HOLLAND, OH - APRIL 12: Perrysburg sophomore Hayley Griggs celebrates as she runs to home plate after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a game against Springfield on April 12, 2023 at Blue Devil Fields in Holland, Ohio. Springfield defeated Perrysburg, 14-12. (Photo by Scott Grau/Sentinel-Tribune)
HOLLAND — Defending Division I state runner-up Springfield softball came from an eight-run deficit to hand visiting Perrysburg its first loss of the season, 14-12, Wednesday in Northern Lakes League play.
The Blue Devils stay unbeaten at 8-0, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 8-1. It is also Perrysburg’s first league loss after opening with a 16-4 NLL win over Sylvania Northview.
Perrysburg sent 11 batters to the plate in the top of the third, scoring six runs on four hits and three Springfield errors to take a 10-2 lead.
The Blue Devils came back by scoring three in the bottom of the third, three in the fourth, five in the fifth, and one in the sixth, outhitting Perrysburg 15-14 and taking advantage of four Perrysburg errors.
“(Players showed) a lot of heart,” Springfield coach Rob Gwozdz said. “We can hit, they can hit, and it just came down to basically who had the most hits.”
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In Springfield’s five-run fifth, they sent 10 batters to the plate who hit six seeing-eye singles that somehow found their way through gaps in the infield, or dropped into the outfield at well-placed spots.
One shot hit the third base bag and bounced high into the outfield and another hard-hit shot hit Perrysburg junior pitcher Maison Gerrard in the shin and ricocheted to the third base line.
Perrysburg coach Ryan DeMars said he would like to see a better effort from his infielders getting stops on some of those hard-hit grounders that found their way into the outfield. All six baserunners who scored reached after two outs were already recorded.
“Obviously, Springfield is a great hitting team,” DeMars said. “They put the ball in play a lot. If we want to be able to beat teams like that, then we must be able to make more plays.”
In the fourth, as the Blue Devils were crawling back into game inning by inning, Springfield sophomore Cam Eckhart blasted a 220-foot three-RBI home run, which seemed to light a spark in the Blue Devils’ offense.
“She got all of it and that is what she does. That is her thing is the long ball,” Gwozdz said.
Perrysburg sophomore Hayley Griggs matched Eckhart and did one better, belting a two-run, 210-foot home run over the right-center field wall in the first and a two-run, 215-foot two-run homer over the center field wall in the sixth, finishing 2-for-3 with four RBIs.
Every Springfield starter had a base hit and all but two Perrysburg starters joined the hit parade, even though the expectations were a pitchers’ duel between the two aces, Gerrard and Springfield senior Mady Yackee.
“I just said we’ve been focusing a lot on our hitting and wanting to hit, and we came out here and were definitely hitting, and hitting against an elite Blue Devils pitcher, so we were really happy with the way we were hitting,” DeMars said.
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But what kept this game going in unpredictable fashion were the combined seven errors. Of the 14 runs scored by the Blue Devils, only seven were charged to Perrysburg pitchers.
“Then, we just talked about how we need to shore up our defense,” DeMars said. “We must be able to make more plays.”
Gwozdz added, “It wasn’t the prettiest game. They say pitching and defense wins championships and both teams struggled on that a tiny bit.
“That’s uncharacteristic. We played 32 games last year and committed 13 errors and we had three today. That is just a focus thing we must clean up.”
Gerrard struck out three and walked two over 4.2 innings, and in 1.1 innings of relief, freshman Maddie Von Sacken, who came in after Gerrard was struck in the leg by a line drive, struck out one, walked none and allowed no earned runs.
At the plate, Gerrard was 4-for-5 with three RBIs, junior Jessica Miller was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and freshman Morgan Hoverman was 2-for-5 for Perrysburg. Sophomore Alyssa Bradford doubled and had an RBI and junior Ella Leonard had a base hit.
Other than the 14 hits Perrysburg had, Yackee struck out 11, walked two, and only six of Perrysburg’s 12 runs were earned.
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At the plate, Springfield sophomore Hannah Schlachter 3-for-4 with a stolen base, junior Ava Littin was 2-for-3 and scored three runs, sophomore Kenya Crowley 2-for-3 and scored twice, senior Kiersten Wilhelm was 2-for-4, and sophomore Cam Eckhart was 2-for-5.
Sophomore lead-off hitter Camryn Hall had a first inning triple, reached twice on walks and scored three times, Yackee had a base hit and scored twice, junior Olivia Rompf reached on a base hit and senior Audrey Miller had a base hit and two stolen bases.
