Addi Babcock's defensive gem helps John Glenn softball fend off Meadowbrook
NEW CONCORD — John Glenn celebrated Senior Night on Thursday, as the Muskies welcomed neighboring Meadowbrook High for a battle of 15-win Muskingum Valley League squads.
The Muskies recognized a trio of talented four-year lettermen, Sydney Marshall, Alivia Boothe and Sarah Wayne, for their contributions to the softball program.
But, with the game on the line, it was Muskie sophomore Addi Babcock who came up with the play of the game to hold off the Colts' furious seventh-inning rally in John Glenn's 5-4 victory.
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In the top of the seventh, with John Glenn clinging to the one-run lead, the Colts had the tying run at third base and potential go-ahead run at second with two outs.
Meadowbrook sophomore Jordyn Vargeson was at the plate, looking to tie the game off Marshall, who had gone the distance in the circle for the Muskies.
Vargeson connected with a hard hit ball to third, which was fielded cleanly, but the throw was low and in the dirt. Babcock hung in, made a terrific play to scoop the errant throw and secured the Senior Night win for John Glenn.
"They made it interesting there in the seventh, but we held our composure and made a great play to close it out," John Glenn coach Steve Cowgill said. "It wasn't a pretty throw, but Adi just made a great play and dug it out to close out the game.
"Meadowbrook is a good ball club. They have a lot of talent and are a scrappy team, and I fully expect to see them make another deep tournament run this year. They have some talented players and play the game the right way."
Marshall picked up the win, allowing eight hits, four runs in a seven-inning outing. Marshall finished with eight strikeouts and didn't issue a walk.
Babcock came up big at the plate as well for John Glenn, with a 2-for-3 effort with a pair of singles with two RBIs. Marshall and sophomore Ava Miller each collected a pair of base hits for the Muskies. Sophomore Kinley Porter chipped in with an RBI base hit for the winners.
Colts seventh inning rally comes up just short
John Glenn seemingly was in control through six innings of play on Thursday, holding a 5-0 lead with Marshall in full control allowing only three hits with the shutout.
Meadowbrook showed some grit and continued to battle and finally broke through against Marshall in the top of the seventh inning to make things interesting.
Colts senior Taylor Sichinia led off the frame with a single, followed by a base hit from sophomore Mckendell Boyer to put a pair of base runners on board. Marshall regrouped to retire back-to-back hitters and seemed poised to end the rally and close out the victory.
But Meadowbrook was not ready to throw in the towel, with junior Alexx Combs and freshman Natalee Norman hitting back-to-back RBI singles to pull within 5-2.
Sophomore Addy Randles then really made things interesting with a sharp double into left field to plate both Combs and Norman to make the margin 5-4. Sophomore Sommer Ginn then reached on an John Glenn error to put a pair of Meadowbrook base runners on.
That set up the play of the night by Babcock, whose standout defensive play sealed the hard fought 5-4 victory.
"You put on four runs in an inning against John Glenn, the No. 2 seed in Division II, and we all know how strong a pitcher Sydney Marshall is," Meadowbrook coach Sean Frizzell said. "And that's doing something impressive. We had some mistakes early that hurt us, but the girls hung in there and kept fighting.
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"We finally got a couple hits off her in the seventh and made a good run at them. But this was a good game against a quality team leading up to the tournament. And we are playing some good ball, and we have our sights on making another postseason run back to the regionals."
Sophomore Addy Sichina took the loss in the circle for Meadowbrook (15-9), allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits with no strikeouts and three walks.
Boyer finished with a pair of singles to lead the eight hit Meadowbrook offense, with Norman adding an RBI base hit and Randles ripping her clutch seventh inning two run double.
Muskies in position to claim outright MVL title
John Glenn improves to 16-6 overall, and a sparkling 14-1 in MVL play on the year. The Muskies can now claim the outright MVL Big School championship with wins in their final two league matchups with Morgan and Tri-Valley to close out the regular season..
"If we win tomorrow night against Morgan, we have no worse than a tie for the Big School division title," Cowgill said. "And if we take care of Tri-Valley on Monday we win it outright. So we have set ourselves up with a great opportunity, now just need to take care of business on the field."
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This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: John Glenn softball leans on defense to fend off Meadowbrook
