Tuesday, April 20th, 2021

Gem Dandy

New Bremen wins defensive battle over St. Marys

By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard

New Bremen's Allison Hays allowed St. Marys just two hits on Monday.

ST. MARYS - For five innings, New Bremen and St. Marys engaged in a good old-fashioned pitchers' duel.
In the sixth, the Cardinals struck first and then limited the Roughriders' counter over the final two innings to pick up a 3-1 softball victory in an Auglaize County showdown at K.C. Geiger Park.
New Bremen's Allison Hays and St. Marys' Karsyn McGlothen came up with stellar performances, but the Cardinals were able to get timely plays to push across their runs.
"Just a matter of patience. That's what we've been telling the girls," said Cardinals coach Gary Moeder. "Keep plugging away and (good things) will happen. Hopefully we can continue this."
McGlothen, who pitched no-hitters in each of her last two starts and pitched no-hit relief on Saturday in a win over Ottoville, had her pitches on point from the get-go. The junior pitched 1-2-3 innings in the first and second before giving up a bloop single to Alayna Ross in the third. McGlothen then retired the next nine batters in order with 10 strikeouts through five.
"It was a battle at times," said St. Marys coach Kendra Solomon. "Bremen made some nice plays, timely plays that they pulled off."
Hays was equal to the task, retiring the first 11 batters she faced before giving up a double to Renee Sweigart in the fourth, but got out of the threat unscathed, then went 1-2-3 in the fifth to keep it scoreless.
"Allison hit locations well tonight," Moeder of Hays, who struck out eight with just one walk. "Real proud of her,"
The Cardinals (9-8) finally were able to break the deadlock in the sixth. Emma Keller drew a walk to start the inning and then stole second. After McGlothen got Ella Pape to fly out, Alayna Thieman singled to bring Keller home for the first run of the game. Emma Krieg followed with a fly to left that was misplayed, sending Thieman home from second for the second run of the inning, and Madi Lozier made it 3-0 with a single to right to bring home Krieg. McGlothen managed to get out of further trouble, but the damage was done.
Hays got the first out of the bottom of the sixth, but an error put Kiley Tennant at first and another error moved her to second. After a stolen base. Emma Birt's grounder back to the circle brought home the run, but Hays got Sweigart to ground out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, McGlothen singled and was replaced by courtesy runner Krysten Fowler. Hays got Zoe Lininger to ground to first to move Fowler to second. Morgan Hirschfeld followed with a short fly over shortstop, but Ross made a great over-the-shoulder catch to get the second out.
Lily Steinberg then was hit by a pitch to put the tying run at first for Kelsey Poppe. Poppe took a 1-2 offering for a low pop to short, where Ross scooped up the ball before it hit the ground and ended the game.
"That's something we've been telling them all year - that they're capable of doing this," said Moeder. "Glad to see it's coming out."
"A lot of other teams and circumstances, those would have been hits," Solomon said of the defensive gems. "We left players on base during the game and weren't quite executing."
Both teams, weather permitting, are in conference play tonight at their respective home fields. New Bremen hosts Coldwater in Midwest Athletic Conference play with St. Marys (8-5) hosting Van Wert in a Western Buckeye League game.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard

New Bremen's Emma Keller (6) hangs on to the ball for the out as St. Marys' Kelsey Poppe (16) approaches the bag during Monday's softball game at K.C. Geiger Park.

Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard

St. Marys' Emma Birt (4) and Makenzie Henning (15) close in to grab a ball in the field at K.C. Geiger Park in a game against New Bremen on Monday.

Additional online story on this date
ST. MARYS - Downtown St. Marys could have a designated outdoor refreshment area in time for Memorial Day weekend if city council members take emergency action. [More]
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CELINA - State Rep. Susan Manchester, R-Waynesfield, while recognizing the school district for a state award at Monday night's board meeting, also applauded school officials for having in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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FORT RECOVERY - Fort Recovery Elementary School will likely receive grant funding for community engagement and literacy within the school.
School officials did not yet have a funding amount.
Mercer County Sheriff's deputies arrested a Celina sex offender Tuesday morning on Main Street in Celina, according to a news release from Sheriff Jeff Grey.
CELINA - After the Celina baseball team scored four unanswered to cut the deficit to two, Coldwater was just focused on stringing together enough outs to secure the win.
Area Roundup
Compiled By Tom Haines
and Gary R. Rasberry
Celina earned its first tennis match victory of the season in shutting out Piqua 5-0 on Monday at the Booster Club Tennis Complex at the high school.