Springfield Wins Both Of Its Games In The City League/NLL Showdown

BY ANDREW ROWER — MIRROR SPORTS
A big fifth inning allowed Springfield’s softball team to break a 1-1 tie with Central Catholic and cruise to a 4-1 victory over the Fighting Irish at Pacesetter Park on Saturday.
Sophomore leftfielder Jess Zappone and junior third baseman Lindsey Bandeen began the late push by reaching on a fielder’s choice and bloop single, respectively.
Sophomore designated player Krista Haley next plated Zappone with a solid single and Bandeen came home when the ball was misplayed in the outfield.
Haley later scored when senior first baseman Kaela Alexander reached base on Central’s second error of the inning.
The Fighting Irish managed one more base runner on the night when first baseman Emily Grau reached on a two-out error in the seventh, but she was immediately gunned down by Springfield senior catcher Meagan Price when she strayed too far from the bag.
The throw was just one of many outstanding defensive plays Price made on the afternoon.
Perhaps her biggest play came in the third inning, with Central already clinging to a 1-0 lead.
That’s when Alex Davis and Megan Zapotosky led off with a walk and single.
After Davis stole third to put runners on the corners, Springfield coach Rob Gwozdz opted for a pitching change.
Seemingly undaunted by the situation, Price instantly took some of the pressure off sophomore reliever Ashlyn Michalak by catching Davis off the bag at third base – a play rarely seen in high school softball.
“We talk all the time about her probably being the best defensive catcher in the state of Ohio,” said Springfield coach Rob Gwozdz. “I’ve always said that she saves me anywhere from a half-a-run to a run-and-a-half per game, which for us is huge.”
From there, Michalak struck out the inning’s remaining two batters to keep any real damage from being done.
The Blue Devils then rode this newfound momentum by tying the game in the bottom of the inning on four consecutive hits from senior second baseman Christine Zappone, Jess Zappone, Bandeen and Haley.
Central scored its first run in the top of the first inning, when shortstop Ashley Sujkowski drew a two-out walk before being pushed home by an Emily Sifuentes triple.
Michalak, who struck out the first five batters she faced, earned the win after throwing five scoreless innings of relief.
“We put Ashlyn in a tough situation and she came though,” Gwozdz said. “I don’t know what more you could ask out of her.”
Haley pitched the first two innings, allowing a run on three hits and two walks.
Offensively, Christine Zappone (run and a stolen base) and Bandeen (run) led Springfield with three hits apiece and Haley finished with two hits, a run and an RBI.
“That gave Haley 19 RBI on the season,” Gwozdz said. “What more can you ask out of a kid that hasn’t turned 16 yet? There’s no doubt she’s on pace to break the school’s RBI record.
“She’s a gamer. If I was going out to battle, she’s the one person I’d take with me to be on the front line. That’s the type of kid she is.”
Both Christine Zappone and Bandeen also showcased solid defense on the day.
Alyssa Denman took the unfortunate loss for the Fighting Irish after allowing two earned runs on 10 hits over her six-inning stretch. She struck out six Blue Devils batters.
Leah Matuszewski joined Sifuentes and Zapotosky while combining for Central’s only three hits on the day.
The win was the Blue Devils’ second of the day as they also defeated Notre Dame in the inaugural City League/NLL Showdown.
SHS 7, Notre Dame 2
Unlike the Central game, the Blue Devils jumped out to a quick lead in the game’s second inning, as Bandeen tripled and scored on a Jess Zappone suicide squeeze.
Two innings later, Springfield effectively put the contest all but out of reach with five more runs.
This time around, Haley drew a walk before quickly scoring on a Bandeen triple.
Another suicide squeeze by Jess Zappone next plated Bandeen and sophomore Fayth Atkins and Schroeder followed with singles.
With the bases now juiced, Christine Zappone made it a 6-0 game with a 3-run triple.
The Eagles came back to cut the lead back down to three runs in the fourth, but that’s as close as they got.
The Blue Devils, on the other hand, finished strong and added another run to their total in the sixth.
The insurance run came when Jess Zappone, Atkins and Schroeder loaded the bases, setting up a sacrifice fly by Christine Zappone – her fourth RBI of the contest.
“Christine is hitting the ball with a lot of confidence right now,” Gwozdz said. “She’s just tearing it up.”
Michalak pitched the entire seven innings for the Springfield win, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out an impressive 11 Notre Dame batters.
“Ashlyn did an awesome job,” Gwozdz said.
Bandeen, Jess Zappone and Schroeder all had multi-hit games for the Blue Devils.
“It’s just been a steady year for Lindsey from day one,” Gwozdz said.
In the end, the City League and NLL tied at 5-5. Springfield and Southview each went 2-0, Perrysburg split games at 1-1 and Anthony Wayne and Rossford finished at 0-2.
“It was a great event,” Gwozdz said. “There were huge crowds, great teams and great softball.
“It was a who’s who of what’s going on in Northwestern Ohio. Somebody here is going to be a district champ and make it to the regionals. We just wanted to go out and take care of business and show everybody out there that we can play this game, too. We were really happy with the outcome.”

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BG Stays Perfect In NLL With Win Over Springfield

BY ANDREW ROWER — MIRROR SPORTS
Springfield’s baseball team dropped its second one-run Northern Lakes League game of the week at Bowling Green last Monday.
The Bobcats kept their conference record perfect with a 3-2 win over the Blue Devils.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning, Bowling Green got a leadoff walk from rightfielder Anthony Lemle and a follow-up single from shortstop Joey Sickler.
A Blake Simon sacrifice bunt allowed the duo to move up to second and third bases before scoring on a Matt Vannett sacrifice fly and a Nick Welling single.
Three innings later, the Bobcats added an insurance run when leftfielder Andrew Beaverson singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Mike Gagen before eventually scoring on a pair of wild pitches.
Springfield managed to cut the BG lead back down to just one run in the seventh when junior rightfielder Tyler Grogg and classmate and shortstop Eric Page each reached base on two-out walks.
A single by senior catcher Garrett Rudolph followed and plated Grogg, but the speedy Page was held up at third base on an ensuing Bobcats error.
Though the play at the plate would have been a gamble for the Blue Devils coaching staff, they were surely left wondering what could have been when Springfield’s next batter struck out to end the game.
The game’s first run came in the second inning, when Blue Devils senior third baseman Eric Bohnsack led off with a double, bumped over to second on a Sean Nagy bunt single, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore designated hitter Brock Labelle and scored on a base hit from junior second baseman Tyler Rudolph.
Bowling Green starter Jaryd Motsinger earned the win after allowing just one run on five hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out four Springfield batters in the process.
D.J. Snyder notched the save after allowing two hits, two walks and a run over the final two innings.
The Bobcats (8-0, 3-0 in league play), who managed six hits and left nine runners on base on the night, were led by Sickler’s 2-for-3 performance that included a walk and a run.
Blue Devils senior starter T.J. Neuhaus was saddled with the loss after surrendering a pair of earned runs on six hits and five walks over 5-1/3 innings. He struck out four Bowling Green batters.
Garrett Rudolph led Springfield by recording two of its seven hits on the night. The Blue Devils stranded eight runners in the loss, which dropped them to 6-4 (1-2).

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