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St. Henry's Rya Buschur (2) slides home as New Bremen catcher Halle Kuenning goes up for the ball during Thursday's MAC softball game at the Wally Post Athletic Complex.
ST. HENRY - Facing an 11-4 deficit after three innings, St. Henry rallied for a 16-14 victory over New Bremen in the Midwest Athletic Conference softball opener Thursday at the Wally Post Athletic Complex.
The Redskins (3-4, 1-0) scored six runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings and then got 2 ⅔ innings of one-hit relief pitching from Leah Lefeld to nail down the win.
"We really dug ourselves out of a hole," said first-year St. Henry coach Alexis Ontrop. "I'm super proud of how they found a way. Usually we get in a slump and can't get out of it. But they found a way tonight and stayed positive all the way through it."
In six innings the Redskins collected 18 hits, and of 41 batters that came to the plate no one struck out.
New Bremen (2-2, 0-1) collected 13 hits in the game and jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to a two-run homer over the center field fence by starting pitcher Lydia Bushman.
New Bremen's Madison Thornton (11) catches the ball to get the out on St. Henry's Breonna McCoy.
The Redskins tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on a RBI double by Kennedy Wendel and a throwing error by the Cardinals that plated two runs.
New Bremen exploded for eight runs in the third. The big hits in the inning included a two-run single by Madison Thornton, a three-run homer off the scoreboard by Olivia Thornton and a run scoring single by Bushman.
After scoring a single run in the second, St. Henry tacked on six runs on the fourth to pull to within one, 11-10.
Lauren Thieman drove in the first run of the frame with a double. After two runs scored on an error, Kennedy Wendel knocked in two more runs with her second double of the night. Olivia Gast rounded out the scoring with an RBI single.
The Cardinals padded their lead to 13-10 in the fifth when Bushman crushed a no-doubter over the fence in center field for her second two-run homer of the night.
Bushman's blast ended the night for St. Henry starter Renee Wendel. Lefeld came on in relief to strike out two of the next three batters to get out of the inning without any further damage.
The Redskins went back to work in the bottom of the fifth. Natalie Schwieterman's triple to right field scored a run. Rya Buschur scored on an errant throw, and St. Henry took a 14-13 lead on a two-run double by Brianna McCoy. Lefeld added two insurance runs with an opposite field home run over the fence in right.
Things got interesting in the New Bremen sixth. Madison Thornton led off with a single, then after the next two batters were retired, Lefeld hit back-to-back Cardinals to load the bases for Bushman.
Ontrop made the gutsy decision to intentionally walk the New Bremen slugger, forcing in a run, and putting the tying runs in scoring position.
"It was just 'don't let her beat us here,' " Ontrop said. We had a three-run lead, so what's a run? It was a hard decision, but I think it was needed."
The strategy proved to pay off as Lefeld got the next hitter to fly out to center, and then retired the side in order in the seventh.
St. Henry's Samantha Miller prepares to catch the ball.
Bushman suffered the loss on the mound for the Cardinals, but she had a big night in the box with three hits and six RBI. Madison Thornton also had a three-hit night for New Bremen.
Lefeld picked up the win in relief. She combined with Wendel to strikeout nine and walk four. Thieman, Schwieterman and Kennedy Wendel all had three hits apiece for the 'Skins.
"Super happy about the MAC win and looking forward to the rest of the season," Ontrop said. "The way we played tonight, I think we can be unstoppable if we just put it all together."
St. Henry is scheduled for a double-header Saturday at Eaton. The Cardinals will be back in action Monday at Ansonia and hosts Versailles in a MAC game Tuesday.
