By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
East Lansing, Mich.---The Owens Community College softball team knocked off Kalamazoo Valley Community College 10-2 in six innings today in the Region XII District I winner's bracket semifinal matchup.
Owens used the pitching of Lesley Ducat (Evergreen/Lyons, Ohio), the speed and slapping ability of Jacey Gray (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) and the power of Tori Weidinger (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) and Josie Hall (New London/New London, Ohio) to secure the win.
In the first inning, Owens produced four straight hits to take a 2-0 lead. The barrage of hits was capped by Paige Younker's (Wilmington/Port William, Ohio) two-run single.
In the second inning, Kalamazoo Valley put runners on second and third with two outs. Anna Sponseller then hit a fly ball to left that popped out of Breanna Buck's (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) glove, allowing both runners to scamper home and tie the game.
In the home half, Weidinger picked Buck up with a two-out grand slam to right field that gave Owens a four-run cushion. Emily Young (Maumee/Maumee, Ohio) walked to start the rally. Makayla Burtscher (Bedford/Temperance, Mich.) then singled before Gray loaded the bases with a bunt single.
After Owens stranded two in scoring position to end the third, Gray gave them an insurance run in the fourth. She led off the inning with an infield single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a groundout before scoring on another wild pitch to put Owens up 7-2.
The key offensive opportunity for KVCC came in the sixth when they loaded the bases with two outs against Ducat. However, Natalie Roe popped out to short left field to end the inning.
With the added momentum of that key out, Owens got back to back walks to open the sixth from Brittany George (Elmwood/Wayne, Ohio) and Gray, who were sacrificed to second and third. Following a non run scoring groundout, Hall ended the game with a three-run home run to left field.
Gray finished 3-for-3 with four runs and a walk, while Weidinger finished 2-for-3 with a grand slam. Younker went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Hall was 1-for-4 with her three-run home run.
As a team, Owens produced 12 hits. Ducat, meanwhile, was holding KVCC's offense to five total hits. The sophomore righty also walked four, but only gave up two runs (zero earned) over six innings to improve her record to 16-5 this year.
Bailey Clements (15-5) took the loss for KVCC. She allowed eight hits, six runs and one walk. Sophie Miller allowed four hits, four runs and three walks in relief. Kyla Nickrent led the KVCC offense with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate.
Wrap Up
With the win, Owens (29-16 overall) advances to tomorrow's 2 p.m. winner's bracket final against Sinclair Community College. It will be the first appearance in the winner's bracket final for Owens since the 2010-11 season, and it is the tournament's first ever winner's bracket final between two teams from Ohio. Additionally, with today's win, Owens knocked off the two-time defending tournament champion.
Notes
In the team's spring trip to Florida this season, Owens was knocked off 15-3 and 9-0 by Kalamazoo Valley. So, today was a measure of revenge.
Owens is 3-1 against Sinclair this year as the two teams are both members of the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC). Owens won a pair of 8-6 games at Sinclair on April 17 before splitting a home doubleheader on April 24.
With a win tomorrow, Owens would secure its eighth 30 plus win season in program history.