Brandywine looking to stay hot at regionals
Published 9:03 am Friday, June 10, 2016
The Brandywine softball team will try to ride the wave of emotion from its thrilling come-from-behind victory over Bridgman for the Division 3 district championship last weekend.
The Bobcats (17-17) will need to sustain that emotion for Saturday’s regional tournament hosted by Bridgman.
Brandywine will face Grandville Calvin Christian (29-10) in the first semifinal at 10 a.m. The winner advances to face either Schoolcraft or Coloma in the championship game, which is set for approximately 2 p.m.
Calvin Christian advanced to the regional with an 11-1 win over Covenant Christian last Saturday.
Kaleigh Whitcomb tossed a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts and two walks in the championship game.
Marissa Vandenberg led the offensive charge, as she was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. Laurel Vanoord was 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs. Whitcomb also homered for the Knights.
In its semifinal win over Grand Rapids West Catholic, Whitcomb struck out 14 and walked just one in tossing a two-hitter.
Offense was at a premium in the 2-1 contest. Vandenberg drove in a pair of runs with a home run and Whitcomb tripled.
Brandywine is coming off a wild 8-7 win over host Bridgman in the district title game.
The Bobcats scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to win its first district championship since 2013.
The return of Morgan Crocker was a huge lift for Brandywine. Crocker has missed much of the season after breaking her hand.
“It’s not secret we have had some issues due to the fact that Morgan Crocker was out for over half the season,” Brandywine coach Ron Hartline said. “Since her return we have yet to lose a game and plan on keeping that going as long as we can. Not only does she help on the mound, but it allows us to put girls back to where they feel comfortable playing.”
Hartline said his team has been working on creating offense this week.
“We focused on hitting a lot this week to keep the bats hot,” he said. “It’s too late in the season to change the mentality of the game we play. We went into districts with the mindset of we have to out-hit the other team to win and that is exactly what we did and plan to do Saturday.”
Hartline does not know much about Calvin Christian, but has learned that it has a good pitcher and its line up, one through five, put the ball in play.
“I will make subtle adjustments in the game to help with the slap hitters they have and go from there.”
Coloma (30-10) defeated Watervliet 6-5 in the semifinals and then blanked Fennville in the championship game 10-0.
Schoolcraft (28-6) defeated Hopkins 2-1 in the semifinals and then beat Gobles 15-8 to claim the district championship.
The Comets and Eagle will play at approximately noon.