All-County Softball: Hudson's Hill earns Lenawee Pitcher of the Year

HUDSON — Lauren Hill comes from a long line of pitchers.

Even as she kept getting taller and taller, Hill kept on pitching.

“I started when I was in third of fourth grade,” she said. “My mom was a pitcher, and my sister was a pitcher, so everyone was like, ‘you should pitch.’”

It didn’t come easy for the 6-foot-2-inch Hill.

“It was kind of awkward because of how tall I was,” she said. “My family helped me with it, so it was pretty easy to learn.”

Her grandfather was a pitcher. Her mother was a pitcher. Her sister Lexi pitched at Hudson.

Hill figured things out over the past couple of seasons. She won 18 games this year, four more than any other pitcher in Lenawee County, and today is the 2023 Lenawee County Softball Pitcher of the Year.

“I think this season was my best,” she said. “I’m kind of sad that I kind of figured out at the end, but it made the season so much fun.”

In addition to her 18-4 record, Hill had 123 strikeouts and was third in the county in ERA at 2.76.

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Hudson had an outstanding season. They were in the LCAA race until being swept by Clinton midway through the season, but still finished 9-5 in the league. Hill was one of four first team All-LCAA pitchers.

Hudson had the most wins of any team in Lenawee County, finishing 30-9.

“We did better than anybody thought that we would, mainly because we were so young,” she said.

Hill was a threat at the plate, too, finishing with 23 hits, two home runs and 29 RBIs. She scored 41 runs.

Her competitive athletic days appear to have ended by being the winning pitcher in Monday’s Lenawee County All-Star Game. She will attend Michigan State University to study nursing. At this point, she might play club volleyball.

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Being without sports will probably be somewhat of a shock to Hill, who has been busy with sports since elementary school. Hill was a four-sport athlete at Hudson and earned all-league honors in all four sports – cross country, basketball, volleyball and softball. She was a team captain in volleyball and basketball and was third team all-state in volleyball as a senior.

“She’s very competitive,” said her mother and softball coach Amy Hill. ““I’m happy she finished on a good note. She got to be part of some pretty good things with volleyball and basketball, and we had a great spring. It was a good senior year for her.”

Lauren Hill said she and her mother have bonded over softball the last couple of seasons. The two clashed on the softball diamond sometimes when she was younger.

“It was (hard) at the beginning,” she said. “We never agreed on anything. But I think it made our bond even stronger. I had a lot of fun with it and happy how things worked out.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Hudson's Hill takes Lenawee County Softball Pitcher of the Year