By JAKE THIELEN
@MIPrepZone
BEVERLY HILLS – Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest scored the eventual winning run in the top of the ninth inning, and the Crusaders held on to earn a 5-4 win against Birmingham Detroit Country Day in softball Tuesday afternoon at Country Day.
Lutheran Northwest and Country Day were tied 3-3 after seven regulation innings, and each team scored a run in the eighth inning to further extend the game.
With the International Tie Breaker rule in effect, Lutheran Northwest began the top of the ninth with a runner on second base. The Crusaders’ Rebecca Oleskie led off the inning with a bunt, and an errant throw allowed the runner to score and give Lutheran Northwest a 5-4 lead.
Pitcher Madison Macy allowed a one-out walk to Country Day in the bottom of the ninth, but she was able to escape trouble. Macy induced a groundball for the second out, and she got the next Yellowjacket hitter to fly out to right field to end the game.
Macy threw all nine innings to earn the win, and the sophomore finished the game with 17 strikeouts.
Lutheran Northwest coach Jeff Ludwig praised Macy’s demeanor on the mound in the victory.
“In that last inning, (Macy) jammed her ankle sliding into third, and we were worried whether she would be able to come out (to pitch,)” Ludwig said. “But she’s a fighter and a battler. She might be a sophomore by grade, but she pitches like a senior, and we rally around her. She puts the team on her back.”
Ludwig said playing a talented team like Country Day was a challenge that his team was looking forward to facing.
“We’ve been playing some games recently where were we’ve been racking up lots of runs, but really haven’t been getting pushed,” Ludwig said. “We got pushed today, and the girls rose to the occasion.
We had to fight through some adversity with an injury (to infielder Sara Seemann) and they just found a way to will themselves to victory today.”
Despite striking out 20 times against Country Day pitcher Jacqueline Spizizen, the Crusaders were able to find some offense at crucial times during the game. Lutheran Northwest scored three times in the fourth inning, turning what had been a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead.
Macy led off the inning with a single, and Rebecca Johnstone followed with a bunt single of her own.
Three batters later, Grace VanDellen drove in both runners with a single, and Brynn Cudney followed with another single that scored VanDellen.
Country Day tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to back-to-back doubles from Spizizen and Jessica Garmen. The Yellowjackets’ earlier run came courtesy of the first career home run by senior Brooke Reiter in the third inning.
Yellowjacket coach John Meyers said the home run was a special moment for Reiter.
“(Reiter’s) a great kid, one of our captains, and she’s our only senior,” Meyers said. “She puts her heart into everything, and she’s a great teammate. It was nice to see her hard work pay off.”
Last Updated: 5/17/2016 10:46:01 PM EST
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