D5 DISTRICT SEMIFINAL … Archbold shortstop Klaire Kern goes back to catch a pop fly in the first inning.
(PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
BACKHANDED PLAY … Swanton’s Alexa Faber makes a nice, backhanded stop on a ground ball in Friday’s district semifinal versus Eastwood.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
LIBERTY CENTER (May 23, 2025) – A baseball guru…or in this case, a softball guru…once said, “Good pitching will always beat good hitting.”
In game two of the Division V District at Liberty Center, Archbold’s Makena Thiel was good enough against Otsego, shutting down a Knight rally in the seventh inning to secure a 4-3 win.
In the other, Eastwood’s MacKenzie Hady was darn near perfect, in fact one hitter away from being totally perfect, before settling for a one-hitter in a 13-0 five inning romp over Swanton.
Archbold now plays Eastwood for a berth in the Division V regionals on Saturday.
Thiel, and Otsego’s number two pitcher, Janelle Brooks, who was on the mound due to injury of the Knights normal starter, locked up in a hitless affair for the first five innings.
However, in the sixth, the Bluestreaks broke through with a four-run inning. Charlee Forward’s leadoff double to center began the uprising and after a wild pitch, she scored the first run of the night on Daylin Bosco’s base hit to right center.
A wild pitch sent Bosco to second and the Streaks got runners on the corners when Adi Kinsman’s bunt was mishandled for an error.
Thiel helped her own cause with a single through the left side to double the lead at 2-0 and Kinsman then scored on a wild pitch to push it to 3-0.
With two down Meg Ames added an important insurance run when she lined a two-strike offering to center, scoring Thiel.
That run became huge as Otsego rallied in the last two innings. In the sixth, the Knights got their first hit when Riley Rowe rapped a home run over the left center fence to slice the Archbold margin to 4-1.
Then in the seventh with one down, the Knights made one last push. Allyson Hoffman singled with one down and after two were out, Kenna Jones’ base hit put two on.
Thiel’s third walk of the night loaded the bases and Mackenzie Shirkey then singled to right-center to cut the lead to 4-3.
Archbold opted to intentionally walk Rowe, bringing Ava Weaver to the plate with the winning run in scoring position but Thiel got out of trouble, getting Weaver to fly to center to end the game.
In the first contest, Hady was almost untouchable, striking out 12 Bulldogs.
The only baserunner Swanton got was when Cara Ludlow lined a single over the outstretched glove of second baseman Karly Wasserman in the fifth.
In the meantime, Eastwood scored three times of Beyla Remer in the first, two of those runs came on Sophia Rankin’s long home run.
Eastwood came back with six in the second, the key hit being a Stella Chlebowski two-run single.
The Eagles then put the game over the 10-run margin in the fourth with Adyson Bowe’s two-RBI hit providing the big blow.
Eastwood 13, Swanton 0 (5 innings)
SHS 000 00 – 0 1 3
EHS 360 4x – 13 11 0
Records: EHS 19-5, SHS 13-5
WINNING PITCHER: Hady (5 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 12 strikeouts)
LOSING PITCHER: Remer (1 inning, 7 hits, 9 runs, 4 earned, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts) Other: Faber
LEADING HITTERS: (Swanton) Ludlow – single; (Eastwood) Rankin – home run, 2 singles, 4 RBIs, 3 runs; Lubash – double, single, 3 RBIs; Bowe – double, 3 singles, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Chlebowski – single, 3 RBIs
Archbold 4, Otsego 3
AHS 000 004 0 – 4 5 0
OHS 000 001 2 – 3 4 3
Records: AHS 16-6, OHS 18-8
WINNING PITCHER: Thiel (7 innings, 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts)
LOSING PITCHER: Brooks (7 innings, 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 earned, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts)
LEADING HITTERS: (Archbold) Forward – double, single; (Otsego) Rowe – solo home run; Shirkey – single, 2 RBIs