Prep highlights: Pinckney clears tough hurdle in bid for district soccer title

Pinckney may have cleared its biggest obstacle in its quest for an elusive first girls soccer district championship.

The Pirates got two first-half goals from Natalie Graves in a 2-0 victory over Chelsea in a Division 2 district semifinal Tuesday at Adrian.

Even though Chelsea was the fourth-place team in the SEC White, the Bulldogs gave first-place Pinckney its two toughest league games. Pinckney beat Chelsea 1-0 on April 26 and tied the Bulldogs 1-1 on May 15.

“It was really the team I didn’t want to play,” Pinckney coach Sean Grace said. “They’ve played us tougher than any other team in the conference, for sure. It was a tough game, exactly what I thought. We wanted to start fast. We scored in the first eight minutes, then scored toward the end of the first half. I knew it was going to be hard to score in the second half, because how hot it was and how many players I use.”

The Pirates usually use only one substitute, but used two against Chelsea to reach the district championship game for the fifth straight season. The Pirates have lost all four previous district finals, coming a little closer to winning each time. They lost 2-1 in a shootout to South Lyon East last season.

Pinckney (13-1-1) will face Jackson (8-10) at 6 p.m. Thursday at Adrian for the district championship. Pinckney beat Jackson 4-0 and 6-1 during the regular season.

“They want it so bad, but it’s also big for the school,” Grace said. “We’ve never had a girls’ district championship. With one win, they’ll go down as the best girls’ team and tied for the best team in school history. It’s a huge deal. They understand what’s ahead of us. They truly believe they’ve done what is needed in the last three years to bring it home.”

Kailey Lambert and Claire Denton set up Graves' goals.

Boys lacrosse

Hartland 21, Ann Arbor Pioneer 1

Hartland won its sixth straight regional championship and is still looking for its first competitive game of the state tournament.

The Eagles (19-2) have outscored three postseason opponents 67-5. They advanced to the state Division 1 quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Friday against Muskegon Mona Shores or Holland West Ottawa at Howell’s Parker Middle School.

Drew Lockwood scored seven goals and added one assist, while Mac Tognetti had three goals and one assist for Hartland. Gavin Preston, Dylan Ayotte, Connor Gilbert and Jacob Ross scored twice.

Evan Busby was 16-for-16 on faceoffs.

Girls lacrosse

Brighton 18, Livonia 3

Brighton advanced to the regional championship game against Northville at 6 p.m. Friday at Cooke School in Northville.

The Bulldogs beat the Mustangs 15-6 on May 3.

CeCe Mainhardt had five goals and one assist, while Ella Toth and Georgia Gill each scored four times for Brighton. Lauren Zaccagni scored twice.

Baseball

Brighton 8, South Lyon East 0

Brighton got home runs from Hunter Hopman, Braeden Chiles and Cooper Andrzejewski in a pre-district victory. Hopman’s homer was a grand slam in the fourth inning.

Chiles allowed only two hits and struck out four in five innings

The Bulldogs will host Howell at 10 a.m. Saturday in a district semifinal. The winner will face Hartland or South Lyon for the district championship. Brighton and Howell split two games three weeks ago.

Howell 6, Chelsea 4

Howell broke a 1-1 tie with a five-run fifth inning.

David Zilch got all six of his outs in the first two innings with strikeouts. Landon Allen and Curtis Del each drove in two runs for the Highlanders (25-12).

Pinckney 9, Monroe Jefferson 2

Pinckney 11, Monroe Jefferson 1

Evan McGlothin and Dale Westphal each drove in three runs in the first game for Pinckney.

Nolan Carruthers homered in the nightcap for the Pirates.

Track and field

Larry Steeb Memorial

Brighton senior Liam Kinney beat the highest-ranked contender for the state Division 1 pole vault championship in an annual tune-up meet in Dexter.

Kinney extended his own school record to 15 feet, 6 inches. He won on misses over Saline senior Dolan Gonzales, who also jumped 15-6. Gonzales has the top jump in Division 1 this season at 16-1, while Kinney’s 15-6 ranks second.

Pinckney junior Paul Moore won the 1,600-meter run in 4:18.33, ranking him eighth in the event in school history.

Hartland junior Aubree Meyer also broke her own school record, winning the shot put at 39-9.

Howell’s 1,600 relay team of Logan Goethe, Noah Thames, Levi Curtin and Noah DeLand took second in 3:30.32.

Finishing third were Hartland Jaxson Wilson in shot put (49-0.5) and Pinckney’s Andrew Otberg in high jump (6-2).

Greater Lansing Honor Roll Meet

Fowlerville had two relay teams place in the top four.

Evan Atkinson, Justice Wojcik, Lorenzo Wojcik and Owen Presley were third in the 400 relay in 43.47 seconds. Atkinson, Carl Neuman, Presley and Lorenzo Wojcik were fourth in the 800 relay in 1:32.08.

Softball

Hartland 13, Pinckney 1

Kylie Swierkos was 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs for Hartland (26-3-1). Swierkos pitched five innings, allowing two hits and fanning nine.

Jaylen Nokovich homered for Hartland.

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Preps: Pinckney clears tough hurdle in bid for district soccer title