May 22, 2018 By Chris Varney
A wild game in Williamsburg to start off the 2018 softball season last night. Grinnell scored 5 unanswered runs, the Raiders spoiled numerous opportunities and both teams had to deal with some bad umpiring in a 5-3 Tiger victory on Monday evening.
Williamsburg would strike in the bottom of the first inning. Kortni Gensley saw a strike from Lydia Roudabush on the first pitch but drove the next offering to deep center field. It hit the top of the wall and bounced back, just millimeters away from a home run. Gensely would score anyway on a bunt and throwing error by Grinnell. Jill Holub added a 2 run single and the Raiders built a 3-0 lead.
Grinnell would answer back and quickly. Hannah Behrens would get a lead-off walk, steal 2nd, go to third on a Ashlynn Imhoff grounder and score on a RBI single by Lindsey Hollibaugh. Emma Ware came up and this was one of the key moments in the game. Ware hit a grounder straight at SS Charley Geguzis who flipped it to 2nd for one out. Aubrey Walters made a great turn and threw to first for the double play but Ware was ruled safe at first. From the press box and the naked eye, it looked like Ware was out. Williamsburg Head Coach Adam Berte certainly thought so but his argument was heard by deaf ears. Grinnell took advantage as Natalie Brown hit a RBI double to right and Lydia Roudabush hit a ball between Nicole Zuber’s legs for a RBI single and the game was tied at 3.
Zuber would then uncork a bad pitch to Kate Kriegel and immediately started limping off the field. Before the Williamsburg trainer and coaches could even get to her, she flipped the ball to Gensley, the back-up pitcher, and left the diamond. It only looked like a minor injury but Williamsburg can ill afford to have Zuber miss significant time.
In Grinnell’s third inning with Gensley now pitching, Megan Doty got a lead off walk, stole second base and then Kiana Kies hit a ball to the wall in left field to score Doty for the go ahead run. For Kies, it was her first RBI since May 28, 2016. The junior only had 1 at bat last year because of injuries but is finally healthy and gives the Tigers a veteran presence behind Doty in the line-up. Kies would also have several chances in center field and made some big catches in the later innings.
The Raiders would have plenty of chances to get back in the game. In the 4th, Carly Campbell led off with a double and went to third on a grounder. Gabby Hooper would then lay down a bunt, Hollibaugh charged it at third, gave Campbell a look, then threw out Hooper. Campbell took off for home but Behrens would fire a bullet home and Kriegel tagged out Campbell for the final out of the inning. In the 5th inning, Williamsburg left the bases loaded as Holub would ground out to Doty at SS to end another threat. In the 6th, Roudabush gave up back to back walks and after a bunt moved Campbell and Ashley Hooper to 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out, Emily Jensen lined out to Behrens at first and PH Hannah Koenighain flew out to Kies in deep center.
Grinnell has a young team and it was young players who came through in this opener. Freshman Lydia Roudabush overcame a bad first inning and pitched out of trouble several times, and got stronger as the game wore on. She allowed 3 hits in the first inning but only 3 more hits the rest of the game. The Tigers also started two 8th graders — Imhoff and Brown — and they went a combined 3-5 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI and a run.
Williamsburg will need to shake off this opening game. Most importantly, they need Zuber to get healthy and stay healthy. Not only is the senior an ace pitcher but she is an important part of the Raiders offense.