GILMAN SOFTBALL - Gilman falls flat in battle for first; has no trouble in two ECC wins

GILMAN SOFTBALL

The Gilman and Columbus Catholic softball teams started Tuesday dead even atop the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference standings at 5-0, but when their doubleheader was over, one team stood as the top team in the league.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, they were not that team.

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning in game one and did not record another hit or run the rest of the way while suffering 16-1 and 11-0 defeats to the Dons. As the scores would indicate, it was a struggle for the Pirates all the way around as the offense did little against Columbus Catholic pitcher Akousa Yeboah, the pitching and defense weren’t nearly as sharp as they needed to be in a potential conference title matchup such as this one.

“We were just on our heels the whole night,” Gilman head coach Brian Phelps said. “We didn’t seem ready or prepared. I take responsibility for having the girls ready. I don’t know why but I obviously didn’t have them ready to go.”

The Dons now have a clear path to the conference title at 7-0 in league play. They are 10-3 overall. Gilman will try to hold on to second place and sits at 5-2, 5-6.

“We already told them to come into practice (Wednesday) with an open mind and come in ready to go to work and get ready to go play Loyal on Friday,” Phelps said. “That’s all we can do.”

The offensive highlight in game one was the first inning when Abby Chaplinski drew a one-out walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Mann’s solid single to centerfield. From there Yeboah went on to finish with eight strikeouts in the four-inning game and issued three walks.

Columbus Catholic tied the game in the second, scored three in the third and then broke it wide open with 12 runs in the fourth. Mann went 3.1 innings for Gilman in the pitching circle and allowed four hits and five walks. Gilman had seven errors in the loss. Raygen Soper, returning to the lineup after breaking her ankle late in the basketball season got her first pitching action of the spring late in the inning.

Yeboah threw four innings and Abigail Wojcik pitched the fifth in a combined no-hitter for Columbus Catholic in game two. Chaplinski reached on a first-inning error and Mann reached on a fourth-inning error, Lila Allamiraino walked twice, Kayleigh James walked once and Ava Warner was hit by a pitch. Yeboah struck out five and Wojcik struck out two Pirates.

Scarlett Stuner pitched for the Pirates and allowed 11 hits and five walks in five innings.

Shelby Spata hit a two-run homer for Columbus in the top of the first. Yeboah and Rhya Dieringer had RBI singles in the Dons’ four-run second. It was 8-0 going into the fifth when the Dons put it away with three more runs, two of which scored on a Yeboah single. She was three for three.

Spata also tripled, while Katelyn Casperson and Sam Casperson had two hits apiece for Columbus Catholic.

Gilman’s Friday game with Loyal-Greenwood is set for 5 p.m. in Greenwood. Monday’s non-conference game at Rib Lake has been canceled as the Pirates are looking at a game-heavy week after that. Gilman hosts an ECC doubleheader with Neillsville-Granton Tuesday that could play a big role in determining who does finish second in the conference. The Pirates host Owen-Withee Thursday, host Loyal-Greenwood May 10 and then have two games in the Gilman-Thorp Slamfest May 11.

Gilman 15, Spencer 0

The news was better for Gilman late last week as the Pirates earned two lopsided conference wins. The second of those came Friday in a 15-0, four-inning home win over Spencer.

Mann went two for two with a home run, a walk, three runs scored and two driven in. She also pitched all four innings, striking out six while allowing five hits and a walk. Her long ball was a solo shot during Gilman’s two-run first inning.

The Pirates scored twice in the second, four times in the third and seven times in the fourth to end this one early on a very windy late afternoon.

Allison Olynick was three for three and scored three runs. Stuner was one for two and scored once. James was one for three and reached twice on errors as she hit the ball hard all three times, Phelps said. She also drew a walk.

The Pirates completed a season sweep of visiting Colby-Abbotsford on Thursday, needing just five innings to earn a 12-2 win. The Pirates broke this one open early scoring three runs in the first and five in the second. They got their runs on just seven hits.

James and Chaplinski walked and Mann doubled to key the first-inning rally. The offense continued to take advantage of whatever the Hornets gave them from there.

James was two for four with a triple, Mann was two for four with a double and Jayda Rosemeyer added a double.

Mann struck out four, issued four walks and only allowed one hit.

“We’re doing a much better job of laying off the high stuff,” Phelps said of the offensive success that night. “That really helps a lot. We made their pitcher work a little more.”