By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
East Lansing, Mich.---Lesley Ducat (Evergreen/Lyons, Ohio) twirled five solid innings and her offense aided her with 12 runs as the Owens Community College softball team cruised past Sinclair Community College 12-1 in today's Region XII District I winner's bracket final.
With the win, Owens advances to tomorrow's championship against Sinclair at 10 a.m. Owens would just need to win one game, while Sinclair would have to win two. The winner will advance to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Tournament in Clinton, Miss. next week.
Ducat didn't allow an earned run for the second straight game in the tournament. The sophomore went all five innings and allowed just five hits and two walks while striking out three.
Sinclair's Alex Hendrix, who had two of her team's five hits, opened the game with a double to left center off Ducat. However, despite a one out walk, Sinclair stranded runners on the corners to end the inning.
In the home half, the Owens offense exploded for eight runs. After Makayla Burtscher (Bedford/Temperance, Mich.) walked and Brittany George (Elmwood/Wayne, Ohio) doubled to open the inning, Jacey Gray (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) singled in the game's first run on a hit to center.
A short time later, Paige Younker's (Wilmington/Port William, Ohio) fielder's choice grounder scored another run to put Owens up 2-0. In the next AB, Josie Hall's (New London/New London, Ohio) two-run double made it 4-0.
Two batters later, Emily Young (Maumee/Maumee, Ohio) blooped a two-run single to right. Before the inning was over, Burtscher added an RBI triple to right center and George added an RBI single through the left side.
When the dust settled, Owens sent 13 batters to the plate in the eight run first. They produced seven hits and had 10 runners reach base. George and Gray each went 2-for-2 in the inning.
After Ducat allowed just a two-out walk in the top of the second, Owens scored two more in the second on a throwing error from Sinclair's third baseman, Brianna Bush.
In the third, Hendrix singled and stole second to lead off the inning for Sinclair, but she was stranded when Ducat induced a 6-3 groundout to end the inning.
Following that, Gray executed a suicide squeeze bunt to score Burtscher in the third. Tori Weidinger (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) followed with an RBI groundout to make it 12-0 through three.
Neither team scored in the fourth, although Breanna Buck (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) reached on a fielder's choice and stole second and third before getting stranded to end the inning.
Sinclair produced its only run of the game in the fifth on an RBI single from Madison Monnin. The run was unearned, however.
Aside from Ducat's gem in the circle, Owens had four players get two hits apiece including Burtscher (2-for-3, 3 R, RBI, BB, SB), George (2-for-2, R, RBI, BB), Gray (2-for-2, R, 2 RBI, SB) and Young (2-for-3, R, 2 RBI). Lyndi Winzeler (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) and Katelyn Jensen (Genoa/Genoa, Ohio) each added one stolen base, and Buck had two stolen bases.
As a team, Owens finished 11-for-22 from the plate with 10 RBI, four walks, two doubles, a triple and four left on base. They have 23 hits in the two tournament games so far.
Sinclair's starter Kaila Sturgell took the loss. She allowed three hits, five runs (four earned) and four walks through two innings. Chloe Yates allowed eight hits, seven runs (three earned) and zero walks over two innings. Sturgell started and finished the game, with Yates working the middle.
Notes
With the win today, Owens improves to 30-16 overall. They clinched the program's eighth 30 plus win season and advanced to the championship series of the Region XII District I tournament for the first time since the spring of 2013.
With a win tomorrow, Owens would clinch its first Region XII tournament championship since the spring of 2011 when the team finished as the national runner-up.
Sinclair defeated Kalamazoo Valley 9-1 in six innings in the loser's bracket finals to earn a rematch against Owens.
Owens stole seven more bases in today's game, and they now have 161 this year. That ties the 2011-12 team for most in a single season. Gray leads the team with 48, while Burtscher has 39. The team is 161-for-185 this year.
Gray is now 5-for-5 with five runs, two RBI, a walk and a stolen base in the tournament. Ducat hasn't allowed an earned run in 11 innings of work.