Hartland, Pinckney softball players chosen all-state
It helps to be on a state championship team when all-state voting takes place, but elite talent stands out even off a team that was eliminated in the district semifinals.
Senior pitcher Kylie Swierkos and junior first baseman Kate McIntyre of Division 1 champion Hartland have been chosen first-team all-state by the Michigan High School Softball Coaches’ Association.
So has Pinckney junior outfielder CeCe Thorington, whose team lost its Division 2 district opener to third-ranked Chelsea.
Thorington’s numbers were impossible to ignore, even if she didn’t get a chance to make an impact in the later rounds of the state tournament.
She led Livingston County with a .589 batting average, 60 stolen bases in 60 attempts, 68 runs and six triples. Thorington was also sixth in runs batted in, despite being a leadoff hitter.
Also a state qualifier in track and field, Thorington has stolen 84 consecutive bases since being thrown out by Saline catcher Sydney Hastings on May 11, 2022. That ties her for seventh in state history in consecutive steals, according to records submitted to the MHSAA. She has a shot at the record of 122 straight steals set by Lake Orion’s Tessa Nuss from 2016-19.
Her 60 steals rank second in county history to Laurie Rowden’s 65 for Hartland in 1993, according to MHSAA records. She has 141 steals and 168 runs in her first three seasons.
Thorington has verbally committed to play softball for the University of Michigan.
“It puts pressure on other teams right off the bat,” Pinckney coach Eric Arnold said of Thorington’s speed. “They have to be on their ‘A’ game from the first pitch, because if she gets on, we’re stealing her. If she gets to second, we have a great hitter in the No. 2 spot who could bunt her to third. We could steal third or she could get hit her in.”
Swierkos was dominant in the pitching circle all season, but really proved herself against some of the best teams in Michigan during the postseason.
Over the final four games, when the competition is supposed to be the toughest, Swierkos gave up just one run, 12 hits and no walks over 28 innings. She struck out 41 batters over that stretch.
For the season, she went 27-2 and struck out 305 batters, more than twice the total of any other pitcher in the county. She posted a 0.92 earned run average and walked only nine batters in 197 2/3 innings. Swierkos walked two batters in a game only once.
She will pitch for Grand Valley State University.
“We knew she was a great pitcher, but she was in a different world this year,” Hartland coach Taylor Wagner said. “She has so much confidence that the team will do what they needed to do.”
On a Hartland team with balanced hitting throughout the lineup, McIntyre stood out.
She led the Eagles with a .440 batting average, 42 runs batted in, eight home runs, five triples and 14 stolen bases.
McIntyre made huge gains after hitting only .264 and driving in 13 runs as a sophomore.
“She batted like we knew she could,” Wagner said. “In that two spot, to have as many RBIs as she did, she’s just a well-rounded athlete. She’s got the strength to go for power, she hits for average, she’s fast on the bases, she’s an all-star defender. She’s truly the whole package.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Hartland, Pinckney softball players chosen all-state
