Marion knocks Minster out of title contention

MARIA STEIN - Sophomore Haley Everman spun a three-hit shutout and added a solo home run to lift Marion Local to a 5-0 win over Minster Friday evening at the Airport.

Everman's gem marked the first time Minster had been shutout all season; ended a 10-game winning streak; and knocked the Wildcats out of first place in the Midwest Athletic Conference.

"She mixed speeds really well all night and hit her spots. That was the difference in the game tonight," Marion Local coach McLean Correll said. "She just kept them off balance all night long.

"She's pitched really well against a lot of really good teams all year long, and she's a very young pitcher so for her to come out and execute all night long was something to see," the Flyer coach added.

Minster fell to 21-3 overall and finished its MAC season at 5-2. Parkway (5-1) has a chance to claim the outright title with a win today at St. Henry.

"We hit the ball really hard right at people pretty frequently, and we were chasing some stuff because the strike zone was all over the place," Minster coach Kenleigh Ludlow said. "When we're doing that, we're kind of out of our shoes a little bit, and we saw the result of that."

Minster senior Brooklyn Osterloh also had a strong start on the mound for the Wildcats, retiring 10 of the first 11 hitters she faced.

With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Everman would get all the runs the Flyers would need when she launched a pitch over the left field fence for a 1-0 lead.

The Flyers (10-9 and 4-3) took out some insurance in the fifth, collecting four of their seven hits in the frame. Emerson Bruns led off with a double. Molly Bruns followed with a single, and Emerson scored when Gina Bruns singled down the third base line.

After a sacrifice bunt and a strikeout, Mya Bruggeman hit a three-run shot over the left field fence to make it a 5-0 game.

"That was a big hit by Mya Bruggeman," Correll said. "She's been flirting with the warning track all year long and finally drove one over in a big spot that put a gap in between them and us that helped us win that game."

Marion made the most of its offensive opportunities, stranding just one base runner in six at-bats.

"The whole year that's been our bugaboo," Correll said. "We leave runners on base, and I told the girls, 'know the situation, put balls in play and force them to play defense.'"

Minster had just four base runners in the game, one of which was called out for leaving the base early on a steal attempt.

The Wildcats will get one more regular season tune-up, hosting Mohawk today before facing Coldwater at home Tuesday in the Division VI sectional lid-lifter.

"Tomorrow's going to be a good day to bounce back from this, to really light a fire and see what the girls do with this situation," said Ludlow, who seemed anxious to get Friday behind her. "We're going to focus on Tuesday from there and we're going to be ready to go. It's going to be a completely different team the next time anyone sees us."

Marion Local travels to Parkway Tuesday for its post-season opener where the winner will face the winner of the Minster-Coldwater game.

"I don't think we can go into the tournament any more confident than we are right now," Correll said. "They (Minster) are in our bracket and there's a chance we may play them again, and hopefully we made a statement tonight."