Lady Warriors softball captures Tuscola Regional Championship crown
Tuscola’s softball used some timely hitting, aggressive base running and late inning heroics to defend their home turf against a good Argenta squad in the Tuscola Regional Championship. The Warriors earned their spot in the title tilt with a 14-0 run away victory over St Teresa in the semi-finals.
Senior Kerri Pierce was in the circle in both contests collecting both wins. The senior hurler scattered eight hits and a walk out over seven innings of work while striking out four in the championship win over the Lady Bombers.
Ava Boyer made a diving play at second to get the Warriors out of a jam in the top of the first and then scored the first run of the game in the bottom half. The freshman led off the game with a single, moved on a single by senior Taylor Musgrave and scored on a double by big sister Ella to make it 1-0 Warriors. Emily Czerwonka took on for the team to load the bases, setting the table for a three RBI triple by Isabelle Wilcox to right field, pushing the lead to 4-0 after one.
The Bombers fired back with a four-run frame of their own in the third on a two-RBI double and a two-run home run knotting it at four’s. Tuscola’s Zoey Thomason tripled and scored on a ground ball by Wilcox to break the tie in the bottom half.
Back came the visitors with a run in the fifth on a hit and two errors, sending it to the sixth tied at fives. Pierce set them down in order in the stanza and Ella Boyer and Emily Czerwonka broke up the deadlock. Boyer singled to center, stole second on the first pitch to Czerwonka, then third on fourth pitch and scored on the fifth an RBI ground ball putting the Warriors in front for good 6-5.
A leadoff double in the top of the seventh set up the late game heroics. Pierce induced a fly out to Thomason in left, struck out the next batter and then left it up to Wilcox and battery mate Makenna Fiscus. Wilcox came up firing on a two out single to center, sending a laser beam to Fiscus at home gunning down the tying run at the plate to end the game.
The Warriors pushed seven across in the first in the semi final 14-0 win over the Bulldogs and never looked back. They added five more in the third and two more in the fourth, ending the game early by the ten run rule. Wilcox tripled twice in the contest on a three for three night at the plate that included three RBI’s and a run scored. Ella Boyer and Musgrave each added a pair of hits to the season stat sheet and Addy Ring drove in a pair. Pierce gave up just two hits and a walk in the five inning shut out victory while fanning five.