SHELBY - On the biggest stages, Seneca East's Rachel Bauman pitched one of the finest games of her career. But despite her performance, a veteran Crestline team found a way to get the job done. Despite only getting one hit, the Bulldogs clawed out two unearned runs to defeat Seneca East 2-1 in a Division IV district final Friday at Shelby.
"Rachel had a great game," Seneca East coach Jerry Hassinger said. "She's pitched well all year, but tonight, no one really hit her hard. The one double was the only hit they had. ... She really played hard. She pitched well. I don't know how she could pitch any better than she did. She had control of the batters."
Crestline took the lead with a run in the third off a pair of Tiger errors. Seneca East rallied to tie the game in fifth. Lauren Sprenger got a base hit, stole second and moved to third on a passed ball. Samantha Walker hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Sprenger and tie the game.
Crestline though came back in the sixth. A double, a fielder's choice and an error plated what turned out to be the winning run.
"The kids played great," Hassinger said. "I'm happy with them. It's a tough loss to swallow. They had a great year and did much better than we thought at the start of the year with their youthfulness.
"I told them after the game, 'we probably weren't supposed to be here, but you showed you deserved to be here with the way you played.' I'm just so proud of them."
Fact Box
at Shelby
Crestline 2, Seneca East 1
Crestline: Matthews 4-0-0-0; Makeever 4-1-0-0; Henderson 3-0-0-0; Garberich 2-0-0-0; K. Ronk 3-1-1-0; Meyers 3-0-0-0; M. Ronk 3-0-0-0; Hensky 3-0-0-0; Huber 3-0-0-0. Totals: 27-2-1-0.
Seneca East (16-11): Lauren Springer 4-1-2-0; Holly Bordner 4-2-0-0; Sammantha Walker 2-0-0-1; Ranee Snavely 3-0-0-0; Rachel Baumann 3-1-0-0; Kristen Bowerman 3-0-0-0; Marissa Twigg 2-0-0-0; Katelyn Saurs 1-0-0-0; Jess Enders 2-0-0-0; Cameille Ruffing 3-1-0-0. Totals: 27-6-1-1.
Crestline0010010 - 2
Seneca East0000100 - 1
WP - Sayre (CL). LP - Rachel Bauman (14-9).
3B - K. Ronk (CL).
2B - Cameille Ruffing (SE).
Seneca East (16-11) loses just two seniors off the team in Walker and Renee Snavely. Hassinger says that he feels good about the team's future.
"The team has a lot to look forward to," he said.
