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Poland’s 11-12 softball team splits pair
By Jason Haddix
INDIANAPOLIS
The Poland Little League 11-12-year-old softball team had the opportunity on Monday to be in the driver seat for earning a spot in Wednesday’s semifinal round of the Central Region Tournament.
After a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Nebraska in the first game of Poland’s day-night doubleheader, the Buckeye State representatives earned a 5-2 come-from-behind victory over their natural rivals in the Central Region Tournament, Michigan.
“This was huge,” Poland coach Kim Grisdale said. “Our girls could have very easily got down trailing 2-0, but they didn’t and they have show that character all season. It shows they have a lot ahead of them still.”
Poland now stands at 2-1.
“We knew we controlled our own destiny and we knew if we could get this win we really had a good chance to make it in the brackets,” Grisdale said.
The all-important second win came thanks to a five-run fifth inning.
Down 2-1 with runners on first and second, Cammie Lattanzio drilled the first pitch of her at-bat to deep center field for a two-run double, scoring Julia Eich and Kenzie Szolek.
“I was pumped because I have been struggling,” Lattanzio said.
“I was excited and knew I was going to hit the ball and I just swung hard.”
The hit parade continued, as Brooke Bobbey singled in Lattanzio and then Lexi Diaz doubled to right field, scoring Bobbey.
“Abby Farber started us off with a walk, which got us all pretty excited,” Lattanzio said of the fifth inning. “There was a lot of noise from the fans and we were having a lot of fun in the dugout and that changed our attitudes and we just went out there and hit the ball.”
Riding the momentum of the offensive onslaught, Bobbey took to the circle to for three quick outs, including a double play on a line drive out to Abby Farber, who threw to Jackie Grisdale at first base to double up the runner.
Lattanzio led the offense with a pair of hits in three trips to the plate.
Bobbey cruised through the sixth inning, tossing just six pitches, inducing a pair of flyouts and a groundout.
The left-hander pitch a six-hit complete game, with two strikeouts and a walk. She improved to 2-1 during the tournament.
“Brooke is confident in her teammates and knows they are going to make plays behind her,” Grisdale said.
“She is the kind of pitcher that just pitches well; she hits her spots. She gets the ball where it needs to go and sometimes that is in the strike zone to let her defense make plays and she trusts them.”
Poland’s defense was tested with 16 of the 18 outs coming from the defense. Grisdale was pleased with the performance.
“It is such a team effort,” she said.
“Our girls work really hard on defense and I think we pride ourselves on defense.”
Poland now must turn its attention back to Indiana, as they will resume Sunday’s game, which was suspended due to weather, today at 11 a.m. Poland trails 7-0 in the bottom of the third.