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Byers' 5 hits power West Branch past Mooney
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BOARDMAN
The Warriors came out to play from the very beginning against Cardinal Mooney in a softball contest at Fields of Dreams.
West Branch senior Bailey Byers smacked the first pitch to right field for a home run that set the tone in a 14-11 victory.
“I was trying to wait on it but then I was like ‘Oh, I like that.’ so I swung.”
Byers ended the day going 5-for-5, hitting two home runs, driving in four runs and scoring four runs herself. Her second home run went so far it nearly hit children playing ball on an adjacent field.
“I’ve been trying to work on patience this year every time I get up to bat,” Byers said. “I’m trying to wait for a pitch that I can hit.
“But if it’s the first one and I like it I’m swinging.”
It was 4-0 West Branch before the dust settled on the top of the first. Maddie Pidgeon tripled home a run and groundouts from Kelsey Byers and Ashley Weber had it looking like the game could be ending early.
But two-run home runs from Mooney’s C.J. Sapp and Chet Rinaldi in the second and third innings sandwiched between another West Branch run brought the Cardinals within 5-4. An RBI double by Sapp and a wild throw to third by Bailey Byers allowed Sapp to score and Mooney was up 6-5.
The lead was to be short lived, however, when a single by Bailey Byers to lead off the fourth was followed by a double by Grace Heath. Another double from Pidgeon brought home both runners to put West Branch back up 7-6.
“We hit very well throughout the game, West Branch head coach Sis Woods said. “We hit and then they hit and it was just a hitting game on both sides.”
The game looked to be wrapped up later on when the West Branch lead swelled up to 14-6. Bailey Byers hit her second home run in the fifth that was followed up a groundout by Kelsey Byers. Then Bailey Byers had an RBI single in the sixth a batter before Heath homered to deep center.
But Mooney would have none of it. With the bases loaded Adrianna Popovich drove in a run on an infield single and then Kelly Williams blasted a grand slam to center that brought the Cardinals within three.
West Branch went down quietly in the seventh but so did the Cardinals and the comeback wasn’t meant to be.
“We had a chance to win the game in the end. Once we got them out in the seventh I thought we’d score the three runs,” Mooney head coach Mark Rinehart said. “We never quit out there today though.
“We got behind early, then took the lead, then went down again big. But I consider West Branch one of the best teams in the area. This is a good sign for our future.”
Woods said she was very proud of the response her team had to show on multiple occasions.
“They did an excellent job staying in the game as far as not getting down,” Woods said. “When we made mistakes we came right back because we know we can hit.”
Rinehart said despite the loss, he believes his team will be ready for high-stakes contests when tournament play begins in less than a month.
“Our girls know when you leave it all out on the field like they did today and you come up short there’s nothing wrong with that,” Rinehart said. “We’ll take some losses but when it comes to the sectional and district tournaments we’ll be ready because of the teams we played.”