BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
FARMINGTON HILLS — In one of her finest moments of her athletics career this past winner, Sophia Van Acker scored what proved to be the game-winning goal for Farmington Hills Mercy’s girls hockey team on the final day of the season.
Van Acker collected a third-period tally in helping Mercy claim its second straight Michigan High School Girls Hockey Coaches Association state title with a 3-2 victory over Grosse Pointe South.
Now, Van Acker is one of the top players on Mercy’s softball team that is gunning for its first state title this season. The Marlins reached the Division 1 Final Four a year ago, leaving a certain hunger for Van Acker and her teammates to end the season on a high note in 2016.
The school’s best-ever finish in softball was a state runner-up trophy back in 2002.
Mercy is loaded this season and on a mission, entering the Catholic High School League champions May 23 with a stellar 26-1 record and a No. 2 ranking in the D-1 state rankings. The Marlins reached the state semifinals last year before falling to Caledonia (5-2) and returned over 80 percent of the roster, including Van Acker, one of the state’s rising stars.
“I think one of the reasons I went to Mercy was its athletics tradition and it also offers great academics. It offers everything,” said Van Acker. “The softball team is always really good. I wanted to be a part of that.”
Van Acker was one of four All-State players on the Marllns’ roster last season, including 2015 Miss Softball winner Alex Sobczak and Abby Krzywiecki, a candidate for the award this season.
“With all of the talent we’ve had the past three years, Sophia, in a way, has been in the shadows a little bit of Alex Sobczyk and Abby (Krzywiecki),” admitted Mercy coach Alec Lesko. “She’s a great player in her own right and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her be up for Miss Softball next year as a senior. She’s tearing the cover off the ball and she’s a great outfielder. She’s our anchor out there.”
Van Acker, who earned All-State Honorable Mention honors last season as a sophomore left fielder, has shifted over to center field and has utilized her speed to patrol the outer rim with near perfection. She bats in the No. 2 position in the order.
“When I was younger, I played second base. But not anymore. I love the outfield,” said Van Acker, whose team only lost to Richmond early in the season in a weekend tournament. “They moved me out there in ninth grade because of my speed. I love it. You get to do acrobatic leaps for catches and you get to (chase) down fly balls. It only took me a couple of games to fall in love with the outfield.”
Van Acker is hitting close to .600 this season and has an on-base percentage close to .700. She is a shoe-in for All-State honors again this season.
The speedster has already picked up an offer from Division I Oakland University and is on the radar of multiple D-I and D-II college programs. She hopes that another long tournament run, plus suiting up for Finese travel team this summer, will help her gain plenty of exposure.
“I don’t know where I want to play just yet. I wouldn’t mind going away to school, learning a new area and exploring,” she said. “But if the right offer comes hear close to home, I will be fine with that.”
Van Acker said her team is eyeing the big prize this season — the school’s first state title in softball.
“I think we’re coming around. We were a great offensive team last year and now we might be just as good, maybe even better this year before it’s over,” noted VanAcker. “We have a lot of talent on this team and we love playing with each other. It is our goal to get to the state finals and try to win it.”
If that happens, it will be another great moment in Sophia Van Acker’s career. And there has been plenty.