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ROYAL OAK — Royal Oak High School softball understands the prominence of what the program was able to achieve last season.
For the first time in school history, the Ravens won a district championship behind back-to-back victories over Southfield A&T and Berkley before losing to Livonia Churchill in the opening round of regionals.
The players take pride in knowing that they’re making a difference in the way opponents view the program, but they’re more focused on making sure last season’s success doesn’t turn into a distraction.
“It was definitely a tough aspect to jump off of last season, but I think it was definitely something we built off of as a team,” junior Miya O’Branovic said. “It’s always the little things we have to work on as a team, and I think our coaches have helped a lot this year. It’s a reset. It’s a new year and a new us, and something new could happen.”
The little things such as cleaning up baserunning or being more vocal on the field are things that can take a 180-degree turn in a week or two, but what head coach Katrina Glowacki has done since taking over the job three years ago is the type of change that alters a program.
You ask a team about their chemistry, and most of the time you’ll hear words such as “family-like” or “tight-knit.”
There’s nothing wrong with that, because high school teams should have a close bond, but it’s all about putting it into action.
“That’s something that we do really well at Royal Oak,” Glowacki said. “The kids that I’ve been able to coach have just been phenomenal at making everyone feel included. I haven’t had to deal with any personal drama or team drama because, I think, there’s an expectation where you show up and this is your family and regardless of how the day was, they’re going to show up for the people around them. I think that starts with the upperclassmen.”
The Ravens had about as strong of a senior trio as a team could have last season in Anneliese Klein, Madaline Hanes and Kaitlyn Blankenship, but there’s a healthy veteran presence on the squad this season to fill the leadership void for Glowacki.
Senior pitcher Lilliana Heline is the ace of the Ravens staff alongside junior Mackenzee Childress, who pitched a complete game and earned 10 strikeouts in a win over Clawson on April 18, and both are expected to be the leaders for the young arms.
Royal Oak could see multiple newcomers take the mound with six underclassmen on the roster, and Heline said she embraces being the mentor for the staff.
“I definitely try to help them because they’re younger and they haven’t had the same experience as I’ve had. I try to give them help, but also be supportive when they go out there,” Heline said. “We had a freshman (Annabelle Sorenson) go out yesterday, and it was her first time, her varsity appearance, and her first high school experience, and I was at second. It was important for me to be cheering her on and telling her to keep going and that it’s not going to be the end of your world.”
Alongside Heline and Childress in the veteran department are O’Branovic (INF) and senior Danica Schmitt (INF), who have all played travel softball together for the past three years.
In fact, eight Ravens took the field for the Royal Oak Precision Patriots travel team last year, which included Heline, Hanes, Childress, O’Branovic, Schmitt, sophomore Sarah Menzo (C), senior Brie Emery, and senior Rylee Koch (OF).
With the majority of Royal Oak’s softball program playing and practicing together practically year round, Schmitt said they possess a type of chemistry that a team just can’t mold in a season or two.
“We’ve been with each other, for the most part, for a very long time,” Schmitt said. “Building that chemistry throughout the years, we feel like we know a lot about each other, about how we play, and about our own attitudes and each other’s attitudes and motives, and that really helps us throughout the season with our chemistry.”
It’ll be a team effort in every aspect with the juniors and seniors prepared to carry the load both offensively and defensively, including senior Riley Maizy (OF), junior Alice Mahar (INF), sophomore Katelyn Eyster (OF) and sophomore Laila LaGrand all expected to contribute this season.
Royal Oak came up a game short of the Oakland Activities Association Blue league title last year behind Birmingham Groves, but the team is looking to add another trophy to this class’ resume before it’s all said and done.
“Royal Oak hasn’t been one of those historically stronger teams in the OAA, so I think that we’re more of the newcoming team, especially since we’ve had new coaching these last three years,” Heline said. “I think that kind of sets us apart, because we’re starting to build up instead of continuing something that’s already been going.”
Currently 4-7 on the season, Royal Oak isn’t necessarily worried about what its record looks like in the beginning of the season.
Glowacki said her team will improve throughout the season as they figure things out together and look to make it back to the district finals stage, which is now a standard instead of a historic achievement.
“I’m hoping it’s the new expectation,” Glowacki said. “With the way our year’s started, we have a pretty good split of some new people, either it’s varsity or to the program in general, with some returners. I think, at least in the beginning, you can tell with the returners that they’re in it. They show up to practice, they’re focused and they’re ready to go because, I think, they’re under the state of mind that it’s now going to be an expectation and let’s not stop there. The message since year one that I’ve been relaying to the team is, ‘We have to make a change and you guys have to be that change.’ I think the newbies are starting to pick up on that.”
