Canton senior Amy Dunleavy excelled at the plate and on the mound Monday afternoon. (photo by Ed Wright)

Dunleavy finishes what she starts in Chiefs' 5-0 victory over South Lyon

BY ED WRIGHT
May 18, 2010, 12:05 p.m.

  It was difficult to top Amy Dunleavy's first swing in Monday afternoon's KLAA Kensington Conference cross-over game against Central Division champion South Lyon.

  But Dunleavy (from the mound) and her freshman teammate Jessica Webster (at the plate) managed to do it.

  Dunleavy opened the Chiefs half of the first with fireworks, clouting a home run over the left-field fence.

  She then went out and tossed a two-hitter against a potent Lions line-up to lead her team to a 5-0 victory.

  Canton improved to 21-3 with the win.

  Webster contributed mightily to the cause by launching a three-run round-tripper over the center-field fence in the sixth inning.

  "She got all of it," said Canton coach Jim Arnold, referring to Webster's blast. "She's been hitting the ball hard. She's hit a few over the fence in practice, so we knew she was capable of it. The ball probably cleared the fence by 15 or 20 feet."

  Dunleavy rounded out her masterpiece by striking out 10 -- the same number of hits the Chiefs ripped.

  Dunleavy and Webster were the only Canton players to record two hits.

  Canton will host South Lyon again on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the KLAA Kensington Conference championship game. The winner will advance to next Wednesday's KLAA Association title tilt.

MADONNA TOURNAMENT  

  This past weekend the Chiefs went 3-2 at the Madonna Invitational Tournament at the Canton Softball Center.

  In Saturday's opener, Canton fell 5-0 to Farmington.

  "We came out a little flat," said Arnold.

  The Chiefs rebounded with a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over Belleville in game two. Alyssa Boucher earned the win on the mound while Lauren Leskovitz led the winners at the plate by going 2-for-3.

  Dunleavy struck out 14 in Canton's third game, an emphatic 8-1 victory over West Bloomfield. Leading the offensive charge were CarolAnn Sexauer (2-for-4, two RBI), Dunleavy (2-for-4) and Leskovitz, who went 1-for-4 with two RBI.

  On Sunday morning, the Chiefs lost, 4-2, to Birmingham Marian, despite a solid mound performance from Boucher, who struck out five in a complete-game effort.

  The Chiefs capped the weekend with a rousing 12-0 victory over Harper Woods Regina. Dunleavy pitched a perfect game, striking out 10. Sexauer (3-for-3), Dunleavy (2-for-3), Webster (2-for-2, three RBI) and Heidi Lucke paced the offense.