Five-run first foils the Fort

FORT RECOVERY - Over the final six innings, the MAC rivals played fairly even. It was the first one that killed the Tribe.

The New Bremen Cardinals scored five times in the opening frame Monday as they defeated the Fort Recovery High School softball team 8-2.

"I don't think we were ready," said FRHS coach Marie Osterholt, whose team dropped to 1-6 in the Midwest Athletic Conference. "We have to come out and be ready to play right away. I think they just weren't mentally ready. We settled down, but by then it was just too late."

Each of the first eight batters reached base for New Bremen, starting with back-to-back singles from Jackie Scheer and Emily Philipot. A Michelle Griesdorn single drove in a pair of runs in the inning, and Becky Dwenger had an RBI double to left field.

Fort Recovery got its first two outs unconventionally. The first was on an outfield assist from left fielder Shelby Brunswick to catcher Josie Guggenbiller, and the second came as Guggenbiller picked Morgan Russell off of third base.

Kinsey Wenning struck out No. 9 hitter Brianne Bertke to end the inning, but the Indians already faced a five-run hole.

Cardinals coach Craig Griesdorn said he felt his team learned a lesson from Saturday's sectional loss to Marion Local, in which his team struggled early on the way to a 10-2 loss.

"They came out hitting. They came determined today," said Griesdorn, whose team is now 10-8 overall and 4-2 in the MAC. "They played with some confidence and were able to put the ball in play. We hit it hard. Even our outs were hard hits."

New Bremen repeatedly crushed the ball to the outfield, finishing with four doubles. Two of those came from Dwenger, and Griesdorn and Scheer each added one.

Griesdorn finished with two hits and three RBIs, and Scheer had three hits and two runs. Philipot was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs, and Elking also had two hits.

"Our first five batters are all seniors and three of them have played for three years," said Griesdorn. "We have some nice experience. And the other two were starters last year. We're counting on them, and they did a nice job."

Meanwhile the Indians managed just three hits, and the top three hitters in their order finished a combined 0-for-9.

"We have to get some more hits," said Osterholt. "We're not going to win any ball games on three hits. We have to make contact and get those runners around."

The bright spot on the day for the Tribe was Andi Sutter, who took over pitching duties when Wenning left because of a jammed finger in the second inning.

Sutter tossed the final six innings, allowing just two unearned runs. She struck out five batters and walked only one.

"She does a super job," Osterholt said of the sophomore. "She's going to be something in the upcoming years."

Senior Joanna Snyder scored the Tribe's first run almost entirely on her own. After an infield single, she stole second base and then advanced to third on a ground out by Olivia Thien.

Snyder then took a big lead off of third base and drew a throw from Dwenger, the catcher. Instead of heading back to third, Snyder broke for home and beat the throw back from third baseman Shelby Hagan.

Thien scored the other run after a leadoff double in the fifth. She advanced to third on a ground out by Amy Hart, and scored when Sutter reached base on an error.

The Indians have tonight off before playing St. Henry in the Division IV sectional championship game Wednesday at New Bremen at 5 p.m. Fort Recovery lost 1-0 to the Redskins on May 5.

"I hope it's a good one. Last time we played them, we played them really well," said Osterholt. "We need to be ready to play defense. We're fortunate, we saw (St. Henry pitcher Michelle Stout) once. When we played them last time we pitched Sutter. Hopefully we can surprise them a little bit with Kinsey (Wenning)."

Junior varsity

NEW BREMEN, Ohio - Fort Recovery scored 12 times in the final two innings to rally for a 19-18 victory over the Cardinals.

The Indians trailed 13-7 after four innings before scoring five times in the top of the sixth to close the gap. New Bremen responded with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Tribe claimed the lead with seven more in the top of the seventh.

The Cardinals got one run off of Beca Tobe in the seventh, but she held on for the victory. She struck out five batters as she went the distance.

Brittany Sudhoff had a double and a triple for Fort Recovery as she drove in five runs and scored twice. Kendra Stammen finished 1-for-3 with a double, three walks, five runs and three RBIs.

Taylor Guggenbiller totaled two hits and three runs, and Stacy Gehle and Lorraine Shier each added two hits.[[In-content Ad]]