Warrior softball: Ninth inning nightmare
Eric Clark
Sports Editor
Few things have changed in the game of softball over the past decade.
If you can't hit and get on base, it's difficult, if not impossible, to score. And that's exactly the predicament that the Marion Warriors endured in their season-ending loss to Osage City Wednesday at the Class 3A regional softball tournament held in Osage City.
In a game that was knotted at zeros until the top of the sixth inning, the Marion Warriors appeared to be poised for a run at the state tournament after a narrowly escaping their second-round game against Alma-Wabaunsee.
But a gritty Osage City team had other ideas for the No. 1 seeded Marion Warriors.
The game started as most have throughout the Warrior season, Seniors Megan Moore on the mound and Krista Zogelman behind the plate.
Osage City's Dani Carson led off the first inning with a single after Moore rack up a 1-and-2 count on the freshman.
After foul-tipping her third bunt attempt, Stephanie Bond took a seat in the Indians' dugout as Moore recorded her first of 19 strikeouts on the evening.
As Ali Buenger took a strike on the outside corner, Zogelman gunned down Carson, who was attempting to steal second, for the second out of the first inning.
Moore finished off Buenger at the plate to end the inning.
Caitlyn O'Dell led off the Warriors first at-bat with a walk.
With a runner on first, Sarah Williams hit grounded to the second-baseman as the Indians turned the double play for outs one and two.
In Moore's first at-bat, the senior blooped a grounder to the shortstop and was thrown out at first base to close out the first inning of play.
Moore capped off three of the next four Indian batters she faced to retire the top of the second inning.
After Emmy Bowers struck out in her first at-bat, Zogelman singled between first and second for only the second hit of the game for the Warriors.
Heidi Zogelman's sacrifice hit to first base yielded the second out of the second inning, but moved her cousin Krista to second base.
Leann Thomas walked in her first appearance at the plate, putting runners on first and second as Nikki Moody approached the plate.
But the anticipation became mute, as Moody grounded to third base for the throw out at first, leaving two runners on base to close the bottom of the second.
In the top of third, Moore sat down the next three batters in order to fend off the Indian offensive attack.
Amber Richmond flied to right field for the Warriors in the bottom of the third inning for the first out. In her second at-bat, O'Dell grounded to the pitcher for out number two.
Batting second in the Warrior line-up, Williams connected on a pitch facing a full count and sent a shot sailing into short center field for a single.
But Moore foul-tipped her first pitch back and Chelsa Morris snared the hit for the final out of the third inning.
The Warriors retired the next three batters in the fourth, and Moore picked up two additional strikeouts in the process.
In the bottom of the fourth, Bowers' high fly ball in center field played havoc with the Indian outfielders, who juggled the ball and eventually dropped it to put the junior shortstop on first base with no outs.
Krista Zogelman grounded to second for the first out of the game, but more importantly moving Bowers to second base.
Heidi Zogelman grounded to first base in her second at-bat for out number two and moved Bowers to third.
With the potential game-winning runner on third base, Thomas grounded out to end the inning.
Moore struck out Erin Donigan to begin the fifth inning. Angie Giesy's blooper to Thomas yielded the second out of the inning after the sophomore first baseman stepped on the bag.
The Indians rallied back as Laura Loschke and Ashley Brown reached base after two consecutive hits facing 0-and-2 in their respective counts. But with runners on first and second, Moore fired three strikes past Mallory Keefe to squelch the Indian run and end the inning.
Moody led off the bottom of the fifth inning with an in-field single after third baseman Bond and short stop Carson nearly collided and inevitably dropped the high fly ball. Richmond struck out on her next at bat, but Moody stole second in the process.
O'Dell flied out on her appearance at the plate for the second out of the inning, while Williams ended the inning after a grounder to first base, for out number three.
After retiring the first two batters on pop-up fly balls, and needing one out to close out the sixth inning, the Indian offensive attack woke up.
Buenger's grounder down the first-base line yielded her first appearance running the bags. With a 2-and-2 count, Moore's next pitch went sailing over the out-stretched glove of Zogelman at the plate, moving Buenger to second base.
Facing a full count, Morris connected on the next pitch and sent a grounder screaming, bringing in Buenger for the first run of the game on a stand-up double.
Donigan grounded to Moore, who threw her out at first to end the inning. The Warriors trailed 1-0 with two at-bats remaining.
The Warriors remained resilient and attempted a rally of their own in the bottom of the sixth inning.
After Moore grounded out for the first out of the inning, Bowers connected on an off-speed pitch for a single into short center field.
Krista Zogelman walked in her next at-bat, putting the potential winning run on first base with the tying run on second.
Facing a 2-and-2 count, the next pitch for Heidi Zogelman sailed over Indian catcher Morris' glove. In an attempt to score the tying run, Bowers rounded third and headed home where she was gunned down short of home plate for out number two.
Heidi made good of her last pitch, laying down a double between the first and second baseman to bring Krista in for the game-tying run.
Thomas struck out in her at-bat, leaving Zogelman on second base, but the Warriors and Indians were knotted at one.
Both teams traded outs in the seventh and eighth innings, but the ninth spelled doom for the Warriors' season.
Moore struck out Donigan to lead-off the top of the ninth, but walked Giesy in the next at-bat. With a runner on first base, Loschke connected on a pitch that grounded to Richmond, who looked to turn the double play with Giesy sprinting to second.
But Richmond's throw was out of the grasp of Heidi Zogelman's mit, and the ball crawled out into short center field. As Giesy continued to run to third, Whitney Wear's throw in field flew past the out-reached arm of Moore.
With the ball rolling back toward the Marion dugout, and Giesy heading home for the game winning run, Moore gathered the ball in her glove, turned, and fired the ball to Krista Zogelman awaiting the tag at home plate. The throw veered right of Zogelman glove, as the Indian runner stomped on home plate. As the ball rolled down the line to Thomas, who was backing up Zogelmam, Loschke continued to chug around the bases, rounding third and eventually beating Thomas' throw home for the second run of the inning.
Moore struck-out the final two batters, but the damage had already been done. The Warriors trailed 3-1.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Warriors were unable to respond to the quick strike, ending their season with a 3-1 loss.
A disappointed Charlotte Waner, Marion's head coach, summed up what many fans and players thought was a major component in the loss.
"We just didn't bat very well," Waner said. "You can't win a softball game if you can't hit the ball."
According to Waner, one of the most difficult aspects about losing the game was that her teams' abilities won't be tested at the state level.
"(The hardest thing is) knowing that my team is a great team and knowing that they should be playing in the state tournament," Waner said.
Moore struck out 16 batters and allowed seven hits and three runs in her last stint on the mound for the Warriors.
The Warriors finish the season with an 18-5 mark overall, and will lose seniors Moore and Krista and Heidi Zogelman to graduation, a void that will be noticed according to Waner.
"Their shoes will be hard to fill," Waner said.
