Tuscola Softball loses thriller to Arcola, outlasts Clinton
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By Ben Crane
The Tuscola softball team lost in a pitching duel to Arcola 2-0 last week before outlasting Clinton, 8-6, to round out their games.
It started against Arcola, where Kinzie Cleland went toe-to-toe with Arcola’s Kacie Sisk all evening, as both kept their opposition scoreless through six innings. The Purple Riders broke through in the top of the seventh, scoring two runs, and it was all the Warriors could handle as they went down.
Cleland went the distance pitching a complete game, allowing one hit and zero earned runs, and striking out six. She also had the lone Warrior hit. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Tuscola has Cleland’s hit as a hit, while Arcola’s books have the play as an error, preserving Sisk’s no-hitter. Regardless, fantastic performances in the circle from both athletes.)
“Arcola was a really tough game for us to drop,” said head coach Halle Kerns. “We had a similar game against Warrensburg where no one scored until the last inning & that put a lot of pressure on our hitters in the bottom of the 7th. Arcola has many great athletes on their team and being rivals for a long time, we always get their best game. Our hitters really struggled performing at the plate as we had 15 strikeouts & only one hit. It’s really hard to win any game with those numbers & it ultimately came down to Arcola’s one hit that scored their base runners. I thought our defense worked really hard behind Kinzie Cleland all game and unfortunately Arcola found a gap in our defense in the 7th. They were a solid team and a good learning experience for our young team.”
The Warrior bats got fired up again against Clinton, where Ava Boyer finished 2-4 with three RBIs and scored a run. Brynlee Ring finished 2-4 with a run and an RBI while Allison Pettry finished 1-4 with a run and an RBI. Alaina Smith registered a hit in her lone at-bat, batting in a run and scoring another. Emily Veach went 2-3 herself, scoring two runs.
Bayleigh Taylor got the start in the circle, going 4.1 IP, allowing eight hits and four earned runs while striking out two. Cleland came in relief, pitching 2.2 innings, allowing four hits, zero earned runs, and striking out five.
“Clinton was a great game for our team. Together we had 10 hits, we scored early, and played some small ball to help get base runners and score those early runs. Our defense worked behind Bayleigh and Kinzie well and we didn’t let the 3 errors that we had consume our game. Clinton never stopped battling after we scored 5 before they scored any which was beneficial to our hitters that no matter how many runs we get, any of the teams we play are talented enough to come back and capitalize on errors we had on defense. Our hitters stayed motivated through the game & gained confidence from each other to work together and gather more runs. Ava Boyer put two over the fence which allowed our energy to stay high and push us through to get those final outs to win the game. I’m super proud of the team and how they are working together to have the same successful outcomes.”