NORTH ROBINSON — The Bucyrus Lady Redmen started the week in first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference. But they faced a grueling five days to be able to stay there.
The Redmen were scheduled to face two of their closest pursuers — Mohawk and Colonel Crawford — twice each in the week. They needed to win at least three of the four to maintain the top spot.
Game 3 of the gauntlet was at Colonel Crawford. So far, so good.
Bucyrus banged out seven hits and got 14 strikeouts from pitcher Caleigh Rister to defeat the Eagles, 6-3, at Chuck Huggins Field. While the rematch looms on Friday, the Redmen are back in first place.
“I wanted to tell you that I planned this, but I didn’t,” Bucyrus coach Jerry Hargis joked. “It’s one of those things that, we knew with four ball games in five days — I thought we could lose one and do the whole thing. We’ve already lost that one (to Mohawk on Tuesday). We have to come back, beat them at our place and they’re not going to roll over. They’re a lot like us.”
The pitching for both teams was a big factor. Rister struck out 14 Eagles and the defense supported her. Colonel Crawford (16-3, 11-2) pitcher Lauren Frietchen had control problems, walking 10 batters.
“We each had seven hits, so the strikeouts were key,” Colonel Crawford coach Sarah Fraser said. “(Caleigh) had 14 strikeouts, we had 10 walks. That’s a little lopsided and that’s why the score was the way it is.
“(Lauren) struggled a little bit today,” Fraser continued. “Before the game, she was in it, she was ready to roll. She got in there and got down a little bit and she had to battle.”
Indeed, Bucyrus (13-2, 10-1) had at least one baserunner in every inning and left nine runners while scoring six runs, despite three Eagles’ double plays.
“What I liked about it is we controlled things and we didn’t have all the stupid mistakes that we’ve made in the past,” Hargis said. “Now, we may come back Friday and get ugly, but we’re pretty good. All the kids played well. Everybody was in the ball game — a great high school game for both teams.”
The Redmen jumped on Frietchen in the first inning. After the first two batters were retired, Addy Rister walked and Jade Torres singled. Ashley Davis then ripped a double to the fence down the left field line driving in both runners for a 2-0 lead.
Alivia Studer led off the bottom of the second with a towering home run to left-center field — her 13th of the year — to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Eagles eventually loaded the bases on three Bucyrus errors but Rister pitched out of the jam.
Studer also doubled and scored later supplying most of the Colonel Crawford offense.
“Studer keeps us in a lot of games,” Fraser said. “It’s Liv, it’s Liv. Base hits, home runs, she can bunt, she can run them out. She’s our constant in the lineup.”
The Redmen scored two in the fifth on no hits. Three walks, a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt got the runs home. Two more scored in the sixth on two hits, two walks and an error. Sierra Frost drove in one with a single and Natalie Hankins had the other RBI on a ground ball.
Rister made it stand up despite pitching in her third game of the week.
“That’s two full games and three innings (Tuesday night),” Hargis said. “Speaking of (Tuesday) night (Mohawk) had six unearned runs and we lost. For (Caleigh) to bounce back like this says a lot for the kid and a lot for her ability.”
“Caleigh, she’s honestly the best pitcher we’ve seen,” Fraser said. “She’s great. She got us to chase high early and that kind of messed with our minds a little bit. We just need to do a better job of putting the ball in play, protecting the plate, and putting it in play.”
Hargis took a calculated risk in shuffling his defense. He moved Torres from shortstop to third, moved Addy Rister from right field to shortstop and inserted Natalie Hankins into right field.
“It was a little nerve racking because the throw is a lot different. That’s one of my insecurities of the game,” Torres said. “But I think I handled it pretty well. It was very important because there were a lot of bunts and a lot of hard hits down the third base line.”
It wasn’t exactly foreign territory for Torres, who played third base her freshman and sophomore years.
“I played it my last tow years. It’s my home,” Torres said. “That was really a big game for the whole team. It really pulled us through.”
The Eagles got a run in the bottom of the seventh. Allison Weithman was hit by a pitch, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Kaylyn Risner. But it was not enough.
Caleigh Rister walked no one to go with her 14 Ks for the Redmen. She also had two singles. Davis had a double and a single. Frost, Addy Rister and Torres had singles and Torres scored three times.
Frietchen had three strikeouts with 10 walks for the Eagles. Studer had the home run and double to lead the offense. Madison Cobb, Weithman, Harley Thomas, Risner and Jostyn Gallant had singles.
“We didn’t finish well,” Fraser said. “We had some errors when we should have made the plays at the very end. But during the game, our defense did exactly what we needed to do to win a ball game. We just didn’t get it done.”
“That’s not a bad team and they’ll give us all you want, any time. (Sarah) does a good job out here and the kids play hard.
“The people who are not here and catching this type of ball, they’re missing something, because this is great entertainment,” Hargis added. “It’s great socializing, especially with what’s going on.”
The rematch is set for Friday at Jack Hewitt Field at Bucyrus High School and will go a long way to determining the N10 title.
Box score
Bucyrus 200 020 2 6 7 4
Colonel Crawford 010 001 1 3 7 2
WP: Caleigh Rister (14 SO, 0 W)
LP: Lauren Frietchen (3 SO, 10 W)
HR: (CC) Alivia Studer (solo second inning).
Triples: None.
Doubles: (B) Ashley Davis; (CC) Alivia Studer.
Multiple hits: (B) Caleigh Rister, Ashley Davis; (CC) Alivia Studer.
Records: Bucyrus 13-2, 10-1 N10; Colonel Crawford 16-3, 11-2.
Next: Colonel Crawford at Bucyrus, Friday.