| Perrysburg softball ends season with 6-5 loss to Elyria (5-24-12) |
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| Written by By JACK CARLE Sentinel Sports Editor | ||||
| Thursday, 24 May 2012 21:44 | ||||
That was the case Thursday for Perrysburg in its Division I regional softball game against perennial state-power Elyria. The Pioneers rallied for three runs after two were out in the bottom of the sixth inning to end the Yellow Jackets’ season with a 6-5 win. PHOTO GALLERY “The girls never quit fighting. What can you say? We’re lucky and I’ll take that any day,” said Elyria head coach Ken Fenik. “I would have hated to see them lose not playing their best ball. “When you’ve come this far and someone opens up the door, usually the team that is on offense is going to win.” Elyria’s Haley Looney led off the sixth with a single. After a sacrifice bunt and a pop out, Elyria’s Caitlyn Minney kept the inning alive with a single to right field to score Looney. Marie Masters followed with a bloop single into center field. Alyssa Baker then hit a high pop-up onto the outfield grass near second base, but the ball glanced off the glove of Perrysburg’s second baseman, with two runs scoring on the error. Perrysburg’s Felicia Eisenbrandt then got a strike out to end the inning. “That’s tough, but that’s part of the game,” Perrysburg head coach Ryan DeMars said. “Certainly we’ve had our share where we’ve had those go in our favor. That’s just part of the game. It’s unfortunate, but we were so close. And to be that close that just makes it that much tougher to deal with the loss.” “That’s the type of little things we struggled with all season. That’s the things we have to be able to execute to be able to win big games,” Perrysburg shortstop Katie Dunphy said about the sixth inning. “That’s what we’ve got to work on for next year.” The Yellow Jackets did not go quietly in the top of the seventh. Cammy Messenger singled to right with one out and Raegen Vickers reached on an infield single with two outs. However, Minney got the final out of the game on a pop up to third base. “I’m proud of these girls, they battled right into the seventh inning,” DeMars said. “You can’t ask for more than giving your team a chance and we had a chance.” Perrysburg took a quick 1-0 lead as leadoff hitter Dunphy lined a 3-2 pitch over the right field fence for her eighth home run of the season. The eight home runs matches the single-season school record set by Kimmy Granata, who played her final game for Perrysburg on Thursday. “It was a good way to start the game and get my team energized,” Dunphy said. After a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first, Elyria eventually tied the game on Looney’s sacrifice fly. Perrysburg then scored three times in the top of the second. Emily Gawronski drew a one-out walk. With two outs Dunphy singled to left and Ty Wilson drove in both runners with a hard-hit triple to left field. Granata’s single to right scored Wilson to make it 4-1.
The Yellow Jackets added a run in the top of the fourth inning . Dunphy reached on a fielder’s choice and then stole second base. Wilson followed with a single, and she deliberately let herself get caught in a rundown. Dunphy was able to score before Wilson was tagged out for the third out. Wilson hurt her right shoulder on the play and missed one inning in the field, but returned the finish the game. “We came out a little shaky,” Fenik said. “I told our players they like to run that pickle play and I thought that was going to be a huge run in the end.” Perrysburg did not score again despite having a total of six batters reach base in the last three innings. Granata finished with three singles while Dunphy and Wilson each had two hits. That trio is the top three in the Perrysburg batting order and they were a combined 7-for-11 with four runs scored and four RBI. “We played hard in the tournament run,” Dunphy said. “When we told people we were playing Elyria, they just laughed at us. It felt really good to make it this far and come that close.” Elyria, now 25-2, advances to face Toledo Notre Dame Saturday at noon for a berth in the state semifinals. Perrysburg finishes 19-9 and loses seven seniors — Eisenbrandt, Gawronski, Granata, Messenger, Lauren Miller, Megan Russ, and Wilson — from this year’s team. “Absolutely I would call this season a success,” DeMars said. “It’s been since 2005 since Perrysburg won a district championship. That was one of the goals we set out ... We had fun, we got better, we learned more about the game of softball. When the kids look back on this, after the disappointment, they are going to remember this was a great season.” SOFTBALL DIVISION I ELYRIA 6, PERRYSBURG 5 PERRYSBURG 130 100 0 —5 10 3 ELYRIA 120 003 X—6 8 1 BATTING LEADERS HITS — (P) Granata 3, Dunphy 2, Wilson 2, Messenger, Vickers, Gawronski; (E) Howser 2, Masters 2, Woodard, Looney, Ward, Minney. 3B — (P) WIlson. HR — (P) Dunphy. RUNS — (P) Dunphy 3, Wilson Gawronski; (E) Masters 2, Williams, Looney, Ward, Fullmer. RBI — (P) Wilson 2, Dunphy, Granata; (E) Looney, Minney, Masters, Baker. SAC — (P) Zampinio; (E) Woodard, A. Roseboro, Baker. SAC FLY —(E) Looney. HBP — (P) Gawronski (by Minney). SB — (P) Dunphy; (E) Ward. LOB — Perrysburg 8. Elyria 4. PITCHING SUMMARY IP H R ER BB SO PERRYSBURG Eisenbrandt (LP, 14-7) 6 8 6 3 1 3 ELYRIA Minney (WP, 20-1) 7 10 5 5 3 4 |
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| Last Updated on Friday, 25 May 2012 08:38 |
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