A look back on the District Playoffs

BASEBALL
Possibly one of the most surprising games came in the first round of Districts when Rochester Adams knocked out one of the favorites to make it out of Regionals, Lake Orion. That wasn’t the only surprising outcome out of the Romeo district when in the finals Stoney Creek fell at the hands of the host team.

Going into the playoffs, Country Day seemed to be the trendy pick to pull off an upset over Madison Heights Lamphere. And it was for good reason. The Yellowjackets just barely outlasted the Rams 6-5 behind Wake Forest commit Conway, who is normally known for his hitting, but switched around and did his damage on the mound.

Heading into the Birmingham Groves district, it was almost a certainty that the finals would feature Brother Rice and Groves. Groves, going into the game was the hottest team in Oakland County, not losing a game since the early part of league play. A young Brother Rice team has found success all year long with consistency on the mound and in the field. That is exactly what helped the Warriors outlast Groves, 3-1.


SOFTBALL
Lakeland, one of the early favorites to make it to softball’s final four, as expected ran into Hartland in the district semifinals at Hartland, and that’s where the Eagle’s season ended. Lakeland ran into stellar pitching from Hartland’s Abbie Minsker who didn’t allow a single run. Minsker only allowed three hits by Lakeland and drove in the games only run ending Lakeland‘s streak of 6 straight district titles. Hartland went on to win the final.

After North Farmington won it’s first ever district title, it set up a must see showdown with Walled Lake Northern. The winner of this game could very well find themselves holding up the state title trophy when the dust has settled. Two teams that have been waiting a long time for this season and for good reason could very well be the best of the rest of the teams that remain in the playoffs.

GIRLS SOCCER
In the Bloomfield Hills Lahser district, Madison Heights Lamphere took home their first district title in school history, but not before taking down Auburn Hills Avondale and Lahser. With the past success coming out of the Lahser district (five straight state finals appearance) things are looking pretty promising for Lamphere.

The goals just kept pouring in for Novi in their three games in districts, scoring a mind-boggling 22 goals in the three matches. You pair that with the top notch goalkeeping from Gabby Gauruder, and that puts the Wildcats into perfect position to repeat as state champs.