Yellow Jackets Sports Weekly Recap (Mar. 6- Mar. 12)

By: Brandon Unverferth

Photography: Hanna Young

Softball: Mon. Mar. 6

3/6: Hope College 10 (2-2), Defiance 0 (0-5)

Final	1	2	3	4	5	Runs	Hits	Errors
Defiance	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Hope	1	3	0	6	X	10	10	1

The Defiance College softball team hosted the Hope Flying Dutchman on Monday evening at Defiance High School as a part of a non-conference doubleheader. In the bottom of the first inning, senior Cayley Ebeling singled up the middle for the Flying Dutchman, which allowed junior Emily Martin to score from third base (1-0). One inning later (bottom of the 2nd), Hope would add to their lead by scoring a trio of runs (4-0), as junior Emily Martin singled up the middle once again, which allowed junior Peyton Benjamin and senior Lexi Potapczak to score from third and second respectively. The very next batter, junior Grace Henry, singled up the middle, and this allowed junior Emily Martin to score to stretch the Flying Dutchman lead to four. At the bottom of the fourth inning, senior Haley Bennett doubled to right field, which cleared the entire infield, as junior Grace Henry scored from third base, junior Emily Martin scored from second base, and junior Peyton Benjamin scored from first base (7-0). A few batters later, senior Lexi Potapczak doubled down the left field line, which allowed sophomore Lexie DeHoop and senior Haley Bennett to score from second and third base (9-0). Following Potapczak’s double, she was able to reach home plate her own self, as freshman Kate DeMann hit a double to center field (10-0). Defiance would fail to score in the top of the fifth inning, which caused the game to end in a mercy rule (10-0). The one hit for the Yellow Jackets in this contest came from senior Marissa Roberts. Junior Savannah McCoy started the game as a pitcher, and she remained on the mound for the majority of the game, as she pitched 3.2 innings. McCoy threw 53 strikes on 80 pitches. Junior Riley Alcorn also saw action on the mound for Defiance as she threw 12 pitches, including six strikes.

3/6: Hope College 6 (3-2), Defiance 5 (0-6)

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs	Hits	Errors
Hope	0	1	2	2	1	0	0	6	5	1
Defiance	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	5	8	2

In the second game of the doubleheader at Defiance High School between the Yellow Jackets and the Flying Dutchman, Hope took home the victory 6-5. At the top of the second inning (with bases loaded), junior Peyton Benjamin was walked, which allowed senior Haley Bennett to score from third base (1-0). One inning later (top of the 3rd), senior Lexi Potapczak doubled to left center, and this allowed senior Haley Bennett and junior Grace Henry to score, which extended the Hope advantage to three (3-0). The Yellow Jackets would reach the scoreboard at the bottom of the third inning, as senior Marissa Roberts grounded out to the second base, which allowed freshman Ali Mowen to reach home plate (3-1). At the top of the fourth inning, however, the Flying Dutchman would stretch their lead back to three (4-1), as freshman Kate DeMann tripled to right field, which allowed junior Kyra Acker to score from first base. A few batters later, junior Peyton Benjamin would fly one out to right field for a sacrifice fly and this allowed freshman Kate DeMann to score (5-1). At the bottom of the inning (fourth), freshman Ali Mowen singled to left field and then advanced to second base on the throw, while freshman Savanah Bergman and senior Josilyn Guzman were able to score (5-3). A few batters later, Defiance was able to tie the game (5-5), as sophomore Anika Craft singled to center field and then advanced to second base on the throw. Off Craft’s double, both junior Laney Grimwood and freshman Ali Mowen were able to reach home plate. At the top of the fifth inning, Hope was able to score the game-winning run (6-5) as freshman Kate DeMann was walked, which allowed senior Haley Bennett to score from third. In the 8 hits for the Yellow Jackets, both junior Brooke Silcox and sophomore Anika Craft each recorded two hits, while senior Josilyn Guzman, junior Laney Grimwood, freshman Anna Emswiler, and freshman Ali Mowen each had one. Sophomore pitcher Anika Craft pitched all seven innings in this contest, as she threw 63 strikes on 131 pitches.

When junior Laney Grimwood was asked by The Defender about her thoughts following the doubleheader against Hope, she expressed, “They were tough games. Hope was a really good hitting team and it took too long for us to wake up our bats. There was definitely improvement from game one to game two and we’re going to keep that rolling into next week as we head down to Florida for some games. We appreciate everyone coming out and sitting in that nasty weather, we felt the love! Now we have to get back in the gym and work harder to prepare for the games ahead.”

