Comet baseball and softball sweeps Reading in doubleheaders
READING — After pushing past Napoleon on Monday night, the Jonesville varsity baseball and softball teams took on Big 8 rival Reading for a Tuesday night doubleheader. The Reading Rangers baseball and softball teams haven’t been on the diamond since their games were cancelled last week against Bronson. The Rangers were eager to retake the field and shut down the Comets and gain ground in the Big 8 league race.
Tuesday night was Comets’ night to shut down the Ranger offense on the Rangers’ home turf. Both the Comet varsity softball and baseball teams would sweep Reading in their respective doubleheaders. The Rangers varsity baseball team combined for three runs over the course of the doubleheader. The Comets combined for 19 runs. The Jonesville softball team shut out the Rangers in game one and gave up only two runs in game two. Here is a breakdown of both doubleheaders and the stats for each team.
Baseball
The Comets used an eight-run stretch from the fourth and fifth inning to defeat the Rangers after five innings. The 11-1 victory gave Wade Sommers the victory on the mound for the Comets. The pitcher threw four innings and gave up six hits and one run. The pitcher struck out four batters. