Source: Farmington Press

Author: Mike Moore / Sarah Purlee

FARMINGTON HILLS — Perfect coming in.

Perfect coming out.

Dominant all the way.

The Farmington Hills Mercy softball team kept its unblemished record rolling Tuesday in a doubleheader victory against Livonia Ladywood in a pair of games called by mercy rule despite some on-again, off-again weather that varied between cool rain and bright sun.

The result was all that mattered to coach Alec Lesko, though, and he had plenty of praise for his girls after a 12-2 win in the first game and a 14-4 victory in the second.

“We work real hard on not giving away at-bats, adjusting to the pitcher, and getting the most of every swing,” Lesko said afterward. “Today was a lot of what we’ve been working on all year. We adjusted to what they were doing, and like most of our games, we took a business-like approach.”

And the result was a 10-0 record to date.

“It was a pair of great wins,” Lesko added. “That’s a quality team with a quality coach we beat.”

Ladywood came out threatening early on, putting runners at second and third in the first inning of the first game when the wind carried a shot to dead-center field.

But Molly Murphy sprinted and slammed into the fence, catching the ball at the last second to steal what would have been a three-run home run.

“That play, it’s weird to think how much of an effect it can have, but I really think that was the biggest defensive play of the day,” Lesko said. “It calmed us down a lot in that first game.”

Mercy’s offense came to life after that, scoring  once in the first, four times in the second, twice in the fourth, twice in the fifth and three times in the sixth to end the game.

Sophie Van Acker had two hits, including a triple.

Cari Padula added two hits, including a home run and three RBIs.

In the second game, the teams were tied 4-4 after Ladywood hit a grand slam in the second inning.

“But our girls never got nervous,” Lesko said. “We stuck with our plan and did what we had to.”

Eight different players had hits in the second game, including home runs by Alex Sobczak and Abby Krzywiecki, who had two, including a grand slam and eight RBIs

“And as good as our offense was, our defense and pitching was great,” Lesko added. “It was a great day for us.”

Mercy improves to 10-0 overall and 6-0 in the Catholic League Central Division.