High school softball: Michal Hylton fans 16 as Wayne ousts Dale

“I told my assistant, ‘She will get us out of this,' just knowing her mentality,” Brewer said. “She is a heck of a competitor.”

Hylton proved her coach right, getting a force out at home on a ground ball then striking out the final two batters as Wayne upset Dale, 5-4, Thursday in the opening round of the Class 2A fastpitch softball tournament at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.

Wayne's Caleigh Clifton, who has committed to Oklahoma, singled twice and scored two runs for the Bulldogs.

Hylton fanned 16 Dale hitters in the game, two short of her season high of 18, while allowing just two hits. Her strikeout pitch was her screwball.

“I trust my screwball,” she said. “It breaks outside to a right-handed hitter. It's hard to hit an outside pitch. If they do hit it, they are hitting it off the end of the bat.”

No. 2 Dale (32-4) had trouble hitting Hylton all day, but almost rallied to win when the left-hander became wild.

Hylton was cruising with a 4-0 lead after three innings, fanning eight batters already, including six in a row.