Posen missed opportunities hurt in home district loss

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

?Hillman earned the win on Saturday,? said Posen softball coach Glenn Budnick. ?We didn?t give it to them, they took it.? The Vikings (25-10, 13-1) lost 4-2 in Saturday morning?s district semifinal on the home field. It was a story of missed opportunities. They couldn?t come up with the timely hit early, and when the Vikes had a 2-1 lead in the sixth, the outs seem difficult to come by.

Considering the playoff goals this team had, the sting of an opening round lost isn?t going to go away very easily. Especially when it meant the end of spectacular careers of three, four-year starters, Leanne Buczkowski, Lindsay Ponik and LeAnn Strzelecki. ?No loss is an easy loss,? said Budnick. ?This one is particularly hard, especially for those three girls, knowing it was their last time suiting up in the red and white for us.? The three have provided a lot of pitching and hitting over the last four years. THE FIRST seven batters went down in order, as starters Ponik and Hillman?s ace Maci Schook had the advantage.

Freshman Ashley Meyers was the first to get on after an error by the third baseman. She advanced to second on a passed ball with one out, but was left stranded at second. In the bottom of the second, Ponik pitched out of a jam, inducing a ground ball to herself on a 3-2 count with a runner at third. Junior Paige Lewandowski walked and sophomore Anna Couture singled her to third with one in the third. The next two batters popped out to end another threat. ?Maci Schook got the outs when she needed to,? said Budnick.

Posen dodged another bullet in the bottom half of the inning when Hillman had runners at first and third. The runner from first got into a pickle to get the runner from third in, but the runner from third didn?t break for home in time and the tag was made. In the top of the fourth, Ponik singled down the right-field line and Meyers got on after another Hillman error, putting runners on second and third with nobody out. The next three Posen batters went down in order.

DESPITE MOUNTING errors and mental lapses, the Tigers scored first in the bottom half of the inning on a RBI-triple. Couture saved a run by stabbing a liner deep in the hole from her shortstop position. In the top of the sixth, Buczkowski and Ponik reached base, and were at second and third with one out, when sophomore Abbie Del

ekta scorched a liner back at Schook, who threw wildly to third trying to pick off Buczkowski. Both Buczkowski and Ponik scored to give Posen its first lead.

Hillman struck back in the bottom of the sixth with a solo homer to right center, double and back-to-back infield singles. When the dust settled, the Tigers were up 4-2. The Vikings put two runners on in the top of the seventh with a single from Lewandowski and a Strzelecki walk, but the Hillman right fielder made a diving catch of a sinking liner off of Buczkowski?s bat to end the game. If the ball had got by her, there could have been a tie game.

?EVEN THOUGH that was a district semifinal, it had the atmosphere of a district final,? said Budnick. Ponik was 2-for-3. On the mound she gave up nine hits, struck out six, walked one and hit a batter. On June 1, the Vikings swept Rogers City 7-4 and 3-1. Couture (RBI) and Buczkowski (2B, two RBI) were 2-for-4. Abbie Delekta had a two-RBI single in a four-run sixth and Emily Delekta would have a RBI double in the same inning. Buczkowski got the win, going all seven innings. Ponik got the win in the second.