Airport’s Kendelyn Kozma was splitting time between the junior varsity and varsity teams for the first few weeks of the season.
“She’s been hot lately,” Airport coach Jessica Murnen said. “We pulled up permanently from the JV because she was getting clutch hits.”
The sophomore helped assure that Airport will continue playing softball next week with a clutch performance on Saturday, June 7.
A ball off her bat brought in the only two runs of the game as the Jets nipped Tecumseh 2-0 in the opening game of the Division 2 regional at Tecumseh.
Airport went on to clinch a berth in the state quarterfinals for the second straight season by whipping Trenton 10-2 in the finals.
Bedford and Summerfield saw their seasons come to an end in regional championship games while St. Mary Catholic Central fell in the semifinals.
Division 2
CHELSEA – Airport and Tecumseh were scoreless heading into the seventh inning.
Peyton Zajac and Jillian Baker beat out infield hits to get the seventh started, then Alayna McDaniel moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt.
The brought Kozma to the plate.
She smashed a hard grounder up the middle that the second baseman had to backhand. One runner was going to score for sure, but both came home when the throw to first was wild.
“That’s not the first time she’s come through for us this year,” Murnen said of Kozma.
McDaniel made the two runs stand up, tossing a two-hitter.
“She’s always had the potential to be dominant,” Murnen said. “She’s had great command of her changeup the last few weeks.”
Trenton took a 2-0 lead in the opening inning of the championship game, but the Jets charged back with three in the third and kept piling on.
Olivia Tilley collected three hits, giving her five for the day.
Brenna Baker, Jillian Baker and Kozma contributed two to back the pitching of Brooklyn Martin.
Airport (31-8) advances to the state quarterfinals at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Wayne State University to play Dearborn Divine Child.
Division 1
WILLIS – Aubrey Hensley added to her school record with the 53rd home run of her career to move Bedford into a 2-2 tie with No. 2 Saline in the third inning of the championship game.
The Mules couldn’t generate much offense the rest of the game and fell 9-3.
“The girls hustled hard,” Bedford coach Marla Gooding said. “We just got into some tough spots.”
Bedford reached the title game by whipping Kalamazoo Central 13-3 with Hensley, a University of Toledo recruit, delivering a key two-run double.
Nyah Mullins, Kaitlyn Kwiatkowski, Maddy Kwiatkowski and Sophia Steinman also made key offensive contributions in that game and Adrianna Kester pitched very well.
“Adrianna Kester was great in the circle,” Gooding said.
“Amazing,” Gooding said. “They outdid all expectations. This is the best senior class you could have.”
It was an emotional end to a 29-8-1 Bedford season.
There were five seniors on the roster, but Gooding likes the young talent behind them.
“We’ll be alright,” she said.
Division 3
CLINTON – Grass Lake ended St. Mary Catholic Central’s season with a 9-3 victory in the semifinals, then went on to beat Brooklyn Columbia Central 11-4 in the finals.
Next up for the Warriors is a trip to Jackson College for the quarterfinals Tuesday. They will play Laingsburg.
Olivia Piepsney and Camryn Gee logged two hits each for SMCC and Averie Gendron was 1-for-2 with two walks and drove in a run.
“Our girls did a great job fighting back all day,” SMCC coach Dani Emery said. “We have fought all season and our last game proved that as well.”
SMCC finishes with a 22-9-1 record.
“Although we came up short, I am so proud of this group,” Emery said. “They played for each other and we had a great season. This group of seniors was special.”
Division 4
MORENCI – Summerfield continued a great state-tournament run in the semifinals, rolling past Reading 10-0.
The Bulldogs fell a run short in the finals, falling 2-1 to Manchster.
Brea Olmstead tossed a shutout in the first game.
Summerfield finishes with a 13-12 record, winning seven of its final nine games.
Manchester advances to the state quarterfinals Tuesday at Bailey Park in Battle Creek to take on Menton.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Prep Softball: Airport sophomore delivers clutch at-bat in final inning