By Marc Tobias
mtobias@dailystandard.com COLDWATER — Despite it being their first game of the season, the Lady Dogs looked razor sharp in a 16-0 win over Coldwater in Friday night softball action.
Celina came scorching out of the box as its first five batters of the game all scored.
Julia Siefring led off with a walk and Jamie Siefker laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her into scoring position, but Siefker also reached base on a Cavaliers throwing error.
Shay Adams then drove in Siefring on a fielders choice and she along with Siefker scored on a Kelli Williams double to left field.
Megan Harner then drove in Williams and Harner later scored on a Kinsey Schumann sacrifice bunt.
Allison Hoying drove in the sixth run of the inning with a singe to left that plated Jenna Schleucher who had reached on a walk.
“I’m pleased, our girls have been real anxious to play and I think that showed in the first inning,” said Celina coach John Hendricks. “They were upset last night when they couldn’t play, we’ve just had bad weather all week. You never really want to start the season with Coldwater because its such a solid program, but I’m happy, we played well all the way around. We hit the ball, had good defense and it was a super way to start the season.”
Celina carried that 6-0 lead into the fourth inning when it tacked on six more runs on five hits.
Adams had an RBI single in the fourth while Katie Kramer drove in a pair with a double.
Siefker, Adams and Harner all had hits that drove in runs in a four run fifth inning.
“Celina came out aggressive at the plate and hit some shots and got up early,” said Coldwater assistant coach Jeff Kerr. “In softball its tough to come back when your down, but our girls I thought played well the rest of the game and held them to a few more runs but it just didn’t work out.”
Celina finished by having six players combine for 10 hits while benefiting from four Coldwater errors.
“We haven’t had a chance to really get on the field, and one thing about the bad weather is its had us inside so much all we can really do is hit,” Hendricks said. “So I think the girls realized its paying off, it gets a little monotonous and they get bored every now and then but I think tonight they understand why we do those things.”
Melanie Heyne shined on the mound for the Bulldogs, as she went four no-hit innings allowing just two walks while striking out six.
“She has a lot of ability, we’re blessed with two really good sophomore pitchers and she’s been throwing the ball really well this spring so she got the nod tonight, and she really pitched well,” Hendricks said.
“She’s the best we’ve seen so far, its early in the year but there should be more pitchers like her and we just weren’t aggressive enough at the plate,” Kerr said.
KC Nuding finished off the game for the ÔDogs by working a scoreless fifth inning.
Leah Wenning had the lone hit for the ÔCavs, a single in the fifth inning.
Celina moves to 1-0 on the year and is home in double-header action today against Greenville while Coldwater falls to 2-1 and also returns to action today with a double header at St. Marys. |
