Big innings bring down Somerset softball team
The inability to stop opponent’s rallies, while failing to capitalize on chances for rallies of their own, has been a relenting problem for the Somerset softball team.
- Rylie Dierich
The inability to stop opponent’s rallies, while failing to capitalize on chances for rallies of their own, has been a relenting problem for the Somerset softball team.
The Spartans played their 11th game without a win on Monday, losing to Durand 7-3 in their Middle Border Conference finale. The Spartans finish the MBC season with a 3-11 record.
Durand beat the Spartans on the strength of one inning’s worth of production. The Panthers scored six runs in the third inning before the Spartans could stop the rally. Somerset coach Cory Lindenberg said Durand wasn’t hitting the ball hard, but the Spartans were making small mistakes on defense that kept the rally alive. He said missing cutoffs with throws and a lack of communication by the Spartans gave Durand extra opportunities.
The Spartans tried to come back. They got one run in the third inning when Megan Starry doubled and scored on a single by her big sister, Bethany.
Two more runs came in during the fourth inning. Sadie Gilbertson singled and Rylie Dierich bunted her way on. They scored on a groundout and a sacrifice fly.
Lindenberg lamented the missed chances in this game. The Spartans had 12 hits in the game and left 10 runners on base. Anna Siggens led the offense with three hits while Dierich, Megan Starry and Sami Martell each had two hits.
Lindenberg said this game was almost an exact copy of the Spartans’ 8-7 loss to Amery last Tuesday. The Spartans let their opponent get an early lead with a big inning and fruitlessly tried to play catch-up the rest of the game.
The Spartans also had 12 hits against Amery, led by four from Dierich who is becoming better at drag bunting with each game. Martell and Megan Starry each produced two hits and they both drove home two runs, as did Haley Salley.
The last time the Spartans won a game was when they played Amery in the first round of the MBC schedule, beating the Warriors 9-8 on April 19.
Last Friday the Spartans got to witness the exceptional pitching of Baldwin-Woodville ace Abby Klopp. Klopp pitched a perfect game, holding the Spartans without a baserunner, as the Blackhawks scored a 12-0 win in Somerset. That was the 13th time the Blackhawks have shut out their opponents in 19 games this season.
Lindenberg even tried a new defensive alignment to try to distract the B-W hitters in Friday’s game. In several situations he moved Dierich from rightfield to just behind second base to play a rover position.
“B-W hits the ball so well we figured there would be a lot of pulling the ball,” Lindenberg said.
The Spartans finish their regular season with a pair of non-conference games. They will play at St. Croix Falls this Friday before finishing the season with a home game against Shell Lake next Tuesday.
The WIAA Division 2 seeding meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday, when the Spartans will find out their first tournament opponent. The WIAA tournaments are scheduled to begin on Thursday, May 24.
Tags: sports, somerset, spartans, softball, prep
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