Archbold’s Macey Rupp catches a fly ball in the outfield Friday against Tinora. However, the Blue Streaks were defeated by the Rams by a final of 8-2.
Max Householder | Fulton County Expositor
Alyssa Ziegler gets ready to pitch during Friday’s game. Ziegler took the loss for Archbold, allowing eight runs on 12 hits while striking out eight.
Max Householder | Fulton County Expositor
Andi Peterson rounds first base and heads for second with a double to lead off the bottom of the seventh.
Max Householder | Fulton County Expositor
Archbold softball knotted the game at one with a run in the bottom of the third inning, but that was as close as they got before falling at home to Tinora on Friday, 8-2.
A one-out walk to Tinora’s Alexis Metz got the Rams going right away in the top of the first. She then stole second, and was brought home by a double from Kaitlyn Pscodna to make it 1-0.
Then, in the home half of the third, Macey Rupp led off with a double to left center field. A ground out moved Rupp to second, and on a liner from Alyssa Ziegler, Rupp scored when a throw to third was airmailed by Tinora.
On a play in which Cassi Wyse reached on a fielding error by the Rams, Ziegler was thrown out while trying to get to third. A ground out ended the inning with minimal damage done.
Archbold was back up to bat in the fourth after a quick inning from the Rams. Shelby Cline led off for the Blue Streaks and hammered a double to the wall.
However, the inning then belonged to Tinora pitcher Ashton Helmke who finished with nine strikeouts in the game. Three of them came in the fourth, as Cline was left stranded at second and the score remained 1-1.
But that would soon change as the Rams added four runs in their half of the fifth.
Stephanie Brown got things started with a single. Two batters later, Quinn Slattman’s single and an error in the Blue Streak outfield scored Brown to push the Ram advantage to 2-1.
A sacrifice bunt by Metz pushed Slattman to third, then a walk to Pscodna put runners on first and third with two outs. Alison Zipfel singled to score Slattman, followed by Helmke’s double, which plated a pair of runs to make it a 5-1 margin.
Archbold stranded a leadoff infield single from Rupp in the bottom of the fifth as the next three hitters went down in order.
The Rams later added three runs on four hits in the away half of the seventh to increase their lead to 8-1. Pscodna, Jenna Seither and Brown all had RBIs in the inning.
The Streaks responded with a run in their half.
Andi Peterson’s double to left-center, a double from Peyton Dickman, and Rupp’s walk loaded the bases with nobody out. After a strikeout, Ziegler grounded out but in the process was able to score Peterson to pull them closer at 8-2.
However, the next Blue Streak batter popped out and the game was over.
Helmke tossed a gem for the Rams, allowing just two runs on seven hits, striking out nine and walking just two. She was also 2 for 4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs.
Ziegler took the loss in the circle, allowing eight runs on 12 hits while striking out eight. Rupp had a pair of hits that included a double.
Archbold hosts Evergreen today, Edgerton tomorrow and Wauseon on Thursday, then travels to Convoy Crestview for a quad on Saturday.
Max Householder can be reached at 419-335-2010
