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Celina's Colbie Kinney (4) trots home after hitting a home run during Tuesday's game with Minster at Four Seasons Park.
MINSTER - The wind was blowing out at Four Seasons Park in Minster Tuesday, and Celina capitalized with three home runs which proved to be just enough to hold off the Wildcats, 6-5 in softball action.
The Bulldogs took a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth, when the Wildcats used a little long ball magic of their own to make things interesting.
Caroline Knapke reached on a one-out error for Minster. Following a fly out to right, Celina starter Colbie Kinney gave up her fifth walk of the game as Ansley Wolf fought off several two-strike pitches to coax the free pass.
Whitney Trego then launched a two-out, two-strike pitch over the wall in left center to pull the Cats to within a single run, 6-5.
Minster's Whitney Trego connects on a home run during Tuesday's game with Celina.
Celina coach Renee Williams then went to her bullpen. Lilly Gonzalez came on in relief and got Minster lead-off hitter Reece Albers to fly out to left to end the inning. Gonzalez then retired the side in order in the seventh to collect the save.
"I thought Colby did a great job in the beginning of shutting them down and then we had to work through some adversity," Williams said. "Lilly came on in a tough situation and had to get some outs, so great job on her part."
After suffering an 18-0 loss at Lincolnview on Monday, Minster coach Kenleigh Ludlow was pleased to see her team compete against a Celina squad that improved to 4-0.
"We preached to the girls that we wanted to see them fight back after yesterday's game," Ludlow said. "So to see them come back and compete was definitely a step in the right direction."
Minster (2-4) got on the scoreboard first with an unearned run in the bottom of the first. Albers opened the inning with a double. One out later she attempted to steal third. The throw from Celina's catcher went into left field and the Cats led 1-0.
The Bulldogs answered in the second. Paiton Rhodes led off with a single, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single off the bat of Hayley Germann.
Kinney helped her own cause in the third. Maddie Allen led off with a single. Kinney then clubbed a pitch up into the jet stream that caught the stiff wind and sailed over the left field fence for a 3-1 lead.
Celina's Maddie Allen stretches to make a catch.
Minster got one of the runs back in the bottom of the third. Trego and Albers reached on walks followed by a couple rumbles of thunder, which would delay the game for 30 minutes.
When play resumed, Alaina Bergman reached on a fielder's choice with Albers being cut down at second. Trego then scored on a single by Lucy Schmiesing. Brianna Osterloh followed with a single, but Bergman was thrown out at the plate on a great throw from Olivia Sutter in left field.
Celina pushed its lead to 6-2 with three two-out runs in the fourth. Campbelle Gass and Allen went back-to-back with solo home runs to center. Kinney singled and scored on a double by Gonzalez.
"We pride ourselves in offense," said Williams, who saw her team collect 13 hits in the game. "We do a great job with seeing the ball and hitting a lot of line drives."
Osterloh started in the circle for Minster and went the distance. She struck out six, and did not allow a walk.
"I thought Brianna pitched really well after a rough start," Ludlow said. "Yeah, she gave up a couple home runs, but she responded and the defense played well behind her throughout the rest of the game. I think that built up her confidence as the game went along."
For Celina, it was the first win over Minster since 2016, and Williams was happy with how her team gritted out the victory.
"Minster's a great team. They're gonna do a lot of great things this year. They put the ball in play. They're pretty solid defensively," she said. "So I'm super proud of our kids for taking this one pitch at a time and following through and finishing the game."
Celina is back in action Thursday at home against Parkway. Minster travels to St. Marys for a doubleheader on Saturday.
