Ottawa-Glandorf’s Addie Kitchen slides safely back to third on a pick-off play as Columbus Grove’s Dakota Dunn mans third at Columbus Grove on Saturday.
Jose Nogueras | The Lima News
COLUMBUS GROVE — Columbus Grove broke out its hitting shoes to record a sweep of Ottawa-Glandorf, 18-6, 18-8, in a clash of Putnam County softball rivals Saturday.
In combining for the 36 runs, the Bulldogs lashed out 24 hits in the two games.
With the victory, Columbus Grove improves to 6-1 for the year and Ottawa-Glandorf slips to 0-4 for the season.
“It is always nice to get two wins,” Columbus Grove head coach Travis Gallmeier said. “In the first game I thought we did pretty well offensively and defensively and in the second game we started off a little slower but we were able to get the ball back in play and make some chaos on the base paths out there.
“We’ve been hitting the ball pretty well all year. It’s one of the things we have been focused on and the girls are working really hard and it shows when we are out on the field. In every game we have been able to put runs on the board.”
Ottawa-Glandorf head coach Stan Myers said he was encouraged by his team’s play.
“We are getting better. Baby steps,” Myers said. “We have been blown out a few times but we are starting to play the game better and they are understanding what they need to do so we are getting there.
Myers added that he liked the fight he saw from his team despite being down by such a large deficit and not concede the loss.
“Obviously I want to see us get some wins but we are playing some tough teams early on,” Myers said. “If we keep getting better every day and every game then down the road we can compete and maybe win some games.
In game one, the Bulldogs broke out to 12-0 lead after two innings and owned an 18-1 advantage going into the fifth frame. In those first four innings, Columbus Grove pitcher Abby Stechschulte had limited the Titan bats to no hits and she gave up four walks.
In the fifth, Stechschulte appeared to run out of steam and the Titans tagged her for four hits and five runs.
At the plate, Stechschulte went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run and teammate Kirsten McCauley went 2 for 3 with 2 runs and 4 RBI. Erianne Heffner went 2 for 4 with a triple, 3 runs and 2 RBI.
In the more competitive of the two, O-G opened up a 4-2 lead after the first two frames. In the bottom of the third, the Bulldogs tallied four runs to open up a 6-4 lead, however, the Titans responded in the top of the fourth with four runs of their own that was highlighted by a three-run shot.
The Bulldogs countered with four in the bottom of the frame and then followed it up with four more in the fifth to secure the run-rule win.
Columbus Grove’s Megan Heffner, who had a double and scored twice in game one, went 4 for 4 with a walk, and five runs scored. Gwen Langhals, went 3 for 4 with two doubles, four runs scored and 3 RBI. Izzy Ramos was 3 for 3 with a walk, a sacrifice RBI and three runs scored.
With the sweep, Gallmeier said his team is heading in the right direction.
“We kind of get into the meat of the schedule next week,” Gallmeier said. “We are going to play Ada who is a big NWC opponent there Monday and then Tuesday we have a big PCL match up with Miller City so we will get into the meat of the schedule here and see what happens.
“I am very happy where we are right now. We have a lot of returning players from last year and some of the spots that we needed people to step into I feel like they have done a good job of doing that.”
Reach Jose Nogueras at 567-242-0468.
