March 29, 2024

No. 5 East Marshall stuns Tigerhawks with come-from-behind walk-off win

C-M softball opens playoffs with win over Wolverines

LE GRAND — Colfax-Mingo’s Colbee Cunningham shut down Class 2A No. 5 East Marshall for six innings.

The Tigerhawks scored two early runs and led 2-0 headed to the bottom of the seventh inning, but East Marshall found a way on its home field and rallied to a 3-2 victory in the Class 2A Region 1 semifinals on July 12.

“This loss was a kick to the gut,” Colfax-Mingo coach Bryan Poulter said. “The flow of the game wasn’t on our side in the seventh.”

The first four East Marshall batters reached in the seventh inning, and it was Mariah Rasmusson’s two-run single to center field that won the game for the Mustangs.

For six innings, the Tigerhawks (22-8) were the better team. Both teams had six hits in the game.

Three of Colfax-Mingo’s came in the first and four of East Marshall’s were in the deciding seventh.

“Were we the better team?,” East Marshall coach Jary Hoskey asked. “Maybe we were at the end of the game, but Cunningham threw very well against us. She is very good.”

The fifth-ranked Mustangs (30-4) played fourth-ranked Jesup in the regional championship on July 15 in Jesup. .

Jesup (30-9) defeated South Hamilton 1-0 in the other semifinal.

Colfax-Mingo scored both of its runs in the first inning. Kylie Doty reached on a bloop single to lead off the game.

Then back-to-back RBI doubles by Rilee Slycord and Braedynn Rawlins put the Tigerhawks on the board.

East Marshall starting pitcher Kodie Hoskey surrendered only three hits the rest of the way.

“Good pitchers make adjustments. We made decent contact but weren’t squaring the ball up much after the first inning,” Poulter said. “We didn’t drive the ball to the gaps. We couldn’t put consecutive hits together.”

Hannah Birks started the bottom of the seventh with a bloop single to center field. Then Kodie Hoskey hit a double to the gap that C-M center fielder Carley Underwood couldn’t run down.

With a runner on second and third and no outs, a ground ball to Rawlins at first base led to the Mustangs’ first run.

Rawlins fielded the ball and instead of getting an out at first, decided to throw home but Birks slid in ahead of the tag.

Emma Pfantz loaded the bases with a bunt single. The Tigerhawks then recorded an out at home when Melinda Puumala hit a ground ball back to Cunningham in the circle. But Rasmussson hit a 1-0 pitch up the middle that got through the infield.

Pinch runner Madison Duncan scored easily and Pfantz scored the winning run after Underwood bobbled the ball in center field. The throw home was a little late.

Cunningham took the loss in the circle after allowing three earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts, three walks and one hit batter in 6 1/3 innings.

After the two-run first inning, the Tigerhawks only got past first base one more time. Underwood singled, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Madison Gilkison and took third on a ground ball out by Abi Rawlins.

Slycord hit a hard single with one out in the third inning but a line drive to Kodie Hoskey in the circle by Braedynn Rawlins led to an inning-ending double play.

Abi Rawlins had the team’s only other hit in the fifth inning.

The loss by Colfax-Mingo ends the prep careers of Slycord, Cunningham, Braedynn Rawlins, Delaney Underwood and Chelsea Russell.

Colfax-Mingo 12, Nodaway Valley 2, 5 innings

COLFAX — Cunningham struck out 11 in the circle and blasted her seventh home run at the plate, Doty reached base four times and Colfax-Mingo advanced in the Class 2A playoffs with a 12-2, six-inning win over Nodaway Valley on July 10.

The Tigerhawks tallied 11 hits in the regional quarterfinal win.

“It was nice to respond in the bottom of the first inning after they scored in the top half,” Poulter said. “That set a good tone offensively for us. We knew we could have good at-bats. We squared a lot of balls up.”

Nodaway Valley (11-17) scored first in the top of the first, but Colfax-Mingo responded in the bottom half with three runs.

Doty singled, went to second on a wild pitch and then scored on Cunningham’s RBI single. Slycord plated Cunningham on an RBI double and then Russell’s sacrifice fly to center field made it 3-0.

Doty was 2-for-2 with two walks and four runs, Cunningham had three hits, three runs and three RBIs, Slycord had one hit, two walks, two run and one RBI and Russell finished with three RBIs.

The Tigerhawks went down in order in the second but plated five runs in the third. They sent all nine batters to the plate and the big hits were a two-run double by Delaney Underwood and a two-run single by Caylee Cunningham.

In the fourth, Doty walked in front of Colbee Cunningham’s seventh home run of the season.

“Off the bat, I knew it was gone,” Colbee Cunningham said. “It felt good. I am just happy we won the game.”

The Wolverines scored their second run of the game in the fifth. But Colfax-Mingo ended the game in the bottom of the sixth. Doty opened the frame with a single, Colbee Cunningham followed with an infield single and then Braedynn Rawlins smashed a one-out RBI single.

Russell ended the game with a walk-off RBI single to left field. Rawlins finished with two hits and she also was hit by a pitch.

“I think as a team we’ve being hitting it better,” Colbee Cunningham said. “For me, it’s just see ball, hit ball.”

Colbee Cunningham didn’t need much support in the circle as she allowed two runs on seven hits with 11 strikeouts and two walks. The Tigerhawk defense committed one error.

“We had a few defensive issues, but we recovered from it,” Poulter said. “They didn’t hit many balls to the outfield.”