Rudyard proves to be a good test for Rogers City

Rogers City, Mich. — The Rogers City Hurons baseball and softball teams hosted the Rudyard Bulldogs, and for softball this was an extra special test. In 2018 at the state quarterfinals, Rogers City defeated Rudyard 7-5 to advance to the state semifinals at Michigan State University. In comparison to last year’s squad the Hurons are missing three girls, but they put up a good fight with the Bulldogs.

“It felt pretty good because we have a very different team than last year,” said Hart. “We had a lot of spots to fill this year, and I think that a lot of people stepped up to really show them that we’re still in there.”

In game one, Rudyard came out victorious 6-4 in eight innings. Hurons’ junior Kyrsten Altman delivered ten strikeouts, but a three-run homer in the first inning and two-run dinger in the eighth proved to be the dagger. Rogers City wiped the slate and attacked in game two. Senior Catheryn Hart hit a home run early, but the Bulldogs answered in the fourth when Cierra Molina hit an RBI. In the bottom of the fifth senior Amanda Wirgau knocked the go-ahead RBI double, which was almost a homer. Then, Alissa Bowden hit a grounder through the second and third base gap to bring home the final run of the game, and the Hurons would win 3-1.

“I definitely saw coming back because that first game all of our heads were down. They all seemed very upset,” said Wirgau. “Second game we bounced back. I saw smiles, laughing, it was awesome.”

In baseball Rudyard came out on top 11-9 and 8-4.