Wolverton Thriving At Plate, In Circle as Howell Aims High
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
May 18, 2021
HOWELL — Avrey Wolverton is quietly having another outstanding season for the Howell softball team.
As a pitcher, she has 261 strikeouts in 114 innings, with two 20-strikeout games and another with 19 strikeouts. The latter was a perfect game, one of two no-hitters this season. She has a 19-1 record in 22 appearances.
At the plate, she’s hitting .435, with eight homers and 40 RBI for the Howell softball team through May 16. She plays first base when not in the circle.
With a month to go in the season, Wolverton, Howell coach Ron Pezzoni, and her teammates say she hasn’t gotten hot at the plate yet.
“That’s the scary part,” Pezzoni says. “She’ll get hot. I haven’t felt like she’s gotten into one of those grooves. She’s strong and hits the ball hard, but she hasn’t gotten into one of those streaks where you can’t get her out. I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully, she’s saving it for June.”
Wolverton is one of several key players on a Howell team looking to get back to the Division 1 Final this spring. The Highlanders (26-4-1) got there in 2019, but lost to Warren Regina 3-2 in eight innings.
Wolverton hit 17 home runs that season, earning her first-team all-state honors for the second year in a row. Pezzoni has no doubt she’ll get a third all-state nod this year, too.
“We’ve got one of the best hitters and pitchers in the state in the same person,” he said.
Wolverton’s most recent 20-strikeout game came on a cool and cloudy day at Canton in a 12-0 victory. Canton managed only one hit, in the top of the seventh inning, before Wolverton struck out the side to end the game.
Catcher Meghan Farren had an inkling something special was going to happen during warmups.
“You can tell if she’ll be on or off,” Farren said. “You can tell by the spin of the ball, and sometimes it comes in hotter than others.”
Wolverton was Howell’s second pitcher in 2019 behind Molly Carney, who now pitches at Notre Dame.
“I’m just pitching more and able to accomplish more,” Wolverton said of her success this spring.
“She moves the ball around really well inside and outside,” Farren said. “She works the ball well on both corners, and she knows how to bring it up and down.”
And Wolverton rarely misses her spots.
“She does miss sometimes,” Farren said, “and we laugh about it, and she says ‘My bad.’ It’s good.”
That pinpoint accuracy has kept hitters guessing this season. She’s held opposing hitters to a .145 average.
“I see the looks in hitters’ eyes, where they don’t know how they missed a pitch,” Pezzoni said. “I don’t know how they missed it, but they just keep missing them. She gets so many swings and misses.”
Wolverton accomplished what she did May 10 despite not getting a lot of sleep the night before.
That performance came after a late night coming home from Greenville, S.C., where she was visiting Furman University for the weekend. She got home around midnight and got up early to go to school, then pitched.
“I thought she might be a wreck, or tired,” Pezzoni said.
Wolverton plans to major in psychology at Furman.
“I’ve always been interested in what causes people to act the way they do,” she said.
In the meantime, she plans to write a successful final chapter to her high school career in a sport she’s been playing since age 8. She’s been pitching since she was 11.
“I saw everyone else doing it, and I thought it was cool so I wanted to try it,” Wolverton said.
She is mostly a quiet leader for the Highlanders.
“She doesn’t say a whole lot,” Pezzoni said. “Just takes care of her business, and that’s the kind of leader I like. You see some try to be (vocal) leaders, but to me it’s like, take care of your business (on the field) and people will follow you.”
All the way, the Highlanders hope, back to East Lansing.
PHOTOS: (Top) Howell’s Avrey Wolverton steps into a pitch this spring against Canton. (Middle) Wolverton makes her move toward the plate during her 20-strikeout performance. (Photos by Tim Robinson.)
One Week, Multiple Milestones
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 23, 2012
Sunglasses on whether it’s sunny or not, fastballs blazing and drop-balls dipping, Decatur senior Erika Southworth is an intimidating foe for those who dare step into the batters box.
But that’s just her on-field persona. When games are done, she talks with opposing players and has become friends with many.
And last week, she couldn’t help but get a little teary-eyed under her trademark shades.
On Thursday, Southworth won the 100th game of her career, at home against Gobles. On Saturday, at Climax-Scotts, Southworth recorded her 1,000th strikeout.
“None of my teammates knew until practice the day before. I think it motivated them more,” Southworth said of the 100th win. “At the end of that game, they came over and gave me a hug, and they said, ‘That win was for you. We worked hard for you.’ I got a little emotional.
“Both were a big deal to me. … But the wins mean more, I guess. Striking out a lot of people doesn’t matter if you didn’t win any games. I guess it means I had a pretty good career.”
A three-time all-state selection likely heading for her fourth, Southworth – a Second Half High 5 recipient this week – was going to be remembered regardless of those career milestones. But both cement her name in the MHSAA record book – she’s the 26th pitcher to win 100 games and 34th to strike out 1,000 batters, according to those lists.
This season, she’s 24-3 with a 0.83 ERA and 199 strikeouts in 157 innings pitched – with only eight walks. She’s also leading No. 7-ranked Decatur with a .448 batting average and 34 RBI.
Her career so far has included a Division 4 championship game appearance as a freshman (a 4-0 loss to Unionville-Sebewaing) and two more trips to Quarterfinals. It’s included the increase of pitching distance from 40 to 43 feet, a major adjustment for some that she used to become a better pitcher.
“In the early part of her career, she pitched kind of like a machine. I called the pitch and location, and she would just throw the pitch to the location,” Decatur coach Matt McLouth said. “After the mound went back to 43 feet, the pitches that she would strike out opposing hitters from 40 feet weren’t always striking out hitters from 43 feet. She really learned the art of getting hitters out. She learned that getting her opponent to hit a weak ground ball was just as good as getting a strikeout."
Southworth will take a “refined” repertoire with her this fall to the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The drop-ball is her favorite pitch. But McLouth said her change-up also has improved significantly over the last few seasons, and she’s added a rise ball to match.
The Wolves also will get a sports lifer who understands the value of dedication. Southworth has been part of Decatur’s softball program since joining as a team manager in sixth grade. She spent the first decade of her life running around the wrestling mat at the practices of her father Brian Southworth, who has won 567 matches over 28 seasons as Decatur’s coach in that sport, and also coaches the girls track and field team.
But before Erika leaves town and starts a degree in business, there's some to finish with the Raiders.
Decatur’s 2011 season ended with an 11-0 loss to Breckenridge. The team was relatively young and learned a lot that day about playing in pressure situations. Southworth is ready to pop on the sunglasses and lead her teammates on one more run – and earn a first championship to go with those other milestone numbers.
She’s learned, both on the diamond and the mat, what it will take to make that happen.
“I learned you have to work hard for what you earn. It’s not just given to you,” Southworth said. “Never give up. If you want something, you have to go and get it.”
Click to read more about Southworth's future plans and family ties.
PHOTO: Decatur's Krista Southworth prepares to fire a pitch during last season's Division 4 Quarterfinal against Breckenridge. (Photo couresty of High School Sports Scene.)