Portagers
drop series to Mason County Central
By DYLAN SAVELA
Manistee News Advocate Sports Writer
Published:
Friday, May 27, 2011
ONEKAMA — Emily Bergren threw one
of her most solid series of the season Thursday, but unfortunately
it was during a pitcher’s duel with Mason County Central’s Rusty
Slimmen.
Bergren allowed just one walk in two games, but Slimmen notched a
total of 16 strikeouts and threw a perfect opener as the Division 3
Spartans swept the series with a pair of shutout wins by scores of
4-0 and 10-0.
“Emily pitched really well today. And she’s been getting better and
better the last six, eight games,” said Onekama coach Phil
Sedelmaier, citing that despite the losses he was happy with how his
team played in its regular season finale. “I think our pitching is
coming on at the right time and defensively, we’re coming around
too.
“Everyone’s getting settled into their positions and it’s starting
to show,” he added. “Right now, I think we’re playing about as good
a ball as we’ve played all year, if not the best ball we've played
all year. "And that was our goal coming into today, and here on out:
just keep getting better. No matter what happens we're going to keep
playing, keep improving, and defensively I thought we took a huge
step today. They hit the ball hard, and we just made some good
plays.
|
In the opener, the Spartans scored
twice in the first inning and just plated a run apiece in the third and
the sixth. It proved to be plenty of offense for Slimmen who threw a
perfect six innings, tallying eight strikeouts.
“She pitched very well,” Sedelmaier said of the opposing hurler. “She
wasn’t overpowering, but she had great pitch location and just had us
off balance. We just couldn’t get on her.
“But even in that first game, all through the lineup, our girls put the
bat on the ball,” he said. “She’d just get us at the end. We’d battle
and battle and battle, and then she’d end up getting us on some great
locations.”
In the Portagers’ circle, Bergren allowed just five hits and zero walks
with a pair of strikeouts in the opener.
After its hitting drought in the opener, Onekama wasted little time
getting on base against Slimmen in game two.
“We got that no hitter out of the way right off the bat,” Sedelmaier
said of Bergren’s leadoff single to start the nightcap.
Nicole Slater, Carly Clark and Ashley DeRooy each had a hit in the
nightcap as well, but the Portagers couldn’t produce enough offense to
send runners home.
MCC scored three runs in the second, two in the third and five in the
fifth to capture a 10-run mercy win.
Bergren allowed 10 hits with just one walk and a strikeout in the
nightcap. |
