Pontiac

Great season, great memories

By Mike Moore
C & G Staff Writer

Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Prep junior Kaitlin Kowaleski pitches to a Tecumseh hitter during the Division 2 quarterfinal game June 12. Prep ended the season with a 25-8 overall record.

Division, district, regional

titles highlight excellent year

for Notre Dame Prep softball

PONTIAC — As the sun slowly began to set, the cheers originating from the Tecumseh High fan section grew louder.

Their team, ranked No. 3 in Division 2, was now just a few outs from the state softball semifinals.

Things were going perfectly according to plan for the Indians, leading, 3-0, and living up to the expectations thrust upon them before the playoffs began.

On the other side of the equation was Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, an unheralded team loaded with young talent but lacking experience.

Yet the Fighting Irish echoed the Tecumseh crowd with cheers from their bench.

Until that final out was recorded, they believed they still had a chance, and why not? They were already playing in a game few, if any, expected them to be at.

So, when the final out was recorded and Irish’s season came to an end by that same score, it was easy to understand why the mood in the final huddle of the season was upbeat.

“To improve the way we did and become the team we became, this was incredible,” said coach Betty Wroubel, a Clawson resident. “This is a tough game to have to grow up in, but we have so much to be proud of.”

A few of those proud accomplishments include winning the Catholic League AA Division title, winning the league tournament, and capturing district and regional titles.

Prep rolled to the Catholic League title with a perfect 12-0 division record. In the A-B Catholic League tournament, it needed 17 innings to beat Farmington Hills Mercy, 2-1, in the semifinals. The Irish went on to defeat Dearborn Divine Child, 4-1, in the championship game.

“To win the league and the tournament was tremendous for us,” Wroubel said. “It was such a perfect way to end the regular season.”

“It was such a thrill,” said Lake Orion resident Molly Flajole, the lone senior on the team. “That 17-inning game is one we will never forget.”

The magic didn’t stop there, though.

Prep captured its district title by knocking off Bloomfield Hills Andover, 5-0, in the final. After cruising past Detroit Renaissance, 11-2, in the regional opener, more late-inning heroics were in store, as it needed 13 innings to defeat Beverly Hills Detroit Country Day in the final, 1-0.

“It was incredible to see how much we improved over the past year,” said junior pitcher Kaitlin Kowaleski, a Sterling Heights resident. “We accomplished so much this season, and to play the way we did in those close games was such a thrill.”

If all goes according to plan, there may be more big games in the very near future for Prep. Fourteen players are expected back, including seven seniors.

“Very high expectations,” Kowaleski said. “Next season could be special.”

Next season will come in good time, but as the sun slowly set on 2007 and Wroubel slowly walked off the field one final time, her sentiment for this year, for this group of players, was impossible to miss.

“What a year,” she said quietly. “There are only eight teams in Division 2 playing right now. To be here, in this situation, is pretty incredible. What a great season with so many great memories.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1038.