Clyde crushes Columbian 15-2

It was a showdown between two undefeated Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division teams coming in, but Clyde made sure it remained unblemishedColumbian tried to battle but it wasn't meant to be as Clyde got warmed up in the third inning and kept on going in a 15-2 SBC Lake win."I thought we came out and played our version of TC softball those first couple of innings," Tornadoes coach Ryan Ottney said. "Then we had some mistakes happen and we just couldn't overcome them. Credit to Clyde; they are a good team and they took advantage of those. They continued to take advantage of those and we just couldn't climb out of the little bit of a hole we dug ourselves into. I saw some positive things as we continue to grow in the program but obviously we aren't a finished product yet, but we will get there."The Tornadoes (6-8, 4-1 SBC Lake) came up against Taitum Jeffrey and the Flier defense that is now known to be tough."Columbian came out like a house fire in those first two innings," Clyde coach March Marshall said. "We had to get our act together and we finally stringed some hits together and hit the ball hard, and then good things started to happen for us."While the Fliers (12-4, 5-0 SBC Lake) were unable to put anything together in the first two innings, they were just buying time to strike."For the first two innings, we were trying to get a feel for how their pitcher threw," said Marshall of Cam Haman. "We have never encountered her before. I think by the third inning, we got more comfortable, and we were able to pick up on what she was trying to do, and strung some hits together, put some runs together, and hopefully good things happen for us."Olyvia Steinmetz hit a home run over the fence in center field in the bottom of the first inning with TC at two outs. That got the team excited as they came out to the field to cheer at home plate."Wednesday night, she had a really nice hit," said Ottney about the homerun. "The problem is that we have a power line that runs through right field. The ball hit the power line and that kept it in play. The softball gods must have been giving it back to her tonight so she could score."Haman, the freshman pitcher that threw Clyde off their game, was the only other Tornado to score in the bottom of the second inning. The Fliers kicked off the third inning as Ember Andres hit a single on a line drive to right field, and Kelsey Ray, the courtesy runner for Kennedi Long, ran from second base through third and slid into home.After Vanessa West got one strike, Andres stole second and third base on an error from the second baseman dropping the ball.The Fliers knew they could make a double play if they played their cards right. Mya Stiefel smacked a pop fly that sailed between second and third base and over Emma Daugherty's head, which allowed Andres and West to score runs.Ella Howey came up to bat and after Stiefel stole second with a passed ball, and advanced to third on a wild pitch, she waited to see what Howey would do. Howey whacked a double to center field that wasn't being guarded, and Stiefel sprinted to home plate.The Tornadoes knew they were in a slight hole, and after one bunt and two pop outs later, that ended the third inning."I thought they responded really well," said Ottney about the defensive effort the first two innings. "I thought they were locked in. They made the easy plays. Then unfortunately, in the third inning, they found some gaps and then we had a little bit of pressure. It's not anything that's not coachable and it's not something that we can't fix. We will fix it. I have confidence in our girls that they will respond to it and learn from their mistakes. It's still early enough in the season and it's a good learning lesson."From there, Clyde didn't let off the gas.Teaghan Smith and Ariah Farrar scored on a double from Long that was hit into the center field, which was TC's weak spot of the evening.Ray, who came in to run for Long, scored on an Andres double that went right past the right fielder.With two outs, and Stiefel walked, Howey once again made her bat sing as she smacked a pop fly near second base, as two of Columbian's defenders ran into each other trying to catch the ball. Due to that error, both Stiefel and Andres scored.In the fourth, Long once again hit a double line drive to the right field and Jeffrey sprinted in to score.With two outs, West walked, and then advanced to second base on a defensive indifference. Stiefel was at bat and smacked a single line to left field. West dashed and slid into home plate. As the Tornadoes were throwing the ball in from the left side of the field, Stiefel made it to second base and Ray came in right after West, scoring another run.Just for insurance, and to trigger the run rule, the Fliers went on to score two more runs. "We wanted to make sure we were going to make them get outs," Marshall said. "We had some errors. We dropped a ball, misplayed a couple of ground balls, nothing that can't be corrected. It's tough to play here. Infield's always fast. Columbian's a very scrappy team and they are going to make you battle to the very end, so we knew we were going to have our work cut out for us."Ottney and the team took a little extra time in the huddle after the game, and he reminded them that while they didn't win the showdown, that coming together as a team is the most important part."Starting off late getting to know these girls, I wanted to give them each an opportunity as much as possible. With being halfway through the league now at 4-1, we will see what happens moving forward."