DONALDSON, IN – After a few weather-related days off, the Ancilla College softball team went back to work to earn a split against Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) foe Kalamazoo Valley Community College, losing the first game 10-5 and bouncing back to win game two 3-0.
Abbey Renner struck out seven in the complete game effort in game one and didn’t allow an earned run until the seventh inning. Five errors and explosive KVCC (9-3, 3-1 MCCAA) bats in extra innings doomed the host Chargers (8-12, 3-3 MCCAA) in the opener.
Ancilla jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. After Lauren Prohl singled, the Chargers kept the pressure on Cougar pitching, as Tehya Henry doubled, bringing home Prohl. Ancilla pushed more runs across when Renner scored on an RBI single by Maggie Birch. KVCC scored two unearned runs in the third and the fifth to take a 4-2 lead, but the Chargers answered with three in the bottom of the sixth, which included a two run home run from Brittany Probasco. Kalamazoo Valley proceeded to tie up the game in the seventh and pile up five runs in the top of the eighth to earn the victory.
Game two saw Prohl pitch a two-hit shutout, the first shutout of her career, while striking out three to earn the victory. An RBI single from Kelsie West started off the scoring for Ancilla in the bottom of the fourth, when she scored Probasco with one out. Melia Gonzalez scored later in the inning on an infield error. Ancilla added an insurance run in the fifth. Back-to-back leadoff walks to Renner and Henry and a single from Probasco loaded the bases with nobody out. Birch followed up with an infield fielder’s choice in which Renner beat out the throw to the plate.
Probasco finished the day with three hits and two RBI, while Birch added a pair of hits and two more RBI. Henry, Gonzalez, and Morgan Lippens picked up two hits each on the day, as well.
“It’s the team that makes the least amount of mistakes that usually wins,” said Ancilla coach Scott Reese. “We proved that in game one. Even with all five errors, we put ourselves in a position to win by the way we fought back, Kalamazoo Valley just played better down the stretch. I was proud of the way we bounced back in the second game and happy that Lauren was able to get the first shutout of her career to earn the win.”
Ancilla hits the road the rest of the week with games at #12 Kellogg Community College (15-3, 7-1 MCCAA) on Thursday, April 7 and Jackson Community College (8-12, 2-6 MCCAA) on Saturday, April 9. They return home for a matchup against Lake Michigan College on Tuesday, April 12 at 3:00 p.m.
