A spectacular break of good fortune led to an opportunistic double play at a pivotal moment to portend it might just be the Maumee softball team's day in the Panthers' 5-1 Division II district final victory over Otsego on Saturday afternoon at Genoa High School.
A sharply hit ground ball by Otsego's Cailyn Rider with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the third ricocheted off of Maumee shortstop Lilly Duling's foot and straight to second baseman Julia Coutcher, who maintained her composure as if turning a routine 6-4-3 double play and proceeded to get the force out and double up Rider at first to end the threat.
With Maumee leading 2-0 at that point, it could have easily been 2-2 if the ball carried past Duling or deflected in another manner, but instead, the Panthers escaped the threat with no damage done and went on to score two in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-0 lead and seize control of the game.
“That's a huge turn of events because if that gets through, they probably score a few runs and it's a totally different game,” Maumee coach Brian Jones said. “The best part about that play was that we did get a lucky bounce, but Julia was smart enough to realize it and get to the base and get the ball and turn the double play. She's one of the smartest softball IQ kids I've ever coached.”
Coutcher, just a freshman, found herself in the middle of the action all game long. She accounted for the first two runs for Maumee when her fly ball to right field was dropped on the run by Otsego outfielder Ava Weaver in the first inning. She then tripled over the head of Weaver in the bottom of the third to score the next two Panthers' runs.
“I came up being confident and got the nerves out of me and thought I just wanted to have fun at the plate,” Coutcher said. “So that's kind of what I did. That was a crazy play [in the field]. I don't know, I just saw it coming and just had quick reflexes and made the play.”
Maumee sophomore Hannah Ruiz pitched six scoreless innings allowing five hits with two walks. She exited the game for Hailey Yarberry in the fifth and then re-entered the game to finish out the final two innings.
“On the mound, it was so stressful,” Ruiz said. “Warming up, I was so stressed. But I came in and I did what I had to. I trust coach Jones and my main pitch is my screwball and it worked. It's great to know that I don't have to strike everyone out or take it all by myself because I can trust the seven behind me. They are genuinely one of the toughest defenses so it was really good.”
Jones said they wanted to give Ruiz a pause for an inning to refocus.
“I thought she pitched well and I don't think we were getting the corners that we wanted to and the high strike that we wanted to,” Jones said. “So we just pulled her out for that one inning just so she could kind of collect her thoughts. Hailey came in and did a good job and kept them off balance. They did score the one run, but we came back and scored another run and then Hannah threw really well the last two innings.”
Otsego scored its lone run in the fifth on an RBI single from Cailyn Rider.
“I thought our at-bats today were the best they had been against Maumee in the three times we played them,” Otsego coach Jason Colyer said. “The ball didn't bounce our way on a couple of deflections and ricochets that easily six inches one way or other and maybe we're talking a different result. But credit to Maumee, they made all the plays and even some tough ones.”
The Panthers are district champions for the second straight year and move on to the regional semifinals in Shelby on Wednesday against Bryan.
“I'm so happy for these girls,” Jones said. “They've worked so hard to get this. We had a nice little run last year that got us to regionals and I think losing to Tallmadge last year focused them to get farther this year. So they've worked really hard in the offseason. We've had a really great chemistry with these girls.
“We really haven't practiced the past four weeks. Anytime we have time off, we just do a dinner or team bonding and I think that goes a long way. It's a little bit more neat this year just because last year we had a lot of seniors starting. This year we just have a couple. We still start three freshmen and four sophomores. So it took them a little longer to jell this season, but now they all trust each other and I think that is the biggest part.”
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