Cass gets sweep in league opener

Published 7:42 am Thursday, April 18, 2019

CASSOPOLIS — Host Cassopolis had to wait a day to kick off its Southwest 10 Conference schedule after snow Sunday night made the fields unplayable on Monday.

Pushed back a day, the Rangers and Bangor enjoyed sunshine and the warmest temperatures of the season so far.

Cassopolis took full advantage of the nice weather by sweeping the Vikings 12-2 and 7-6 to improve to 6-2 overall. The Rangers are 2-0 in the Southwest 10.

“I’m proud of my girls and their effort tonight,” said Cassopolis coach Demi Schrader. “We played great the first game, but started off slow the second game. We started the game in a hole, but the girls didn’t give up and fought to tie it up. Finally, we executed in the bottom of the seventh to pull through with the win.”

Olivia Purlee drew a lead-off walk to start the seventh inning rally for the Rangers.

She moved to second on a ground out by Madison Suseland and came around to score the winning run on a walk-off single by Jadin Wolfe.

Wolfe was the starting pitcher, but gave way to Purlee in the second inning. Purlee would go on to pick up the victory. She allowed five hits and struck out three.

Offensively the Rangers, who finished with eight hits, Purlee was 3-for-3. Kiersten Hartsell was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Twin sister Kaitlyn Hartsell also drove in a run, as did Suseland and Wolfe.

In the opening game, Purlee went the distance, allowing two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and no walks.

The Rangers finished with nine hits, including a 3-for-4 performance with a pair of home runs and five RBIs from Kiersten Hartsell.

Caitlyn Steensma singled and doubled to dive in a run.

Cassopolis returns to action today as it hosts Decatur in a Southwest 10 Conference doubleheader.