Streich was a member of the Hurons state championship team in 2014 and after a stellar career at Rogers City, Streich went on to continue her career at Central Michigan University.

Despite little playing time during her first two seasons, Streich had hopes of earning more playing time during her junior season.

The 2017 season got off to rough start for the Chippewas and Streich as Central began the year 0-5 and Streich suffered a broken hand a little less than halfway through the season and it looked as if he junior season was going to be cut short.

“My hand injury really bummed me out, but I’m recovering from it well now. I can put a glove on it again and am coming close to gripping a bat to swing. Slowly but surely I’ll get back,” Streich said. “We started off slow, but we weren’t going to let that define us. There was something special with this team.”

Courtesy Photo Streich prepares to round third base and head to home plate during the Division I softball game during the 2017 season.

Despite the slow start and the injury, both Streich and the Chippewas found ways to make a comeback. Streich was determined to get back and help her team any way she could and she eventually played through the injury and was used as a pinch runner the rest of the season and played the remainder of the year with a cast on her left hand.

Along with Streich’s comeback, Central put its rough start behind it and got red hot as the Chippewas went on a stretch where they won 17 of 18 games that spanned across the middle of February into late March.

After dropping their first five games, the Chippewas lost just ten games the rest of the way to finish with a 37-15 record overall and went 18-5 in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and captured the regular season MAC championship.

“The chemistry we had was a key factor to our success and it only got stronger as the season went on. We trusted each other and we trusted our coaches,” Streich said. “Everyone knew their role and accepted it. Our team fed off energy so the dugout knew that in order to keep our players up, we needed to be loud and excited in the dugout and that’s exactly what we did. The roles we had may not have been where we necessarily wanted to be, but everyone proudly took on their role and that was so important to our teams success.”

Streich accepted her role after the injury, knowing that she would be limited to pinch running duties, but she ended up scoring four runs after the her injury occurred and was one who accepted the role she was given in order to help the team improve.

After winning the MAC regular season championship, the Chippewas unfortunately lost two of their first three games of the MAC tournament and were eliminated, bringing an end to what was a special season.

Streich is still on the road to recovery and is determined to get back to full health as she knows next year will be different as Central graduates several key players this year and it will be Streich’s time to step up and lead as a senior.

“This season was one of the best experiences I’ve ever been apart of. This was the most selfless team I have ever been apart of,” Streich said. “As a senior next year, I have high hopes for the season

There’s no doubt that next year is going to be a different game. We are losing some of our biggest leaders and everyone is just going to have to step up to another level to take on new roles. If we stick to playing Chippewa softball like we did this year, we’ll be just fine. I’m already excited to see what next year has in store.”

Jonny Zawacki can be reached via email at jzawacki@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5690.

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