the whole season. We were picked to finish fourth or fifth in the league, but I think the younger players have developed more than what we expected.”
Senior Christina Churay (RF) has emerged as leader of this young bunch. Junior Emma Curran is the top hitter with a .494 batting average and has emerged as the No. 1 starter from the circle.
Junior Mary Nash (CF) bats leadoff and has compiled a .473 average while swiping 24 bases in 25 attempts. Junior Sarah Judis (1B-P) has belted four home runs from the clean up spot while batting .410, and sophomore Brynna Garden (2B) leads the Highlanders with 32 RBI and has hit at a .370 clip.
Freshmen Andrea Waack (C-INF), Ava Andrestiak (C-INF) and Elizabeth Blaine (3B-OF) have supplied valuable gloves in the field, while sophomore Nicole Claerhoff (SS) rounds out the regular starting lineup.
“We have five solid players and a bunch of young kids that bring energy and are willing to work hard. They have come together over the pat few months and maybe have exceeded expectations,” said Scislowicz. “I am proud of them because I don’t think anybody else in the league thought at the beginning of the season that we would win the league.”
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