GALION — The Lady Tigers battled hard, but one inning was their undoing again in a six-inning, 17-4 Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference loss to Pleasant.
The two teams met for the second time in three days, this time on Paul L. Klehm Field at the Heise Park complex on a cool, cloudy Wednesday afternoon.
“It seems we get an inning in every game that seems to get us. The girls play hard, and we hit the ball. We go in streaks that way,” Lady Tigers coach Doug Hunt said.
Pleasant picked up its second win of the season and took two in a row from Galion.
The visitors took a 6-0 lead after three frames thanks to some solid bat work by Markley Watters, Katie Jordan, and Gracelyn Staley, who banged out base hits.
Staley picked up the win in the circle, striking out five and not issuing a walk.
“We’ll take the win and it’s nice to see us come out and hit the ball and put some runs together,” Pleasant coach Jenni Gardner said.
“We’ve got some young kids and some things are finally starting to click together. We’re getting a little bit of confidence. That rolls into making some plays. We’ve only got three seniors (Watters, Madisyn Houseworth and Baylee Howard).”
Nine of those runs came in the sixth inning. Three straight walks were followed by Jordan’s single that drove in two runs. Watters then delivered a solid hit to drive in another pair.
A Galion fielding error led to another run before Faith Kowalczyk unloaded a three-run double that ballooned the lead to 16-4.
“We’re definitely struggling. The MOAC is a tough conference. We’ve had one non-conference game all year at Crestline,” Hunt said.
That level of competition will make his squad better, he said.
“We have four freshmen and we’re starting all of them. They’re doing a great job. It makes me hopeful absolutely. Our seniors are doing well for us. We don’t have very many sophomores or juniors,” he said.
The quartet of freshmen are Kortnie Ganshorn, Cameron Eckert, Sarah Peoples and Kaitlyn McKee. Eckert took the loss against Pleasant but has a promising future.
Emily McDonald had an inside-the-park home run in the third inning for Galion. Singles by Mady Tinch, C.C. Campbell and Teanna Greter led to another run.
Last season the Lady Tigers finished 0-23. Hunt sees improvement from that season and moving forward.
Galion opens Division II sectional tournament play at Vermillion at 5 p.m. on May 10.
“Their record is the same as ours, so who knows? If we can get through this year, our pitching will be stronger next year with an eighth grader coming and she’ll be able to help us.
“I’m not afraid to play a freshman. They usually come in and are hungry and want to do well.”
Tinch, a junior, has been limited to hitting duty only due to an injury.
“When she’s healthy she’ll be starting. She’s definitely key player for us,” Hunt said.
Gardner thinks the youthful Lady Spartans have also shown improvement.
“We’ve got two junior pitchers and neither of them really pitched a lot last year. So, they’ve had to step into that role,” she said.
“We have a lot of good players, and a lot are young players. Early in the year we didn’t have a lot of leadership, but we’re starting to finally get some people to step into those roles You add in some confidence, and we show up and play a whole game together and it becomes a lot more fun to play.”
This marks Gardner’s fifth year back at the Marion County school.
More than a year removed from COVID-19 restrictions, she sees a “renewed excitement for the game and an appreciation to be able to play.”
Box score
Pleasant 123 029 X 17 11 0
Galion 002 020 X 4 6 1
WP: Gracelyn Staley (5 SO, 0 W)
LP: Cameron Eckert (2 SO, 9 W)
HR: (G) Emily McDonald.
Triples: (G) Emily McDonald.
Doubles: (P) Gracelyn Staley, Markley Watters, Faith Kowalczyk; (G) Mady Tinch, C.C. Campbell.
Multiple hits: (P) Hannah Miller 3, Katie Jordan, Faith Kowalczyk; (G) C.C. Campbell, Mady Tinch, Emily McDonald.
Records: Pleasant 2-13, 2-7 MOAC; Galion 1-10, 1-8.
Next: Marion Harding at Pleasant, Friday; Galion at Fredericktown, Thursday.