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Jackson TWP, Ohio —
Polar Bear softball coach Beth Ruggieri was frustrated as she stood in the third base coach’s box Tuesday night at Jackson.
It was the bottom of the sixth inning, her team was trailing 3-2, and just five outs away from losing a key Federal League game to McKinley. She had watched the Polar Bears misplay three pop-ups, leave numerous runners in scoring position, and hand the Bulldogs their one-run lead. And to make matters worse, Ruggieri had been hit in the shoulder by a bad-hop foul ball earlier in the game. What was she thinking?
“You don’t want to know what I was thinking,” she grinned after the game. Ruggieri was able to grin because the Polar Bears had come-from-behind with a 10- run sixth inning on the way to a 12-4 win. The victory evened Jackson’s league record at 3-3 with Boardman scheduled to arrive Thursday afternoon for another Federal League game.
Ruggieri had been concerned McKinley would give the Polar Bears trouble.
“McKinley is a dangerous team,” she had said earlier in the week. “If you’re not ready to play they can sneak up on you.” Her scouting report was right on the money.
The Bulldogs jumped on Jackson early with an unearned run in the first inning. The Polar Bears tied the game in the bottom of the third inning when freshman Kesley Putman reached first on a bunt and advanced to second on a passed ball. Madi Jordan’s ground ball single moved Putman to third where she scored on a long fly ball to left field off the bat of Kate Warne.
Jackson took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out Jordan singled to left and stole second. Warne followed with another hit moving Jordan to third. With two out freshman Abby Duffy drilled a hard ground ball single to left scoring Jordan, but Warne was thrown out at home plate trying to score the third Jackson run of the game.
The top of the sixth inning was a Polar Bear nightmare. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with a single, dropped pop-up, and bunt single. A double to right field scored two, but Jackson got out of the inning when Warne threw out a player at the plate and pitcher Katie Davis got the final out on a swinging third strike.
Ruggieri said she wasn’t concerned as the Polar Bears came to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning. “I knew we were hitting the ball well,” she said. “I wasn’t worried. I have faith in everybody that comes up.”
Polar Bear softball coach Beth Ruggieri was frustrated as she stood in the third base coach’s box Tuesday night at Jackson.
It was the bottom of the sixth inning, her team was trailing 3-2, and just five outs away from losing a key Federal League game to McKinley. She had watched the Polar Bears misplay three pop-ups, leave numerous runners in scoring position, and hand the Bulldogs their one-run lead. And to make matters worse, Ruggieri had been hit in the shoulder by a bad-hop foul ball earlier in the game. What was she thinking?
“You don’t want to know what I was thinking,” she grinned after the game. Ruggieri was able to grin because the Polar Bears had come-from-behind with a 10- run sixth inning on the way to a 12-4 win. The victory evened Jackson’s league record at 3-3 with Boardman scheduled to arrive Thursday afternoon for another Federal League game.
Ruggieri had been concerned McKinley would give the Polar Bears trouble.
“McKinley is a dangerous team,” she had said earlier in the week. “If you’re not ready to play they can sneak up on you.” Her scouting report was right on the money.
The Bulldogs jumped on Jackson early with an unearned run in the first inning. The Polar Bears tied the game in the bottom of the third inning when freshman Kesley Putman reached first on a bunt and advanced to second on a passed ball. Madi Jordan’s ground ball single moved Putman to third where she scored on a long fly ball to left field off the bat of Kate Warne.
Jackson took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out Jordan singled to left and stole second. Warne followed with another hit moving Jordan to third. With two out freshman Abby Duffy drilled a hard ground ball single to left scoring Jordan, but Warne was thrown out at home plate trying to score the third Jackson run of the game.
The top of the sixth inning was a Polar Bear nightmare. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with a single, dropped pop-up, and bunt single. A double to right field scored two, but Jackson got out of the inning when Warne threw out a player at the plate and pitcher Katie Davis got the final out on a swinging third strike.
Ruggieri said she wasn’t concerned as the Polar Bears came to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning. “I knew we were hitting the ball well,” she said. “I wasn’t worried. I have faith in everybody that comes up.”
And everybody did come to the plate in the Jackson sixth inning. The Polar Bears sent 16 batters to the plate, scoring 10 runs on seven hits. McKinley helped the Polar Bears by hitting four Jackson batters. Jackson got big sixth inning hits from Putman, Abby Funk, Kristen Bader and pinch-hitter Erin Durbin. Davis gave up a single run in the seventh inning, but finished strong by striking out two of the final three Bulldog hitters.
“We’ve really been hitting the ball hard,” Ruggieri said. “We’re averaging about 12 or 13 hits a game, so it was frustrating early tonight when we kept getting runners on base and couldn’t score. If we’re going to make a run in the tournament, we have to be able to string hits together.”
Ruggieri will be at the Canton Field House Sunday afternoon for the District tournament seeding meeting. She expects Hoover and Lake to be the top two seeds.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re seeded or not,” Ruggieri said. “We just have to go into the tournament with confidence. I’d prefer not to get a bye in the first round. We want to play, and hopefully we can get a home game to begin the tournament.”
The Polar Bears have played the entire season with junior pitcher Katie Davis in the middle of the diamond.
“Kelsey Schutt is our other starting pitcher, but she got hurt the second week of practice,” Ruggieri said. “She was running in the infield and pulled a muscle in the back of her leg. She’s just been cleared to pitch a few innings beginning next week.”
“It’s been a crazy season so far,” Ruggieri said. “Lake beat us, we beat Boardman, and Boardman beat Lake. If we continue to hit the ball hard, I like our chances in the tournament.”
