After reaching the state championship game last season, Allen Park kicked off the state playoffs on Saturday on his home field.
District softball at Allen Park photo gallery
The Jaguars headed into the postseason ranked No. 2 in the state in Division 1 and among the favorites to win a state title this spring.
With two dominant victories, Allen Park started its playoff run by earning the program’s 16th consecutive district championship.
In the semifinals, the host Jags rolled to an 11-0 mercy win over Dearborn Edsel Ford in five innings. Allen Park then secured the D1, District 19 crown with a 15-0 win against Melvindale in four innings. In the other semifinal, the Cardinals defeated Lincoln Park 10-4.
Alex Muller – For MediaNews Group
Faith Douglas of Edsel Ford swings at a pitch during a district semifinal on Saturday at Allen Park. The Thunderbirds ran into a powerful Allen Park team and saw their season end with an 11-0 defeat. (Alex Muller – For MediaNews Group)
The Jags improved to 32-4-1 this season and moved on to play in a regional semifinal against Garden City on Saturday, back at Allen Park.
Overall, the D1, District 19 semifinals featured three reigning champions. The T-Birds won a title in 2021 with dominant wins over Crestwood and Dearborn High. Melvindale advanced directly to the regional final last spring, as it was the only team in its district and just one of two squads in its region.
Saturday’s district action began with the Jags facing Edsel in the semifinals. The Green and White scored in every inning against the Thunderbirds, highlighted by a five-run fourth. Allen Park had just seven hits but also drew six walks.
Avery Garden was the big performer for the Jags in the semifinal contest. She went 2-for-2 with a run scored and had five RBIs. Garden also spun all five innings in the circle, striking out eight and allowing just a two-out single to Edsel’s Faith Douglas in the fourth.
Douglas started in the circle for the T-Birds, going the first three innings before giving way to Emily Mendez for one inning of work.
The second semifinal of the day featured Lincoln Park and Melvindale. A big first inning set the tone and proved to be the difference in the Cards’ 10-4 win over the Railsplitters.
Melvindale (15-7) got off to a strong start with five runs in the opening frame, which came in large part due to three Lincoln Park errors. The Rails two times trimmed the Cards’ lead down to three but Melvindale poured in three big insurance runs in the top of the seventh to blow things open.
The Cards got a three-hit, three-RBI day from Emily Carreon while Joelle Zarazua had a hit and two runs and two RBIs. Zarazua also went the distance on the mound for Melvindale, allowing just five hits and striking out 12.
For Lincoln Park, Ava Lassen had a big two-out, two-run double in the third to make it a 6-3 game at the time. Ashley Guerrero also had one RBI for the Rails. And in addition to reaching base safely three times, Nichole Pinkoson pitched all seven innings, scattering nine hits and six walks, striking out 11.
The Cards then had to face the powerful Allen Park team in the district final. As has been the case for the vast majority of the Jags’ opponents this season, Melvindale just simply could not keep up.
It was virtually an identical performance in the title game as it was earlier in the day for Allen Park, this time winning by a final of 15-0 and allowing just one hit.
The Jags opened things up quickly, putting up six runs in the bottom half of the first inning. After a scoreless second, the hosts then added four runs in the third and capped things off with five in the fourth.
Garden, Morgan Sizemore, Molly Hool and Faith Peschke all had multi-hit games for Allen Park. Sizemore 3-for-3 including a three-run home run in the first, all part of a seven-RBI showing.
Sizemore also spun all four frames in the circle for the Jags, striking out six. The only hit she surrendered was a leadoff single from Melvindale’s Leilany Rubio in the fourth.
Zarazua started again for the cards, going the first 3.1 innings. She unfortunately had to exit due to injury after taking a comebacker off her leg. Ochoa came on in relief and faced five batters, getting one out before Allen Park locked up the win.
This was the second time in three seasons that Melvindale was slotted in D1 after spending several seasons in D2. Prior to last season, the Cardinals last won a district title in 2015, which capped off a string of six titles in seven seasons (2009-12, ’14, ’15).
Allen Park will make an appearance in the regional semifinal round for the 16th consecutive season. The Jags are hosting D1, Region 5 on Saturday, June 11 and in the second of two semifinals that day (noon) will face Garden City.
Allen Park could see DRL rival Woodhaven in the regional championship game. The Jags swept the regular-season series from the Warriors, although both games were decided by just two runs.
A fellow top-10 team in D1, Woodhaven cruised to a district title on Saturday and will face Livonia Stevenson in the first regional semifinal at Allen Park on June 11 at 10 am
