Onekama’s Sedelmaier homers in 3rd
straight series
By DYLAN SAVELA
Manistee News Advocate Sports Writer
Published: Friday, May 21, 2010
ONEKAMA — With one swing of the bat,
Onekama’s Brooke Sedelmaier broke the tie and tied the series.
A simple swing — a fitting difference maker in Thursday’s virtually
even West Michigan D League doubleheader between the Portagers and
Brethren.
The home run ball sailed a ways before landing on a familiar spot of
grass behind the left field fence — the same beckoning area
Sedelmaier obliged during the team’s previous doubleheader, and the
one before that.
“I’ve just learned to be patient,” Sedelmaier said of her recent hot
streak. And patience was needed in both games, as each were decided
in the late innings.
With her third homer in as many series,
Sedelmaier put the Portagers up 7-6 in the bottom of the fifth which
turned into an 8-6 nightcap victory. But the win was only in
response to an 11-10 opener that ended in favor of the Bobcats who
jumped ahead in a huge nine-run third.
“I thought we played excellent ball, heads-up ball. And Onekama did
the same,” said Brethren assistant coach Eric Smith after the split.
“We were basically looking for each others’ flaws and exploiting
them.
“Are we happy with a split? Absolutely.”
In the opener, Onekama (8-14, 7-5 WMD) jumped out in front, taking a
6-1 lead by the top of three, but then the Bobcats took the plate.
Brethren plated nine runs before the Portagers were able to get out
of the inning.
“That first game, our errors just killed us,” Onekama coach Phil
Sedelmaier said. “The last four doubleheaders that we’ve split,
we’ve lost the first game because of errors and then have learned
from it.
“We settle down, and the second game, we play better and we win,” he
added. “I don’t know the reason for the pattern there, but that’s
why tonight we tried being the away team the first game and home in
the second. It didn’t seem to matter.”
Brooke Sedelmaier threw the first pair of innings for the Portagers
before being bothered by a sore elbow. Emily Bergren was quickly
brought on the mound in the third, before Sedelmaier returned to
finish innings four and five.
Sedelmaier had five strikeouts and Bergren one. But it was the 10
walks and seven errors in the opener that hurt the Portagers.
Brethren (10-17, 7-5 WMD) was led at the plate by Lexi Lakso and
Annie MacNeil who each had two hits. Elana Hickok and Sarah Colbrook
had a double apiece.
On the mound for the Bobcats, Lakso gave up 10 hits with one
strikeout on an injured pitching hand.
Bergren led the Portagers, batting 3-for-4 with three runs and two
RBIs while Ashley Schultz went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, Kaylan Fitch
went 2-for-3, Elizabeth Bergren had a double and an RBI, Katie
Prielipp had a hit and an RBI and Jennica Mathieu had a hit.
The Portagers rallied, plating four in the sixth inning, but fell
one run short in their comeback hopes.
“I was happy to see those four runs in the sixth, because we came
out and didn’t give up,” Sedelmaier said.
Onekama showed resilience yet again in the nightcap.
|
Onekama outfielder Ashley
DeRooy makes a leaping catch during the second game of a
doubleheader against Brethren on Thursday. (Dylan Savela/News
Advocate)
Down 3-2 after two, the Portagers scored
steadily with two runs in each of the final three chances at the plate.
Sedelmaier led the way, batting 3-for-3 with three RBIs, including what
proved to be the game-winning home run.
“After the first game tonight, I talked to
her, because she seemed a little too anxious trying to swing hard,” Phil
Sedelmaier said. “The second game, she settled in and focused better.
She’s spent a ton of time this off season and it’s starting to show
now.”
Also for Onekama, Emily Bergren and Diamond Kimpel each went 2-for-3,
Prielipp went 1-for-2 with a double, while Schultz and Ashley DeRooy
each had RBIs. Everyone in the Portagers’ lineup picked up a hit in the
series.
On the mound, Emily Bergren pitched six innings, allowing five hits,
five walks and striking out three batters.
Opposite Bergren, Brethren’s Alyssa Waldo pitched five innings with one
strikeout.
At the plate, Tiffany Capps had a hit and two RBIs for the Bobcats while
Danny Brenner had a double and Carissa Humphreys, Sarah Colbrook and
Waldo each had hits.
“We’d like to win both, but we’re happy to win one,” said Brethren coach
Phil Sedlar. “Onekama played a good game that second game. We played
good too though. We just couldn’t get our hits to drop. They were
catching all of ours.”
As for the Portagers, Phil Sedelmaier joked about the trend of dropping
openers and winning nightcaps.
“We’ve come to the conclusion that it’s either one of two things,” he
said. “It was either we hit better as an away team, or the hot dogs
between the games were the difference. So, we may have to feed them
before the next game. We’ll see. But really, I think one of our biggest weaknesses is that we’re just
young ... every game has been a learning experience and it’s simple
things. They’re doing a good job.” |
