Prep roundup: Pinckney softball beats Brighton on walk-off homer
Ayla Wright hit a three-run homer with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday, giving Pinckney a 10-7 victory over Brighton and a doubleheader sweep.
Pinckney won the first game, 4-2.
Brighton led 6-2 in the nightcap before Pinckney scored five runs in the sixth. The Bulldogs tied it 7-7 in the top of the seventh on a double by Maggie McKaig.
Violet McWhinnie, who went 7-for-7 with two home runs in the doubleheader, began the winning rally with a lead-off single. Following a bunt and a walk, Wright hit an 0-1 pitch over the fence in center field for her second homer of the season.
In the first game, CeCe Thorington went 3-for-4 with two doubles for the Pirates (21-12). Lauren Damron was 2-for-3 for Brighton (16-21).
Emma Arnold locked down both victories for Pinckney in relief, allowing only one run and five hits in nine innings.
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Tennis
Division 1 regional at Novi
Howell junior Estie Sura became the first Livingston County girl since 2016 to win a No. 1 singles regional championship with a 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-4 victory over top-seeded Hadley Krygier of Walled Lake Northern.
The last county girl to win a regional title at the top flight was Brighton’s Maddie Miller in 2015 and 2016.
Sura won her first two matches by 6-0, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-1 results to reach the final and qualify for the state tournament for the second time. Sura qualified as a regional runner-up last season.
Reaching the singles semifinals were Hartland’s Arianna Kinney at No. 2, Brighton’s Sara Auty at No. 3 and Brighton’s Gianna Tabacchi at No. 4.
Brighton had three doubles teams reach the semifinals: Charlotte Mandziuk and Isabella Otis at No. 2, Claire Chandler and Peyton Radwanski-Balogh at No.3, and Annie O’Malley and Ashlyn Burns at No. 4.
Brighton was fourth with 11 points, Howell sixth with six and Hartland eighth with two.
Division 3 regional at Chelsea
Senior Amelia Girard became Pinckney’s first state qualifier since Nikki Getsdian in 2003 by reaching the championship match at No. 1 singles with two three-set victories.
Girard won 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 over second-seeded Ava Tucker of Grosse Ile and 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 over Hannah Roof of Carleton Airport before losing 6-0, 6-0 to top-seeded Anne-Marie Begola of Chelsea in the final.
Reaching singles semifinals for Pinckney were Maggie Uphouse at No. 2 and Taylor Hack at No. 3.
Pinckney tied for fifth with eight points.
Golf
Plymouth Christian 165, Pinckney 190
Freshman Emmett Edin shot 45 for Pinckney.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Walk-off homer gives Pinckney softball sweep of Brighton
