High school softball: Midview explodes offensively in win over Columbia as it celebrates new field

EATON TWP. — Midview dedicated its new softball field and honored the donors with a bang Wednesday by beating Columbia 12-3 in non-conference play. Sixteen hits, including four each by senior Nina Ballachino and junior Savannah Presser, led the celebration for the Middies, who improved to 17-6 on the year. The Raiders fell to 11-6. "It's absolutely an honor and a blessing," said coach Cassie Haight. "It could not be a more wholesome moment, a blessed moment for our program, for our donors to come out here, for our community to come out here. It says a lot about Midview and what it represents." The Middies were coming off a disheartening shutout loss Monday at Amherst, but after surrendering a pair of runs to Columbia in the top of the first, they quickly took control of the game. "I think they were hungry after coming off a loss like that going into tournament," Haight said. "I think we wanted one more win before we face the competition in a tournament game." Ballachino had three singles and a double, driving in three runs and scoring twice. Presser had three doubles and a single for three RBIs and three runs scored. "Obviously, Monday was a very disappointing game but our team does really well at letting things go and resetting," said Bellachino, the second baseman. "After Monday, we had a really good practice and really came fired up. "The dugout was excited through the whole game. We had a lot of high energy. It's our last regular-season game before the tournament and I think we're just really excited to show how far we can go in the tournament. We have a lot of belief in ourselves and how we can perform." "I've been in a pretty good slump lately but the past few games I've been doing pretty good," said Presser, the center fielder. "The hype in the dugout has really helped me. We learned from the mistakes and those errors (against Amherst). We made the plays (Wednesday)." Junior pitcher Savannah Holcomb certainly had a much better outing than she experienced Monday. She struck out a dozen batters and allowed just five hits. She didn't let Columbia's two-run first inning faze her at all. In fact, she drove in a run with a base hit in the fifth inning. Junior Dezirae Thomas collected three hits for the Middies, driving in two runs. Julian Vandersluis had two hits and an RBI. Junior Mallory Hechko and sophomore Olivia Price each had hits. For Columbia, Jessica Jacobs had two hits and a pair of runs driven in. Karlie Arcuri had a double while Natalie Miller and Grace Anderson each had singles. Pitcher Alina Jones recorded her 100th career strikeout. "It was a good start," said Columbia coach Jeff Lavinder. "Our girls came out with a lot of energy. I told the girls here in the postgame I thought our effort was outstanding. It was a three-run game late but we had a couple misplays and (Midview) added on late. They're a good hitting team." Midview's players are really happy to have a great field to play on. The scoreboard was operational and the field includes lights. "Our field before wasn't the greatest," said Ballachino. "When we were told we were getting turf, we were super excited. Being able to actually play on it is great." "The field is definitely helping us and keeping us on track," said Presser. "I like the turf. It's a lot smoother and the ball coming off the bat is a lot easier to read." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.