Calvert cruises to 12-2 win

Calvert and Columbian came together on Monday at Ted Rombach field in the 2nd annual Honor Games to not only raise money for the Seneca County Honors Bus, which takes veterans to Washington DC, but to settle a friendly rivalry between the two local schools.The Senecas defeated the Tornadoes 12-2 on their home field for the last time this season."First off, hats off to TC," Calvert coach Leah Bouillon said. "It's always a great battle when we can use this game between the two schools in the same town and take it as an opportunity to represent something more than just the game of softball. For everyone that was played in memory for, or in honor of, we send our love and our thanks to those families."For Bouillon, the three seniors that played are the first group of seniors from when she started coaching at Calvert four years ago. "Without tearing up, my seniors have laid the foundation," Bouillon said. "I'm so proud of them for being able to finish their career here on Ted Rombach's Field."It marks the last time that TC coach Ryan Ottney and Bouillon will be on the field together as well. Ottney took over the TC football program, and will no longer be coaching the Tornadoes on the softball field as the commitment to better the football program is more of a year-round ordeal."I shook his hand when I first met him two years ago," Bouillon said. "When he came in a week before the season started. I told him 'I'm here for you in whatever you need and whatever I can provide to help your program.' It's about showing support, especially in games like this. To be able to shake his hand in his last game and send him off to do amazing things for Columbian football, him and that program, there is a lot to look back on and smile about. I'm glad that we got to be a part of that."Both teams are now officially done with softball for this season. Columbian's season (2-21) came to an end during sectionals at Celina while Calvert's (23-4) season ended at Defiance on Saturday in a loss to Edgerton in Division VII district finals."These girls have played together for a long time, and some of them all of their lives," Ottney said. "It's a fitting way to end the season against each other in a fun-filled game. It's a great event and I'm glad to be a part of it. My girls loved it, and they had a lot of fun out there."The Tornadoes early on struggled against Ava Eilrich's pitching and the stout Calvert defense. "It's just a testament to their pitching and solid defense when we can't get one on," Ottney said. "Offensively at the plate, they were able to control us and that's going to happen. I'm really happy about our fight back. We continued to fight back and played a seven-inning game. As a coach, I'm proud that we kept to our mantra: fight to the very last out."For the first four innings, it looked like the Senecas were going to run-rule TC, as they put 10 runs on the board.Then briefly, the bats came to life for the Tornadoes.In the top of the fifth inning. Emma Daugherty smacked a ground ball and Camryn Haman put the pedal to the metal and ran through two bases to get to home plate, making it 10-1.Eilrich in the bottom of the fifth inning whacked a sac fly out to right field, which drove in Mya Steyer, to make it 11-1.In the top of the sixth, Breanna McNutt doubled to center field, and Audrey Sharp came in as a courtesy runner. With one out, Sharp scored on an error.That was it however for the Tornadoes. In the bottom of the sixth, Calvert put the final run on the board as Gracie Miller sent the ball sailing to center field, chasing in Scarlett Faber.Eilrich pitched six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, fanning eight and walking one. Haman struggled in the circle but the sophomore was coming back from surgery."She will be a junior next year, " Ottney said. "We didn't want to do anything to jeopardize her progression and she usually can give us that kind of look or to let us know something isn't happening. We wanted to give her the opportunity to start."The Tornadoes went to Gabby Shock, a senior who hasn't been on the field in softball since fifth grade. She pitched four innings, allowed four runs on one hit and walked two."We are very happy she came out," Ottney said. "She gave us four innings, and was gassed at that point."They switched one more time to Maizie Mellott whose changeup,velocity, and speed kept Calvert at bay and got TC to the seventh inning. Mellott had two runs on two hits and struck out three.Over Ottney's two-year tenure, they started a middle school softball program and have grown the youth program. "There has been a lot of growth since I stepped in two years ago," Ottney said. "I have been very blessed to have an assistant coach like Kate Focht. This is my last game, and the girls knew that coming into it. I'm excited for what the future will look like. Things are headed in the right direction. Whoever takes over will get a lot of tough girls to compete over seven innings."For Calvert, they are moving over to a stiffer competitive league in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference after being members of the SBC River Division for many years. Even with the tears that have been shed over the last few days, Bouillon still can't wait to get back into the lab and to continue cultivating the progress that has been in the making."Hosting today, and seeing a community, both Calvert and TC here, means so much to me. It's why I love coaching at this school," Bouillon said. "My athletes play for each other and they play hard. It's all you can ask for. It's what you do; you build and it's not just the starting nine or starting 10 you build through the program. We showed our growth and our build."