Rochester Hills Stoney Creek seniors Erin Flynn, left, and Christa Munn, right, celebrate a district championship win against Romeo in 2023.
By: Jonathan Szczepaniak | Rochester Post | Published July 17, 2024
ROCHESTER HILLS — Rochester Hills Stoney Creek softball’s battery and leader of the infield have put themselves on the map statewide.
For three years on varsity, Stoney Creek seniors Christa Munn (catcher) and Erin Flynn (pitcher) have dominated the opposition as a cohesive unit.
Whether it was on the high school level or for the FireStix travel softball organization, Flynn and Munn were dialed in as a pitcher-catcher duo.
“Pitchers are pitchers. Define that any way you want, but they have tells and they have rhythms,” Stoney Creek coach Rick Troy said. “Christa knew that extremely well and was able to help Erin’s success over three varsity years.”
As a result, Flynn became the first pitcher in Stoney Creek history to be named first team all-State as a pitcher by the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association. Flynn, a University of Detroit Mercy softball commit, was named honorable mention last year and chose Mercy because she felt at home.
“It was just the right school for me overall with academics and softball,” Flynn said. “I’ve known coach Dan (Vitale) since I was young, so that was just the place I felt the most comfortable at.”
Flynn carried a 15-5 record with a 1.58 ERA and 268 strikeouts in 146.2 innings of work, tossing 18 complete games, eight shutouts and four no-hitters in the process.
As a freshman, Flynn dominated the junior-varsity level before becoming the ace of the Stoney Creek staff throughout the rest of her career.
“The first time I went to one of Erin’s pitching lessons, just the work ethic I saw at a pitching lesson in the winter told me she was going to be all-State when she was a freshman,” Troy said.
She was equally as dangerous at the plate, hitting .363 with 11 doubles, four home runs and 29 RBIs.
Not many teams can say they have an all-State caliber pitcher-catcher duo, but the Cougars can as Munn earned all-State honorable mention this season with her 312 putouts and 1.000 fielding average behind the plate. Munn, a two-year captain who is committed to Alma College for softball and volleyball, hit .375 with a .431 on-base percentage throughout her four-year varsity career while also carrying a 4.0 GPA in the classroom.
To go with her stellar play on the field, Munn is the type of leader to pull the freshman players aside and make them feel a part of the team, a type of comfortability and confidence she’s never been shy of showing.
“We met before her (Munn) freshman year even started, and she was already standing 6-foot tall as a catcher, and she was wearing a jersey with No. 1 on it, and this is a cool story,” Troy said. “I asked her why she chose No. 1 as her jersey number, and she replied, ‘Because I’m the No. 1 catcher wherever I go.’”
Aside from the seniors, junior shortstop Kate Stephens became the first junior in Stoney Creek and Rochester Community Schools history to earn first team all-State honors after an impressive year both offensively and defensively.
Stephens hit .564 with 57 hits, 21 doubles, four triples, and three home runs while swiping 25 bags on the base path.
A University of Maryland softball commit, Stephens, who hit .531 and stole 29 bags in 2023, is one of the more polished softball players in the state, possessing all five tools as a dynamic threat at the plate and in the field.
Losing cornerstone pieces like Flynn and Munn could be troublesome for a lot of teams, but Stoney Creek will rely on Stephens as a core senior leader next year to help Stoney Creek get back to its district championship ways, which the Cougars last won in 2023.
“I think they’ll be just fine,” Flynn said. “They have Kate Stephens and a lot of players that are good enough to lead the team.”