Clutch sixth inning lifts Cardinals past Redskins

NEW BREMEN - New Bremen's Debbie Paul is a quiet person, according to softball coach Craig Griesdorn.

Her bat, however, spoke loudly on Monday night.

Paul's two-out hit in the bottom of the sixth inning brought home a pair of runs and helped lift New Bremen past St. Henry 8-5 in the Midwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

"I was real confident with Debbie," Griesdorn said. "She was our catcher last year. She's a veteran. She knows the situation. She just lets her play do the talking. She doesn't say a whole lot - literally, she doesn't say a whole lot. She just knows what she has to get done."

Madison Wells was walked by Redskin pitcher Alexis Ontrop to open the sixth. Chloe Schwartz, who replaced Wells as a courtesy runner, slid under the tag at second on a steal attempt. Kaitlyn Ahrns walked with one out and stole second, setting up Paul's game-winning hit down the third-base line.

"She was patient. She waited for a pitch she could handle. We came up with some big two-out hits. Those were crucial, because they were getting some big hits when they needed them," Griesdorn said. "We needed to answer the bell, and (Paul) did a great job."

Later in the sixth, Sophie Fox added an insurance run with a looper that fell in between the shortstop, second baseman and pitcher. Fox, who pitched a complete game, forced two ground outs and a popup to finish off the win in the seventh.

Fox opened the second inning with a double and advanced to third on a fielder's choice by Cassidy Smith. The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead when Jenna Bertke's ground out scored Fox. New Bremen extended its lead to 3-0 in the next inning. With the bases juiced, Smith hit a ground ball to second and the attempt to get the force at second was mishandled by the St. Henry shortstop, allowing two runs to score.

The Redskins responded with a four-run fourth inning. Taylor Siegrist (single) and Jacey King (double) started the inning with back-to-back hits to set up an RBI single by Carli Rindler. A throwing error by Paul on Ontrop's bunt attempt brought home Rindler, and Ontrop trotted home on a gapper by Kendra Rose for a 4-3 advantage.

"They just get a base hit, double, a base hit. We misplayed a bunt. That was crucial and then they get another double," Griesdorn said. "Four hits ... those weren't cheap hits, either. They're a good team. I told them before the game, they'll put the ball in play. We've just got to make plays."

The Cards regained the lead on Alyse Clune's two-run single in the home fourth, before St. Henry rallied back to tie the game at 5-all in the fifth. Brooke Borgerding, pinch running for Liz Uhlenhake after she led off the inning with a single, stole second and scored on King's RBI single.

"We came back and we were ahead a couple times. We just couldn't capitalize," St. Henry coach Kylie Huelsman said. "We couldn't execute certain plays. There were a few mistakes that cost us."

Kendra Rose and King accounted for four of the seven hits for the Redskins, who fall to 3-6 overall.

"Our defense is slowly getting better. Our bats have gotten better just over the last couple of games, but I definitely see improvement since the beginning of the season. Hopefully we can keep progressing from there," Huelsman said.

Fox had a three-to-zero strikeout-to-walk ratio and added two hits for New Bremen, which improved to 6-3.