Bulldog softball comes up short in quest for state bid
Justin Nutter
St. Marys ? After falling behind Silver Lake by seven runs in the regional finals, McLouth High could have thrown in the towel. However, that’s just not the Bulldogs’ style.
MHS (17-5) roared back from the early deficit, but its late rally came up one hit short in an 8-6 loss to the Eagles (20-3) Tuesday at Riverside Park in St. Marys.
“Everybody goes out and plays hard when you’re kicking everybody’s tail,” coach Ballard Patterson said. “You find out what you’re made of when everything is stacked against you. My team, I’m pretty proud of them.”
SLHS scored two in the first, three in the second and two in the third before the Bulldogs got a runner across the plate. Patterson’s squad went hitless in the first two innings, but finally broke through with a two-spot in the bottom of the third. Marissa Raya, Alex Adams and Kendra Leach opened the frame with three straight singles to load the bases, and Morgan Drinnon cashed in with a two-run double.
MHS pitcher Angela Dailey, who relieved Leach in the circle with one out in the second, found a groove and kept the Eagles off the scoreboard for the next three innings. However, the Bulldogs also went scoreless during that span, keeping the score at 7-2. Silver Lake scored one in the top of the seventh to extend its lead to six, but McLouth had an answer in the home half of the inning.
Taylor Pope led off with a single and Raya reached on a fielding error, then a trio of seniors made sure the scoring opportunity wouldn’t be squandered. Leach drove in Pope with a single, then Emily Welsh bunted her way on to load the bases for Drinnon. Drinnon came through again — this time on an RBI single — to cut the deficit to 8-4. That left the bases loaded for sophomore Konner Patterson, who ripped a two-run double into left field.
Following Konner Patterson’s double, SLHS made a pitching change. The new pitcher struck out the next two Bulldog hitters, ending the game with the tying runs on second and third.
“Not all the time does a loss mean you didn’t win,” Ballard Patterson said. “My kids acted like winners tonight, and for that, we’re going to hold our heads up high.”
SLHS 232 000 1 — 8
MHS 002 000 4 — 6
Leading hitters: Kendra Leach 3-3, RBI; Morgan Drinnon 2-4, 3 RBI; Konner Patterson 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Emily Welsh 2-4.
McLouth 6, ACCHS 5
The Bulldogs reached the regional title game with a 6-5 semifinal win over Delaware Valley League opponent ACCHS on Tuesday afternoon. The Tigers led 4-3 after four innings, but MHS scored the next three to go back in front for good.
“We hit when we needed to,” Ballard Patterson said. “When we get to that certain spot, we can get some runs driven in. I think, more than anything, the girls just decided they weren’t going to lose that first game.”
Konner Patterson opened scoring with a three-run home run in the first inning, but ACCHS took the lead with two runs each in the second and fourth. However, Leach and Drinnon each drove in a run in the fifth to give the lead back to the Bulldogs.
MHS added one more on an RBI single by Adams in the sixth. The Tigers scored one in the top of the seventh, but Dailey slammed the door on the comeback attempt. She relieved the hard-throwing Leach in the sixth and kept ACCHS hitters off balance with a variety of off-speed pitches.
“Changing to Angie at the time we did really got in the other team’s head. It really made them question what they were doing.”
ACCHS 020 200 1 — 5
MHS 300 021 X — 6
Leading hitters: Konner Patterson 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Alex Adams 2-3, RBI; Morgan Drinnon 1-3, RBI.