May 1, 2019 at 2:13 a.m.
Fort offense late in loss
Tribe softball has rally come up one-run short
Fort offense late in loss
Copyright 2019, The Commercial Review
All Rights Reserved
FORT RECOVERY — By the time the Indians were able to consistently put the ball in play, they were behind by a bunch.
With the potential tying run standing at second base, they weren't able to keep the momentum going.
Fort Recovery High School's softball team erased an 8-1 deficit with a six-run sixth, but it wasn't able to complete the comeback in an 8-7 loss to the New Bremen Cardinals on Tuesday in an impromptu home game.
“Too little too late,” said FRHS coach EJ Stephen, whose team was visitors on the scoreboard despite playing on its home field after the game was moved from New Bremen. “We hit like that the beginning of the game this is a whole different ball game.
“They just took to long to time (Cardinal pitcher Molly Smith) up and see what she was doing.”
Through the first five innings, Smith fanned seven batters and only surrendered one run as Jackie Homan and Brenna Homan hit back-to-back doubles in the top of the third inning as Fort Recovery (10-10, 2-3 Midwest Athletic Conference) halved its 2-0 hole.
Following Jackie Homan's double, Smith sat down the next eight Tribe batters.
New Bremen (14-6, 3-2 MAC) used three runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings to build its 8-1 lead before Jackie Homan hit her second double of theko game to lead off the top of the sixth.
A hit by pitch and a walk loaded the bases for Rachel Thien, who bounced a grounder to Kelly Naylor at shortstop. Naylor's throw was a tad late, which allowed Homan to score. Chloey Grisez grounded to Naylor as well, and Naylor's throw again to the plate was off the mark and two Indians crossed home plate.
Two runs scored on yet another fielder's choice and an error before Brenna Homan ripped an opposite field single to left field, and suddenly Fort Recovery's seven run deficit was diminished to just one.
The Homans and Knapke each had two hits and an RBI, and Hannah Knapke also had a pair of hits.
Smith gave way to Sarah Parker in the seventh, and Knapke led off with singled to short. Two outs and a Grisez walk later, Knapke was standing at second in scoring position as the potential game-tying run.
New Bremen coach Ellie Puthoff went back to Smith to face Aleigha Jenkins, who represented three of Smith's eight total strikeout victims.
Behind 0-2, Jenkins hit a soft grounder back to Smith to end it.
“They kind of got it in their heads now days they can hit the ball,” Stephen said. “They do hit the ball well, but now a lot of these girls have got the taste of home runs so they want ot hit those and we're not swinging for base hits.”
“We have to get that out of their heads and start swinging for base hits.”
At the same time, the Indians' aggressiveness proved costly too. They struck out a total of nine times, including three on called third strikes. Smith never threw fewer than 16 pitches in an inning through the first five frames, and out of 33 plate appearances Fort Recovery only saw two three-ball counts — one in each of the sixth and seventh innings. Both resulted in walks.
“I love the aggressiveness but today it definitely wasn't there,” Stephen said. “A couple of those (strikeouts) were swinging at dumb pitches …
“They have to be aggressive on that first pitch as opposed to getting down in the count.”
All Rights Reserved
FORT RECOVERY — By the time the Indians were able to consistently put the ball in play, they were behind by a bunch.
With the potential tying run standing at second base, they weren't able to keep the momentum going.
Fort Recovery High School's softball team erased an 8-1 deficit with a six-run sixth, but it wasn't able to complete the comeback in an 8-7 loss to the New Bremen Cardinals on Tuesday in an impromptu home game.
“Too little too late,” said FRHS coach EJ Stephen, whose team was visitors on the scoreboard despite playing on its home field after the game was moved from New Bremen. “We hit like that the beginning of the game this is a whole different ball game.
“They just took to long to time (Cardinal pitcher Molly Smith) up and see what she was doing.”
Through the first five innings, Smith fanned seven batters and only surrendered one run as Jackie Homan and Brenna Homan hit back-to-back doubles in the top of the third inning as Fort Recovery (10-10, 2-3 Midwest Athletic Conference) halved its 2-0 hole.
Following Jackie Homan's double, Smith sat down the next eight Tribe batters.
New Bremen (14-6, 3-2 MAC) used three runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings to build its 8-1 lead before Jackie Homan hit her second double of theko game to lead off the top of the sixth.
A hit by pitch and a walk loaded the bases for Rachel Thien, who bounced a grounder to Kelly Naylor at shortstop. Naylor's throw was a tad late, which allowed Homan to score. Chloey Grisez grounded to Naylor as well, and Naylor's throw again to the plate was off the mark and two Indians crossed home plate.
Two runs scored on yet another fielder's choice and an error before Brenna Homan ripped an opposite field single to left field, and suddenly Fort Recovery's seven run deficit was diminished to just one.
The Homans and Knapke each had two hits and an RBI, and Hannah Knapke also had a pair of hits.
Smith gave way to Sarah Parker in the seventh, and Knapke led off with singled to short. Two outs and a Grisez walk later, Knapke was standing at second in scoring position as the potential game-tying run.
New Bremen coach Ellie Puthoff went back to Smith to face Aleigha Jenkins, who represented three of Smith's eight total strikeout victims.
Behind 0-2, Jenkins hit a soft grounder back to Smith to end it.
“They kind of got it in their heads now days they can hit the ball,” Stephen said. “They do hit the ball well, but now a lot of these girls have got the taste of home runs so they want ot hit those and we're not swinging for base hits.”
“We have to get that out of their heads and start swinging for base hits.”
At the same time, the Indians' aggressiveness proved costly too. They struck out a total of nine times, including three on called third strikes. Smith never threw fewer than 16 pitches in an inning through the first five frames, and out of 33 plate appearances Fort Recovery only saw two three-ball counts — one in each of the sixth and seventh innings. Both resulted in walks.
“I love the aggressiveness but today it definitely wasn't there,” Stephen said. “A couple of those (strikeouts) were swinging at dumb pitches …
“They have to be aggressive on that first pitch as opposed to getting down in the count.”
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