Almost perfect Rams top Eagles Posted on May 5, 2022 0 On target Upper Sandusky’s Liv Gier fires a pitch Wednesday against Colonel Crawford. Gier was outstanding, giving up just an unearned run while striking out 11 in the Rams’ 3-1 victory.Daily Chief-Union/Lonnie McMillan By LONNIE McMILLAN Sports editor Beating Colonel Crawford was going to taken Upper Sandusky’s best effort, and they got it Wednesday. A three-run fifth inning, combined with a shutdown pitching performance by Liv Gier, lifted the Rams past the Eagles 3-1 in Northern 10 Athletic Conference softball play at Upper Sandusky. Colonel Crawford (15-4, 10-2) dropped its second straight game, both by the same score, when it had a chance to lock up the league title. Instead, any of four teams, including the Rams, could grab at least a share. “Going into it, I thought we had to be near perfect to beat a quality team like that,” Upper Sandusky coach Luke Swavel said. “Liv was pretty darn close on that. Defense was good enough, made some mistakes, but the barrels, putting the ball in play against them, that was the difference there. That one inning we just seemed to barrel a lot of them up to be able to scratch some runs.” Back in a hurry Upper Sandusky’s Brooke Swavel (left) tries to get back to first base but is doubled off in the first inning Wednesday against Colonel Crawford. She made up for it with a two-run double in the Rams’ 3-1 victory.Daily Chief-Union/Lonnie McMillan Half of Upper Sandusky’s eight hits came in the fifth, and three of them were doubles, beginning with one by Logan Kennedy with one out. Hannah Plymale singled to put two runners on, and Brooke Swavel delivered a go-ahead two-run double on a line drive to left field. Alyse Swartz followed with a double of her own for insurance. “We got some girls on, and we got to the top of the lineup, and we were able to produce there,” coach Swavel said. “… With a good, quality pitcher like that, we need to be able to find ways like that to win, scratch some runs, because we’re not going to be able to score a lot of runs off her.” Those were the only runs the Rams (12-6, 7-3 N10) managed against Colonel Crawford’s Lauren Frietchen, but that was all they needed. Gier (8-5) allowed an unearned run in the first inning but nothing after that. She gave up just four hits with no walks and 11 strikeouts. “She did really well hitting her spots,” coach Swavel said. “We were working away and then every once in a while work in just to sneak it by and keep them honest, keep them on their toes. They had a lot of swings that were off-balance that kind of looked like us on Friday. We just kept them off balance. They have a pretty good hitting team, and if you can keep them somewhat guessing on what’s coming, you’ve already pretty much won the battle.” Caught stealing Upper Sandusky’s Hannah Plymale is tagged out trying to steal second Wednesday against Colonel Crawford. Plymale had a single in a big fifth inning in the Rams’ 3-1 win.Daily Chief-Union/Lonnie McMillan Colonel Crawford had very few chances. It stranded two in scoring position with two outs in the third and had a one-out single in the seventh. Allison Weithman had two of the team’s four hits. Plymale and Swartz both had two hits for Upper Sandusky. Frietchen (14-3) was the losing pitcher, giving up three earned runs on eight hits and one walk with nine strikeouts in six innings. One great performance will not be enough, though. The Rams will have to repeat it to finish off the week with games against Mohawk and then Colonel Crawford again. “We’ve got to do it again and again,” coach Swavel said. “This is good prep work for next week with the tournament. We’re going to see some quality pitching from here on out, so happy to really do better on hitting the ball square, especially with two outs.” The Rams play at 5 p.m. today in Sycamore. Score by innings Colonel Crawford 100 000 0 — 1 4 2 Upper Sandusky 000 030 x — 3 8 2 WP: Gier (8-5); LP: Frietchen (14-3). 2B: Swavel (US), Swartz (US), Fox (US), L. Kennedy (US).
