Defiance Softball Rally’s in Second Game to Split in Opener

DEFIANCE, Ohio – After a rough finish that led to a 5-3 loss in the first game of a doubleheader against the Hanover College Panthers, the Yellow Jacket softball team responded with a 9-4 victory in the second tilt to break even on Saturday, March 30. DC stays at .500 with an 8-8 (2-2 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference) mark, while Hanover goes to 6-10 (1-1 HCAC).

The Purple and Gold got on the board first in game one of the doubleheader. With two outs in the bottom of the third, junior Macy Ferrall (St. Marys, OH / Memorial) worked a walk and was followed up by a single from senior Katie Miller (Archbold, OH / HS). Then with one solid swing, freshman Makayla McAvoy (Mt. Gilead, OH / HS) lined a two-run single to right center that scored the pair and put DC up 2-0.

In the top of the fifth, the visiting Panthers evened the score out. Hanover strung together four-straight singles off of freshman pitcher Alli Rowland (Westerville, OH / Westerville North) that tied the tilt at two.

Both teams went scoreless in the sixth, but then in the top of the seventh, errors in the field plagued Defiance once again this seasonSophomore Lauren Dicke came in for relief in the top of the seventh and surrendered three runs (one earned) on four hits. Two errors in the field and a balk really stung the Jackets in the inning.

The home team tried to rally with a run in the bottom of the seventh off of a Miller RBI double, but Hanover's starting pitcher Leah Kemmerer closed the door on the home team to earn the 5-3 complete-game victory.

Rowland achieved a solid start by working six frames of two run ball with three strikeouts. Dicke took the tough loss in the game. She finished with one inning pitched, surrendering four hits and three runs.

At the plate, junior Kaliea Holbrook (Defiance, OH / HS) led DC in game one with a perfect 3-for-3 mark. Miller also fared well in the game by going 2-for-4 with one score and an RBI.

For the second matchup between the HCAC foes, DC's offense used six Hanover fielding miscues to its advantage and recorded runs in each of the first five innings.

After the Panthers had grabbed the early lead with a run in the top of the first, the Purple and Gold used a Miller RBI single mixed in with an error on the centerfielder to knot the score up at one.

For the next four innings straight, Defiance took the lead and expanded it to 9-3 with a pair of runs in each frame. Chipping in on the scoring were Ferrall with a two-run knock, freshman Tori Plummer (Perrysburg, OH / HS) and Holbrook with an RBI-single each and McAvoy with a big double that scored a pair and really put the game away for DC.

Hanover notched a desperation run in the top of the seventh, but Dicke contained the Panthers and went the distance to earn her first victory of the season. The sophomore's racked up seven innings pitched, allowing ten hits, four runs (two earned), while striking out three. Dicke's record now moves to 1-2 for the year.

Ferrall paced the Yellow Jacket bats with three hits, two runs batted in and a pair of scores in the contest. Four others came through with strong efforts at the dish, as Miller, McAvoy, Dicke and Plummer all added a pair of base knocks.

The Purple and Gold softball team will return to the field on Tuesday, April 2, when it travels down to Bluffton for a conference doubleheader against the arch rival Beavers. Start time of the contest is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.