Bowling Green senior Mercedes Richter, right, is tagged out while sliding into second base by Perrysburg freshman shortstop Lily Hinkleman during the second inning Tuesday evening at Perrysburg High School. Visit www.sent-trib.com to view a photo gallery.
Scott W. Grau | Sentinel-Tribune
PERRYSBURG — Bowling Green’s six seniors got what they have been waiting for — beating Northern Lakes League rival Perrysburg.
On the road Tuesday, BG scored four runs in the top of the sixth and senior pitcher Katelyn Ziems threw a nearly unhittable drop ball as the Bobcats defeated the Yellow Jackets, 4-1.
“I’m so proud of them. The seniors wanted this one. Perrysburg is a big rival, and everybody knows it,” BG coach Shawn Watson said.
“Last year we had them down with bases loaded and two strikes on the batter and two outs, and the girl hits a walk-off grand slam. So, they’ve talked about that a lot the last year.”
Ziems struck out eight, did not walk a batter, allowed three hits, and did not allow an earned run through seven innings.
“It was a lot of drop curves and screwballs, working inside. I think there was movement — usually that is what I throw is a lot of movement,” Ziems said.
Watson added, “She spun the ball so well. It is her first complete game she has had all season because we’ve been rotating our pitchers — half and half.”
It is BG’s first NLL win, improving to 9-5 overall and 1-3 in the conference, but all three losses came to the top tier of the league — Anthony Wayne, Springfield and Sylvania Northview.
Perrysburg, which does not have a senior on its roster, falls to 7-4 and 1-4. Combined, the two teams are 14-2 against non-league competition.
The first five innings saw a scoreless pitchers’ duel between Ziems and Perrysburg sophomore Maison Gerrard.
Ziems was throwing a perfect game through three innings until Cassie Plummer, one of only two juniors on Perrysburg’s squad, hit a grounder deep into the hole on the left side of the infield for a base hit.
Meanwhile, Gerrard struck out 12, walked nobody and allowed four hits and just one earned run. She struck out the side twice and had given up just one hit through five innings.
“Maison is going to give us a chance to be in every game,” Perrysburg coach Ryan DeMars said.
“We have to be able to provide her with better run support. Maison is doing great — so we must be better defensively for her, too,” DeMars added.
However, Gerrard hit two batters, one on the arm and the other on the elbow, and that was what got BG’s rally going in the fourth.
BG senior Mercedes Richter was hit on the first pitch of her at-bat, giving her a free pass to first. Then, sophomore Samantha Trimpey attempted to sacrifice bunt, but she beat out the throw and reached on a base hit.
As Trimpey rounded first base, she and Richter took advantage of poor throwing choices by Perrysburg’s infield, reaching second and third. Richter scored on an RBI base hit to center field by Ziems.
Freshman Hannah Yarger, courtesy running for Ziems, stole second, putting two runners in scoring position for senior Mackenna Fry.
Fry belted a hard grounder to the third baseman, who tried to throw home to get the lead runner, but a throwing error allowed Richter and Yarger to score runs two and three. Fry scored the fourth run on a base hit to center by senior Kylie Foster.
“Offensively, once our one and two hitters got on base, we knew they were going to create havoc. They have done it all season long. Those hits in the clutch — I’m very proud of them,” Watson said.
Ziems added, “I was just so proud of my team for getting some runs on the board, especially so late in the game with our rally. It is definitely a relief knowing we have such good hitters ready to hit.”
The first five batters in BG’s batting order were the only Bobcats to reach base. Fry belted a double to the right-center field gap to lead off the second for BG’s other hit, but she was stranded.
Perrysburg’s run in the bottom of the sixth was scored by sophomore Lindsay Hubaker, who hit a line drive double to the right center field fence, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball.
For DeMars, the challenge has been getting four freshmen, six sophomores and two juniors prepared for varsity softball.
“We have a lot of talent. We are just inconsistent right now,” DeMars said. “That is one of those things that comes with experience. We are trying to build that experience for them.
“They are a fun team to coach. They are exciting because they have so much ability, but sometimes we get into a situation where we just fail to execute. I think the youth has something to do with that.”
