Friday, April 15th, 2022
Coming through in the clutch
Hoskins' heroics help Minster hold off Parkway late
By Tom Haines
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Parkway's Paige Stephenson comes into home on a groundout by Abbi Taylor as Minster catcher Savanah Bergman prepares to apply the tag in the fifth inning in Rockford on Thursday. Stephenson was out at the plate, but Parkway went on to score three runs in the inning.
ROCKFORD - In the top of the fifth inning, Minster had just broken through for a 5-0 lead and Parkway had yet to put a runner on base. But the Wildcats quickly found themselves in a dogfight.
Parkway put up three runs in the fifth, got the tying runner to third in the sixth and loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh before Mikaela Hoskins came in for the final out of a 7-4 win in a Midwest Athletic Conference softball game in Rockford on Thursday.
"We needed a game like this," Minster coach Robb Hemmelgarn said. "We've started the year playing a lot of five-inning games, and we needed to be tested. I knew Parkway was going to test us. We were really looking forward to this game tonight."
Minster (7-1, 2-0 MAC) led 1-0 heading into the top of the fifth before a one-out error sparked a rally. Lyndi Hemmelgarn hit a shot down the left field line for an RBI double, Savanah Bergman doubled to right-center to bring home Hemmelgarn, and Addi Inskeep drilled a homer over the fence in left-center to make it 5-0.
Panthers pitcher Madison Louth walked Wildcats pitcher Mikaela Hoskins before bearing down for the final two outs.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Minster's Mikaela Hoskins delivers to the plate against Parkway in Rockford on Thursday.
"I think Maddie pitched a whale of a game," Parkway coach Trey Stover said. "I wouldn't say she fell apart, I just think she missed a couple spots. But she did a really good job."
Hoskins had retired the first 12 batters in a row, but Paige Stephenson hit a high fly to the right-center gap that fell for a double to break up the perfect game. After a wild pitch moved Stephenson to third, Hoskins got Abbi Taylor to hit a slow grounder to third. Stephenson took off with the throw to first, but Minster first baseman Hannah Oldiges fired the ball back to the plate in time to cut down the run.
But Oldiges dropped a long throw from Hemmelgarn with two outs, putting Avery White on first, and the Panthers kept coming. Dani Huff hit a slow grounder up the middle for a single and Adria Miller hit a sinking line drive that bounced under the glove of Inskeep in right field, allowing White and Huff to score as Miller went all the way to third.
"I just told them to be aggressive, and if they're throwing first-pitch strikes, just to swing," Stover said. "Early on, we just were taking some swings or weren't putting the barrel on the ball. Just kind of came together and challenged them there."
Maddie Jacobs hit a line drive to right-center to score Miller and Louth moved her to second with a bloop into shallow center, but Hoskins got Gracyn Temple to ground out to second to end the inning.
"I think she wore down a little bit," coach Hemmelgarn said. "She's barely gone more than five innings all season. We hit that fifth inning, and I think she was missing her spots a little bit, she'd already been through their order two or three times already. They were seeing it and they took advantage of her mistakes, and they're a great hitting team."
After the Wildcats went down in order against Huff in the sixth, Parkway brought the heat again. Meg Henkle led off with a single and Stephenson doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs, and after a groundout to third held them there, reliever Kaycie Albers threw a pitch in the dirt and Henkle beat the tag at the plate to cut the lead to one.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Parkway shortstop Paige Stephenson fires to first as third baseman Meg Henkle ducks out of the way against Minster on Thursday.
Stephenson moved to third on the wild pitch, but Albers got White to ground out to third before Huff hit a foul popup that tailed toward the third-base dugout, where Hoskins made a sliding catch to end the inning and preserve the 5-4 lead.
"Kind of a slow start hitting, didn't start hitting the ball until the fourth or fifth inning," Stover said. "But I'm proud of the way we battled."
Huff gave up two long flyouts in the seventh before Inskeep hit a tough ground ball to short and reached as the throw pulled Temple off the bag. Hoskins stepped up and sent the first pitch she saw flying over the fence for a two-run homer.
Now trailing by three, the Panthers got a leadoff single before Hemmelgarn and Oldiges turned a double play. Louth kept the game going with a ground ball single through the right side, and Albers walked Temple and Henkle, and her day was done as Hoskins returned to the circle.
"Mikaela was just coming off the home run the last inning, we knew she was high, she was pumped up," coach Hemmelgarn said. "Kaycie did what we asked her to do - Kaycie's usually our one-inning pitcher, she's 1 2/3 into it, and Kaycie's not a pitcher for us, she's a third baseman who pitches. So that was a lot, and Mikaela's Mikaela."
Stephenson was the next one up, who swung at the first pitch and sent it sailing lazily into right field, where Inskeep made the catch to seal the victory.
"I knew if we needed that last out, hopefully she could shut it down for us," coach Hemmelgarn said. "Didn't want to do it with the bases loaded and one of their best hitters up, but I'm glad it turned out the way it did."
Inskeep went 3-for-3 with two RBI and scored two runs. Hemmelgarn and Stephenson each went 2-for-4.
Parkway gets right back on the diamond when it hosts Adams Central today, while Minster travels to Van Buren.
