High school softball: Amherst routs Avon Lake

AMHERST — Lacey Reichert issued a warning to her softball team ahead of Amherst's Southwestern Conference matchup with Avon Lake. The Comets heeded the warning by banging out 14 hits — including three home runs — en route to a 13-1 victory Wednesday afternoon. "They have nothing to lose," Reichert said of the Shoregals. "They'll come out playing free and easy and we've got to match their intensity. To their credit, they put one on the board in the top of the first. To our kids' credit, they came back and put 10 on." Avon Lake's leadoff hitter, freshman Mary Sue Sittema, swatted the first pitch she saw deep to left field for a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a pop fly to second base for a 1-0 lead. "That is our game plan against very good teams ... trying to do the abnormal things sometimes," Avon Lake coach Brandon Webster said. "We tagged up on a fly ball to second base. Who does that, right? It worked out. We scored. We put pressure on their players defensively and you hope their players start shutting down." The lead was short-lived. Amherst (9-5, 5-2 SWC) batted around in its half, sending 15 batters to the plate for 10 runs, more than enough for junior ace pitcher Karina Shuster to work with. Shuster struck out eight in five innings of work, allowing just the leadoff double and one other hit, a one-out pinch hit by freshman Isabel Brunner in the fifth inning. Brunner was thrown out trying to steal and Shuster struck out the final hitter to send everyone home early. A pair of two-run home runs in the first inning by freshman Sienna Rebman and sophomore Gloria Caserta answered Avon Lake's surprise run in the top of the inning. The Comets had 10 hits and took advantage of a couple of misplays by the Shoregals (5-8, 0-7) to score the 10 runs. Junior Briana Blankenship doubled and singled, driving in one run. Rebman added an RBI triple to her long ball and singled in the fourth, falling just short of the cycle. Senior Leah Sprague scored twice and drove in one with a single after she drew a walk on her first trip to the plate. She later added another single. Senior Makenna Dorobek finished with two hits and freshman catcher Morgan Lymer drove in a run in the first with a solid single to center. Freshman Alexis Fenton singled and scored a run in the first as well. The big hitter of the day had to be junior Kayla Rhodes, who singled in a run in the first and belted a three-run homer to right in the fourth to assure the run rule would be in play. It was Rhodes' first home run this season. "(Avon Lake relief pitcher Grace Kugler) had been throwing (inside) a lot," Rhodes said of her approach. "I was just looking to drive that inside (pitch). I got an outside pitch and took it that way a little bit. It felt great. I've been in a little slump recently so it felt great." "We were scuffling at the beginning of the year," Reichert said. "The last four games, we've put some runs on the board and put some big innings together. We tell the girls 'you're all good hitters. Go up there with confidence, pick out something you love and put a good swing on it.' "Hitting's contagious, just like shooting in basketball. When you're hitting, it takes the pressure off the next girl. That's what we were able to do." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.