Hartland no-hit by Duke softball recruit in quarterfinal loss to South Lyon
ALBION — Down 6-0 in the final inning against one of the best pitchers in Michigan, there wasn’t much reason for hope in the Hartland softball dugout.
Sadie Malik didn’t get the memo.
She would not be silenced, even as Duke University signee Ava Bradshaw of South Lyon was putting the finishing touches on a no-hitter that would end the Eagles’ season in the state Division 1 quarterfinals Tuesday at Albion College.
Sitting on a bucket on the end of the dugout closest to home plate in catching gear she still expected to need, Malik expended every ounce of remaining energy being Hartland’s designated hype girl.
“A ball! A ball! A ball, ball, ball, ball!” she yelled when teammate Olivia Forrest got ahead in the count.
Malik would not go quietly into the offseason, and she made sure nobody else on the team would either.
She had the dugout energized as if the Eagles were trailing by only one run in the seventh inning, as they did in two come-from-behind playoff victories, not by a seemingly insurmountable margin against a pitcher the caliber of Bradshaw.
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“I think we’ve proven in our postseason that it’s not over until it’s over,” Malik said after a 6-0 loss to South Lyon ended Hartland’s bid for back-to-back state championships. “We’ve come back in the seventh inning in two of our postseason games.
“Just believing and knowing and being there for our people who are up at bat, if you can’t do something batting, you can do something in the dugout. I feel it’s critical you need to have energy. My role as a catcher is to be a communicator in the field. It just carries over into the dugout. Just be loud.”
Malik’s volume button doesn’t have a low setting.
“Any game you come to, you can always hear Sadie,” Hartland coach Taylor Wagner said. “Everybody can hear Sadie in practices and everything. It’s one of the most important aspects of a softball team. She’s going to be the one firing everybody up. She took that role very seriously today and all season.”
Malik’s energy — not to mention her bat and ability behind the plate — will be among Hartland’s strengths next season when she’s a fourth-year starter.
She played a key role during Hartland’s run to the 2023 state championship, so she knows what she’s missing out on with the Eagles’ season ending one victory short of a trip to Michigan State University.
“It’s definitely bittersweet,” said Malik, who hit .393 with two homers and 28 RBIs. “We know what we accomplished last year, and it was a big accomplishment, but I think we’re very proud of how far we’ve gone. No one expected us to go this far, so it feels like an accomplishment in its own sense.”
Once South Lyon put up five runs in the second inning, it was going to take a monumental effort to come back against Bradshaw. She struck out 15 batters and walked three while throwing her fourth shutout in five playoff games. She has a 0.58 earned run average in the playoffs, allowing a batting average of .107.
“What’s different about Ava is she has such a dominance mindset,” Malik said. “She carries her team; she knows it. I feel like we had less fear in the box than other teams might, but it’s still a little bit of an intimidation. She brings great energy. She’s a great pitcher.”
Wagner will be glad to see Bradshaw move on to Duke. Hartland has a 13-3 record in the postseason the last four years, with all three losses coming against Bradshaw. Bradshaw didn’t pitch in a 5-3 loss to Hartland in last year’s regional semifinals because of a knee injury that cost her the entire season.
“You’ve just got to tip your cap to her,” Wagner said. “She’s going to have an amazing college career. We’re happy to have that kind of great pitching in Michigan and to be able to compete against it.”
Bradshaw hopes to end her career the way it began her freshman year — with a state championship.
The Lions will face Lake Orion at 10 a.m. Thursday in a state semifinal at MSU. Hudsonville and Farmington Hills Mercy will play in the other semifinal at 12:30 p.m.
A large metal brace on her left leg is a reminder of what Bradshaw missed last year.
“It was hard, just because this is my favorite time of year,” she said. “I get to play with my friends. Missing out on that was definitely a challenge, but it taught me to appreciate it more. So, I’m definitely soaking it in this last year, especially with only two games left.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: South Lyon's Ava Bradshaw no-hits Hartland in softball quarterfinals
