Piper's poise leads NR past H-L

NEW RIEGEL - Karsyn Piper didn't have to be perfect.The New Riegel freshman was far from it as Hopewell-Loudon peppered the basepaths with runners all evening.But, Piper repeatedly made big pitches when she needed to, leading the Division IV, No. 4 Blue Jackets to a key 5-1 Sandusky Bay Conference River Division win over H-L on Friday."I have a great defense behind me," Piper said. "I know I can trust them in any situation. I was more focused on throwing a strike or having them put the ball in play. I knew my defense would show up."New Riegel improved to 20-2 overall and 13-1 in league play. The Chieftains fell to 17-4, 12-2."Even for a freshman, she hangs tough all the time," New Riegel coach Tony Conner said. "It's not just her. They put balls in play and our defense makes plays. She's able to mentally settle herself down and just throw strikes."Hopewell-Loudon had numerous chances. The Chieftains left 11 runners on base including a whopping nine in scoring position.The only inning H-L didn't leave a runner on was the sixth inning and that was due to Liz Walter snagging a scorcher off the bat of Kylee Malagon and doubling a runner off of second base."We've seen a lot of that and talked about trying to manufacture runs," H-L coach Tony Malagon said. "A couple times we didn't get bunts down. We just haven't brought it all together yet and we keep preaching that."It's starting to get old talking about it."New Riegel got to Chieftains ace Isabelle Beidelschies early and quickly. Katie Dryfuse led off with a double before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ashlyn Bouillon.A ball hit by Walter was snagged by Malagon at short and she fired home to get Dryfuse. But, New Riegel kept coming as Olivia Schalk doubled to score a run. Alayna Schalk also ripped a double to make it 2-0."They're my experienced seniors," Conner said. "It's been four years that Hopewell has been beating us. They're the kings right now. We had nothing to lose. We had to come out and hit and hit right away. That's what we did."Piper kept her poise despite numerous opportunities for H-L. Addy Siebenaller walked and stole second to start the second inning, but three strikeouts by Piper kept the Chieftains off the board.In the third, Kacie Flechtner walked and went to second on a wild pitch. After a flyout, Sidney Brickner doubled between two outfielders - enough that Flechtner had to hold up and only advance to third.Piper bounced back with a strikeout and lineout on the infield to maintain the 2-0 advantage."We watched some film on her," Malagon said. "We knew she liked to move the curveball out. That's kind of our nemesis. We're still trying to find patience. We want to try to be out in front and try to get around that."Hopewell-Loudon had an even better chance in the fourth inning. Siebenaller walked, Morgan Hoover reached on an error, and Natalie Holman beat out a bunt single to load the bases with no outs.A visit from Conner to the circle calmed New Riegel and Piper down. Two strikeouts and a lazy flyball later, the threat was over and Piper stood tall.H-L did get on the board in the fifth inning. Brynn Sendelbach walked before Siebenaller reached on an error. Hoover bounced a single up the middle off of Piper's glove as Sendelbach raced around to score.Piper limited the damage, inducing another lineout on the infield with runners on second and third."I think we're going to start digging into some of our subs and give some other people some opportunities," Malagon said. "We're not making adjustments after multiple at-bats. I think maybe it's time to give someone else a chance."New Riegel added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth. The Blue Jackets missed a chance in the fifth, loading the bases themselves, but coming up short as Beidelschies locked in.In the sixth, Olivia Schalk singled and went to second and third on a pair of wild pitches. She scored when Maddie Heilman reached on an error. She moved to second on yet another wild pitch, scoring on Jacqui Tiell's second single of the game.Tiell went to second on the throw home and third on a wild pitch. Ava Wensink then roped a RBI single, pushing the lead to 5-1."Those runs were huge," Conner said. "We had their outfield playing back because of how hard we hit the ball in the first inning. I think that was a big factor. We put the ball where we needed it to be and made it happen."Beidelschies allowed five runs on eight hits. She walked one and struck out seven on 99 pitches."She's a state runner-up pitcher," said Conner of the Hopewell-Loudon senior. "You can't take anything away from the kid. She's a great pitcher. She's done a lot of good things for the school."Piper tallied 11 strikeouts, giving up just five hits to H-L's potent offense.The last of Piper's 124 pitches came just about 15 hours before the rematch between the teams is set for today in Bascom. Conner kept it pretty simple in the post-game message to his squad."My message was I'm not your parents, but go home and get some rest. Go to bed and take it easy tonight," Conner said. "We have to come out firing again. Tony is going to throw everything he has at us. We have to be ready for it and fire back."