Women’s Golf: Fri. Mar. 10 and Sat. Mar. 11 (The Woods Invite)

The Defiance College women’s golf team traveled to Terre Haute, Indiana, Friday morning for the two-day Woods Invite at Idle Creek Golf Course. Six schools competed in The Woods Invite, including St. Mary of the Woods College, Hanover College, Oakland City University, Danville Area Community College, and Indiana University Kokomo. The Yellow Jackets shot 741 in their second tournament of the spring campaign to finish in 5th place overall as a team. The 741 team score is the fourth-lowest in program history and the fourth sub-750 tournament between the fall and spring seasons. Freshman Cassady Van Dyke was the lowest Defiance finisher with a 9th-place effort, as she finished with a combined score of 175. Van Dyke’s top-10 finish was built by rounds of 88 and 87 on the weekend, as she matched her personal best 36-hole score. Cassady’s 175 is also tied for the eighth-lowest 36-hole score in program history. The only Defiance golfer to top Van Dyke on any nine-hole section was sophomore Isabelle Vance with a 45 during Saturday’s back-nine. Vance shot 182 for the tournament on 18-hole scores of 95 and 87, which tied Van Dyke for the lowest score for the Yellow Jackets on the weekend. Vance nearly shot a sub-40 on the front nine of Saturday’s run, but a triple-bogey on the fourth hole spoiled her chances at a par-birdie-par rally just before taking the turn to the tenth. Vance’s score of 87 on Saturday set a new personal best. Sophomore Winter Boroff also found success in the front nine, as she recorded 43s on both days. Winter birdied the par-5 fourth hole on Friday and beat par again on Saturday on the sixth. Boroff’s 91 and 94 scorecards added up to 185 for the weekend, good for a 17th-place finish. The fourth and final golfer to participate for Defiance was senior Mari Najar. Najar recorded a total score of 199, which was good for a 24th-place finish.

*****No Yellow Jackets Sports Weekly Recap Next Week!*****

Away

Monday, Mar. 13

Baseball vs St. Elizabeth University (Fort Myers, Florida)

(9:00 am)

Softball vs Wisconsin Stout University (The Spring Games at Auburndale, Florida)

(11:30 am)

Baseball vs St. Elizabeth University (Fort Myers, Florida)

(12:00 pm)

Softball vs Lakeland University (The Spring Games at Auburndale, Florida)

(2:00 pm)

Tuesday, Mar. 14

Baseball vs Wisconsin Stout University (Fort Myers, Florida)

(9:00 am)

Baseball vs Wisconsin Stout University (Fort Myers, Florida)

(12:00 pm)

Thursday, Mar. 16

Baseball vs Skidmore College (Fort Myers, Florida)

(9:00 am)

Softball vs Chicago University (The Spring Games at Auburndale, Florida)

(9:00 am)

Softball vs Wooster College (The Spring Games at Auburndale, Florida)

(11:30 am)

Baseball vs Wisconsin Lutheran College (Fort Myers, Florida)

(12:00 pm)

Friday, Mar. 17

Baseball vs West Connecticut State University (Fort Myers, Florida)

(9:00 am)

Baseball vs St. Elizabeth University (Fort Myers, Florida)

(12:00 pm)

Saturday, Mar. 18

Men’s Golf at Country Club of Terre Haute (Great Lakes Intercollegiate)

(TBD)

Softball vs George Fox University (Pioneer Classic at Elizabethtown, Kentucky)

(10:00 am)

Softball vs DePauw University (Pioneer Classic at Elizabethtown, Kentucky)

(12:30 pm)

Sunday, Mar. 19

Men’s Golf at Country Club of Terre Haute (Great Lakes Intercollegiate)

(TBD)

Softball vs Asbury University (Pioneer Classic at Elizabethtown, Kentucky)

(10:00 am)

Softball vs Wittenberg University (Pioneer Classic at Elizabethtown, Kentucky)

(12:30 pm)

Home

Saturday, Mar. 25

Baseball vs Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Location: Craig A. Rutter Field

(12:00 pm)

Softball vs Albion College

Location: Sal Hench Field

(1:00 pm)

Baseball vs Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Location: Craig A. Rutter Field

(3:00 pm)

Softball vs Albion College

Location: Sal Hench Field

(3:00 pm)

Away

Tuesday, Mar. 21

Softball at Heidelberg University

(3:30 pm)

Baseball at Heidelberg University

(4:00 pm)

Softball at Heidelberg University

(5:30 pm)

Saturday, Mar. 25

Women’s Track & Field at Cedarville University (Yellow Jacket Collegiate Open)

(10:00 am)

Men’s Track & Field at Cedarville University (Yellow Jacket Collegiate Open)

(10:00 am)