Better than Tuesday

CELINA - The Celina softball team got better on Thursday.

Coach Jason Tribolet would have liked a better end result for his team, but improvement was the main thing he wanted to see and he did.

"(After Tuesday's loss to Wapakoneta), I was afraid we were hitting a plateau or going down," Tribolet said. "And today, I think we reversed that just a little bit." 

The final outcome was a 10-6 loss to Bath, and the narrative played out similarly to how it did in Tuesday's 7-3 loss to Wapak. Celina led early but hit a wall late and was outscored in the final innings.

The Bulldogs fell to 1-7 on the summer. The Wildcats improved to 4-1.

Bath starting pitcher Claire Foust hit a batter and walked two in the opening inning, and Celina took advantage. Karissa Frederick got a high-arching single to drop in left for an RBI. A Madelyn Sudhoff fielder's choice resulted in another run and Lucy Piper scored on a wild pitch to make it a 3-0 Bulldog lead.

Foust's RBI single in the second cut Celina's advantage to two, and the hit came after a walk to Shelby Marstellar and a double by Esther Bolon. The Wildcats had more runners in scoring position, but Frederick cut down a runner at home with a throw from the outfield. Sudhoff then forced an inning-ending groundout.

The Bulldogs had two outs in the second when Sarah Geisige and Madison Whitaker drew back-to-back walks. A one-run single down the right-field line by Taylor Turner padded Celina's cushion.

"She's been doing a really good job of tracking the ball," Tribolet said of Turner. "Her contact point is out in the front of the plate and she's just driving it out in front of the plate. She's on right now."

A double by Rachel Clark began Bath's third turn at the plate. Two defensive errors by Celina eventually allowed Clark to score. Foust later hit her second RBI single of the contest, but Sudhoff and the Bulldogs got out of a bases-loaded jam with a 4-3 lead.

Celina's scoring continued, too.

Frederick led off the home third with a single. Sudhoff bunted her to second. Paige Hart beat out an infield single, the throw to first missed the mark and Frederick scooted home.

The Wildcats had two outs on them in the fourth when they reeled off five hits in a row. Abbie Dackin knocked a double off the fence in left center. Ruby Bolon followed with an RBI double and Marstellar tied the score with a run-scoring single. Later, Foust hit her third RBI single to give Bath its first lead of the game.

But the game was tied a few minutes later.

Whitaker reached base safely and then Turner hit a double. A fielder's choice by Lucy Piper knotted the score at 6-piece.

Elena Oliver broke the tie in the sixth with a two-out RBI base hit, which scored Marstellar after she doubled.

Marstellar, Esther Bolon and Foust added three RBI singles in a row after a defensive miscommunication by Celina with two outs in the seventh.

Marstellar replaced Foust on the mound and held the Bulldogs to just one run over the final four innings.

Sudhoff was the losing pitcher for Celina. She lasted six innings and gave up 12 hits.

"I was a lot more pleased with our effort this game," Tribolet said. "We seemed to be a lot more focused, but we still had those meltdowns. But we didn't let those meltdowns turn into a big inning. That's what we've been battling. So I was very happy with our improvement in that area."

Esther Bolon and Foust each had four hits for Bath. Ruby Bolon added three hits.

Turner couldn't have been much better for Celina, finishing 3-for-3 with a walk and two doubles. On defense, the recently-graduated catcher threw out two runners attempting to steal.

"It's kind of bittersweet," Tribolet said. "I'm glad she's having this kind of close to her career, instead of having it finish with no games at all."

Frederick batted 2-for-4 for Celina, which is supposed to host Ada on Monday.

LINESCORE
Bath  012  301  3  -  10  16  1
Celina  311  100  0  -  6  6  3

WP - Marstellar

LP - Sudhoff

2B - B: E. Bolon, Clark, Dackin, R. Bolon, Marstellar. C: Turner (2).

Records: Bath 4-1, Celina 1-7.