Posted by Dylan Savela, Manistee News Advocate
ONEKAMA — Down 6-0 after two innings can be a daunting deficit to overcome, so Manistee Catholic Central just wanted to buckle down defensively and chip away during Monday’s nightcap with Onekama.
Trailing 6-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, MCC’s Haley Doyle knocked a three-run, one-out triple.
That’s a big chip.
“Once we finally got a couple base runners on, that kind of broke the ice,” Sabers coach Dave Lijewski said. “The momentum kind of swung after that.”
Doyle soon scored from third in the inning to bring a 6-6 game into the sixth, and her team plated the walk-off run on a wild pitch in the bottom half to complete the West Michigan D League sweep of the Portagers.
The Sabers won 5-0 in the opener before squeaking out the 7-6 victory in Game 2. “We didn’t give up,” Lijewski said. “In league play like this — and Onekama’s a tough, well-coached team — to come back really shows our girls’ heart.”
In the opener, the Sabers were paced by a solid shutout performance in the circle by senior Mimi Modjeski, who allowed just two hits with 11 strikeouts. “Mimi pitched an outstanding game, and had a no-hitter going through four,” said Lijewski. “She had a heck of a game and we were able to score a few runs behind her to give her more confidence as she went.”
The Sabers scored a run in the first inning, had a three-run third and plated one more in the fifth. Hannah Janicki knocked a double with an RBI in the contest to lead the Sabers while teammate Jordan Barnett also had a hit and an RBI.
Onekama’s Emily Bergren allowed just four hits in the circle in the opener while throwing three strikeouts
“We talked about getting our bats going on the first go-around,” Portagers coach Rob Johnson said of adjusting in the nightcap. “We wanted to get people timed up earlier in the game rather than waiting until the third or fourth inning.”
