Johannesburg-Lewiston Falls in State Semi-Final
EAST LANSING, MI- Some loses are easier to get over than others. For the Johannesburg-Lewiston Softball team, this one is going to take while. Up 1-0 in the 5th inning with Jayden Marlatt looking unhittable in the circle, the Cardinals saw the state championship game.
It was a big crowd at Secchia Stadium on the campus of Michigan State University. Cardinal red filled one side while Mendon Hornet Green filled the other. It was the folks in red who were on their feel first. In the bottom of the first Catcher Reagan Sides doubled down the third base line scoring Marlatt. The star junior took it from there as the Cardinal ace struck out 8 over the first four innings.
The game changed in the 5th, after a Marlatt strikeout the junior hit a batter. The next batter Abby Butler put a bunt down, right back to Marlatt. A play that she has made probably a hundred times in her high school career, but her throw was wide of first baseman Shyla Rahm and rolled all the way down the right field line. By the time the ball was back in the infield both runs had scored and Mendon had a 2-1 lead.
The lead grew to 4-1 in the 6th as a wild pitch brought in one run and a hit by pitch brought in a second. The way Mendon starter Lauren Schabes was throwing it looked like game over for the Cardinals. Sides got the 6th started by lining one over the left field fence to trim the deficit to two. After singles by Jocelyn Tobias and Brittany Fox the Cardinals had the tying run on. Cassie Tallman put a bunt down, the ideal sacrifice that advanced the runners. Mendon tried to throw behind Tobias at third, the wild throw came inches from rolling out of play which would have scored two runs. Instead the ball stayed in play and the Hornets escaped trouble.
The Cardinals had one last rally in the 7th. With two outs and trailing by two Marlatt smoked a double. Sides would walk and suddenly with runners on second and third they were a hit away from tying it. Tobias put a good swing on a fastball but got underneath it. The flyout to center ended the Cardinals season.
The disappointment was visible after the game. The Cardinals left the field with the feeling they lost a game they should have won. When you give up one hit, a hit that was a bunt single you usually win. Mendon did not hit the ball out of the infield. Mendon manufactured runs with patience at the plate and took advantage of JoBurg mistakes. When your ace strikes out 15 and gives up one hit, you win 95 times out of 100.
With only two seniors graduating the Cardinals will be favored to return to East Lansing. ” I think we will be right back here next year.” said coach Kim Marlatt. ” They experience of playing on the college field will be a huge help for next year.”
Kim and Ryan Marlatt are in the middle of building a powerhouse program. After their first semi-final appearance in 42 years and the nucleus of the roster returning and plenty of underclassmen waiting in the wings. The Cardinals could become an East Lansing regular awfully fast.
