Lakeland responds to league defeats, sweeps doubleheader at rebuilding Clarkston

Lakeland senior Brynn Taliercio connects for a two-run double in the fourth inning of Thursday’s doubleheader opener at Clarkston. The Eagles swept the Wolves by scores of 14-7 and 18-2. BRYAN EVERSON — MEDIANEWS GROUP

Clarkston senior NaKenna Knowlton rounds the bases after hitting a solo shot in the first game of Thursday’s home doubleheader against Lakeland. Knowlton finished with five hits in her six at-bats, but the Wolves fell in both games to the Lakers. BRYAN EVERSON — MEDIANEWS GROUP

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By Bryan Everson

MediaNews Group

CLARKSTON >> It would be easy for Lakeland to write off dropping a doubleheader in mid-April. There’s a whole lot of softball still to be played.

But Lakeland head coach Mike Cleary and his players are well-aware that the pair of games they lost at home to Walled Lake Northern on Wednesday could be the difference in the chase for an LVC league title. After all, the Eagles finished just one game behind the Knights and co-champs South Lyon last season.

“We had a team talk after the games, and we just decided that we need to put up or shut up,” Lakeland senior Brynn Talierico said of the losses to the Knights, who outscored them 31-10.

The Eagles responded by putting up a combined 37 hits for 32 runs on Thursday, sweeping a doubleheader at Clarkston by scores of 14-7 and 18-2.

Teams may want to beware Lakeland if this year’s series against Walled Lake Northern has the same effect as last spring. Senior catcher Izzy Bedini said that sweep by the Knights in 2024 “100% woke us up,” and the Eagles, despite falling short in the league title race, proceeded to beat Northern in districts, then go on to win the program’s first regional championship since 2012.

Offense aside, the focus was clearly improved. After committing six errors on Wednesday, Lakeland (4-2) didn’t make any in either game against Clarkston.

“We cleaned up our fielding, and I think our discipline at the plate,” Bedini said.

Bedini, the team’s leadoff hitter, was part of a top-of-the-order trio with Alyssa Goldman and Talierico that was firing on all cylinders in the box. In the opener, those three combined for 11 hits and five RBIs, including a two-run double by Talierico that was part of a four-run fourth inning by the Eagles that helped break the game open from what was just a 4-2 lead at the time.

“(On Wednesday) they struggled, and I liked what I saw in the first game,” Cleary said. “The hitting was good, the fielding was much better, and we got a good pitching performance out of Melina (Wing).”

All nine starters in the lineup got hits in Game 1, including Paige Ambler, Aubrey VanGoethem and Piper Huff, each of whom had a pair of base knocks.

The Wolves (3-5) got to Wing a bit as the game went on, matching the four-run sixth inning by Lakeland, but Clarkston’s offense was mostly limited to the top of the order. Senior leadoff hitter NaKenna Knowlton went 4-4, including a solo homer to left field in the fifth, while Gracie Cantley, who followed her, went 3-3 with a walk. Clarkston finished with 11 hits in the first game.

“We’re working on being aggressive in the batter’s box, taking every opportunity that we can, striking at the first pitch, not watching them go by,” Wolves head coach Melissa Smythe said. “Today was a lot better. We’ve been progressing with every game, just being aggressive and confident and believing that we can hit it.”

This is Smythe’s first year in charge of a program that has been historically rich with talent, producing three Miss Softballs (Taylor Hasselbach, Paige Blevins, Hannah Cady) since 2010 and a pair of Final Four appearances in that time (2017, 2019). Previously Clarkston’s JV coach, Smythe is tasked with getting the arrow pointing up again after the Wolves have gone a combined 18-39 the past two seasons.

Smythe talked about some of the keys in turning it around. “A lot of what we’re focusing on right now is aggressiveness and mental toughness,” she said. “A powerful mind can achieve anything, and that’s the motto of our team right now. Pressure is a privilege, and that’s what we’re trying to teach them. We like pressure situations because they’re only going to help us be a better team.”

The second game Thursday was a brisk affair, lasting just three innings. Junior Zoie Gagnon had a two-run double in the first inning, then a three-run home run in the second, all before the Eagles put up nine runs in the third. On top of Emily Searle’s three hits, Noelle O’Dowd and Emma Hewitt also went yard in the second game for Lakeland, while Elyse Miller had hits in both of her at-bats for the Wolves.

Clarkston has some time off before jumping back in action with a home doubleheader against Troy Athens on April 23. Lakeland returns to the field a day before that, hosting Waterford Kettering for a pair of games.