The Bluejay softball team has finally hit the diamond lately, fashioning a split at Portage on Saturday, before getting edged 5-4 on Monday in a game moved from Merrill to Medford.
The Red Raiders needed a four-run seventh to pull off the win.
“We played solid overall,” MHS coach Matt Ellenbecker “Makayla Heckendorf pitched well enough for us to win, but give Medford credit. They were able to string some hits together in the 7th and got the job done tonight.”
Medford scored once in the bottom of the first and neither team scored until Merrill tied in the top of the fifth. The Jays pushed it to 3-1 in the sixth and added an insurance run in the seventh. It wasn’t enough.
“Medford bunched 3 hits together in the 7th inning and executed a squeeze bunt and some situational hitting to plate the winning run,” Ellenbecker said. “Our bats are cold yet. We need to be able to contribute at the plate in positive ways even when we aren’t hitting well and right now we aren’t doing a great job at executing our bunts or making productive outs.”
Brianna LaMonica lead the way with 3 hits. Lindsay Krueger had 3 walks for us. Ashley Ollhoff and Mariah Turenne each had a double and a run scored. Reegan Byer drove in a run with a single, as well.
Merrill fell to 1-3 on the season (0-1 in the WVC) with the loss. Medford improved to 6-1 overall and was 4-0 in the GNC.
Carry the canoe
The Jays blanked New Lisbon 5-0 before falling to Portage 11-3.
“Versus New Lisbon, we played a pretty solid game all around,” Ellenbecker said. “Makayla Heckendorf pitched very well for us and we played pretty solid defense behind her in that game. Base-running was solid and aggressive in this game, as well. We left too many runners on base, and need to work on our situational hitting to be more effective at getting runs in.”
Krueger hit 3-4 with a double and triple and LaMonica was 2-3 with a walk.
Portage jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first behind a hit, an error, and a blooper that fell in.
“Suddenly you are in a hole,” Ellenbecker said. “I did like that we responded with two runs in the bottom of the first against their returning All-Conference pitcher. The big inning got us again when they tacked on five in the fourth. It was a similar story: a hit, a walk, an error, a blooper falls in and, suddenly, we are in a bigger hole.
“There were plenty of positives to take away from the day. As a whole our approach at the plate is pretty solid. We have been able to make some adjustments and put the ball in play. Base-running was very solid all day. We have focused on that in practice and our performance reflected that.”
Key performers included Reegan Byer with 3 doubles on the day. Lindsay Krueger had 4 hits, three for extra bases, and played solid defense for us at SS. Makayla Heckendorf notched her first varsity shutout against a solid New Lisbon program, so that is something to be proud of. Eight of our 9 starters contributed with at least one hit in the two games.”