Softball Districts: Coldwater races to big lead, holds off Marshall to advance

MARSHALL, MI. - Tuesday night teams from across the state kicked off their march to postseason glory in the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) State Softball Tournament, and among those teams were the reigning Interstate 8 conference champions as the Coldwater Lady Cardinals kicked off the defense of their Division Two District title with a rematch versus conference rival Marshall in the first round of the Division Two District 45 tournament.

Coldwater raced out to a 10-0 lead and weathered a five run sixth inning from the Redhawks, eventually closing the door on the 10-5 victory.

The scoring started early for the Cardinals, and they used the long ball to find the scoreboard.

Rylee Rice opened up the offense for Coldwater with a one out single to right field, followed by a hard ground ball single up the middle from freshman Mya Porter, putting two on with one out. After a Mackenzie Scheid fielder’s choice moved both runners into scoring position it was senior Alexis Bills stepping to the plate.

Bills battled in a six pitch at-bat before taking a 2-2 pitch to deep left centerfield, blasting a no-doubt three run home run to open the scoring for the Cardinals, as the visitors suddenly led 3-0.

Coldwater added to their lead in the top of the third inning, an inning led off by a Mya Porter double to centerfield. One batter later it was Scheid reaching base via an error by the Marshall first baseman, with Porter scoring on the error, pushing the lead to 4-0. Scheid advanced to second base on a walk drawn by Brooklyn Kerry before scoring on a Maren DeBeau single to left field, extending the Cardinals lead to 5-0.

The Coldwater defense was on point early, playing lights out softball as the pitching of Scheid combined with some slick fielding all across the diamond kept Marshall off the base paths.

Meanwhile the Cardinals continued to add to their lead with another big inning in the top of the fifth. With two outs in the inning Coldwater added to their lead with a Karlie Knisely rocket shot to right field, allowing Danika Cox to score from second base, extending the lead to 6-0.

Two pitches later it was Rylee Rice with an RBI single to right field, allowing Morgan Dancer to score from second, pushing the Cardinal led to a robust 7-0 after four and a half innings.

Coldwater continued to add to their lead in the top of the sixth inning, an inning that kicked off with a hot shot off the bat of Mackenzie Scheid for a leadoff triple. Two pitches later it was Alexis Bill hitting an RBI single to centerfield, pushing the lead to 8-0.

Everything looked to be going right for Coldwater and the next at-bat showed just that, as Brooklyn Kerry stepped to the plate. Kerry hit a rope to centerfield, a shot misplayed by the Marshall centerfielder, allowing the ball to roll all the way to fence. Kerry coasted into third base for what appeared to be a stand up triple, allowing pinch runner Elli Anderson to score. The play was not over just yet however as the throw into third got past the Marshall third baseman, allowing Kerry to score on the play, extending the lead to 10-0.

Scheid took a seat after five full innings on the mound, giving way to freshman Mya Porter who took over on the bump. Scheid finished the game with five innings pitched while allowing two hits with four strikeouts.

Porter promptly set down the first batter via a flyout to left field, however that's when Marshall started to gain a little traction at the plate. The Marshall rally started with a hard shot to right field that took an interesting hop, getting past Danika Cox in right field, allowing the ball to roll all the way to the fence, quickly placing a Redhawk base runner at third. After a walk, the Redhawks finally got on the board with an RBI double from H. Burdette, closing the score to 10-1.

Marshall looked to play small ball, bunting the base runners over one base, leading to the second out of the inning. The Redhawks rallied with two down in the inning, scoring three runs on three consecutive at-bats, including two singles and one runner reaching via a fielding error, closing the score to 10-4.

That’s when Cardinal skipper Bill DeBeau went back to the bullpen, bringing in ace Alexis Bills to close things out. Marshall added one more run in the next-at as an error in left field allowing the Redhawks to plate their fifth run, closing to 10-5. Bills got the Cardinals out of the jam with a runner standing on third, striking out the next batter to end the inning.

Coldwater looked to add some insurance in the top of the seventh, moving a runner all the way to third base however the Cardinals could not bring her home, keeping the score at 10-5 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning.

Bills and the Cardinal defense buckled down, inducing an infield pop-up for the first out followed by strikeout by Bills for two. After Marshall got a base runner on thanks to a hard single, Bills struck out the final batter swinging, finding the final score of 10-5.

Scheid secured the win on the mound for Coldwater after her five-inning performance. Mya Porter came in to pitch two-thirds of an inning in relief, allowing three hits and five runs, none of which were earned, with one walk. Alexis Bills came in to finish the game out, throwing an inning and a third, allowing one hit with three strikeouts.

Alexis Bills led the Cardinal effort at the plate, finishing 2 for 5 with a single and a deep three run home run. Bills drove in four runs and scored one.

Mya Porter also had a big day at the plate, finishing 3 for 4 with two singles and a double with two runs scored.

Also adding to the Coldwater win was Karlie Knisely with a single and an RBI; Rylee Rice with two singles, a walk, an RBi and a run scored; Mackenzie Scheid with a triple, a walk and two runs scored; Brooklyn Kerry with a single and a triple with a walk, an RBI and a run scored; Danika Cox with a run scored; Maren DeBeau with a single, a walk and a run scored; Morgan Dancer with two walks and a run scored; and Elli Anderson with a run scored.

“I love to get out early and score that first run of the game,” said DeBeau. “That home run by Bills got us started and allowed the girls to play loose, which helped open things up offensively and we were able to put up 10 runs today.” Commenting on the notion that it is hard to beat a team three times in a season DeBeau replied with a smile, “That’s only in basketball, that’s not a softball rule. Marshall is a really good team and really made us work for it, but the girls really buckled down. I told them there in the sixth that a lot of times teams make a run, and with two outs as well, and it just seems nearly impossible to get that third out. I decided to go with our senior (Alexis) Bills to get us over the hump and secure the win.”

With the win Coldwater improves to 31-8 overall on the season and now advances on to the Division Two District 45 semifinal where they will face the Sturgis Lady Trojans. The two teams will play at Harper Creek High School on Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. The winner will move on to the district championship later that day to face the winner of the other semifinal which pits Three Rivers versus Harper Creek.

“Sturgis puts a lot of balls in play so we just have to go in and take care of business and get some good reps in so we can play for a championship,” said DeBeau. “Whoever we play in the finals we’ve seen so we know a little about what’s coming, we took two from Harper Creek and Three Rivers put up a few runs on us early in the season, so it’ll be a battle no matter who it is.”

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Softball Districts: Coldwater races to big lead, holds off Marshall to advance