Airport, Whiteford and Summerfield march on along the state tournament trail.
All three earned the right to play in the state softball quarterfinals next week after winning regional championships on Saturday, June 6.
Airport slipped past Huron League rival Milan to win a Division 2 title at Fowlerville.
Whiteford captured a Division 3 crown at Wixom St. Catherine and Summerfield emerged victorious in a Division 4 tourney at Dansville.
Gibraltar Carlson saw its season end with a semifinal loss in the Division 1 event hosted by Bedford.
FOWLERVILLE – Airport returned almost its entire roster from a team that was one pitch away from a spot in the state finals last spring.
But the Jets refused to let high expectations get in their way.
“That’s the funny thing about this team,” Airport coach Jess Irwin said. “We have such great leadership. They just stay steady.”
Airport cruised to its third straight regional championship by beating Chelsea 7-2 and Milan 11-4.
“We have seven seniors and they all start,” Irwin said. “They want to get back to that place they were last year (the state semifinals and finals in East Lansing). That’s been the goal all year.”All that stands between the 35-5 Jets and achieving that return trip to Michigan State is a quarterfinal game at 4 p.m. Tuesday against Farmington Hills Mercy at Ypsilanti Lincoln.
“Obviously the two we had on the mound (Brooklyn Martin and Julia Dyson) were great today,” Irwin said.
Martin went the distance in the first game, then finished up the finals after a strong start by Dyson.
Brityn Duffy, Peyton Zajac and Jillian Baker collected two hits each in the opener.
Dyson and Olivia Tilley led the offense in the title game. Each logged two singles and a double. Martin, Zajac and Kennady Kroll contributed two hits apiece.
Milan’s Charleigh Meggison went 2-for-2 with a walk and teammate Reese Knox collected two hits.
The Big Reds fought back from an 8-0 deficit to pull within four runs of Airport.
“These girls are so resilient,” said Milan coach Micah Higa. “They’ve been that way the whole season.”
Milan reached the finals by outslugging Jackson Parma County Western 19-8 in the semifinals.
Kenzie Chrysler rang up four hits and drove in five runs in that game and Georgia Linzell also collected four hits.
Milan broke the game open with a seven-run sixth inning highlighted by an run-producing triple from Mya Vance and a two-run home run by Meggison.
The Big Reds finished Higa’s first year as head coach with a 15-13 record.
“This absolutely means the world to me,” Higa said of a hot finish that lifted Milan over .500 and produced a district championship trophy.
“We’re on Cloud 9,” Summerfield coach Christine Zappone said after her team beat Reading 12-1 and Dansville 3-1 to win its first regional title since 2012.
Senior Brea Olmstead was at the center of it all, winning both games.
She allowed just one hit in the championship game.
“Brea Olmstead was solid all-around,” Zappone said.
The defense, led by Aleiah Addis at third base and Hayley Kohls at shortstop, was outstanding.
Claire Franzen drove in two runs and Lilly Delmotte one.
“We put a couple of bunts down and created chaos to score some runs,” Zappone said.
Summerfield (20-12) moves on to play Mendon in the quarterfinals at Bailey Park in Battle Creek at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
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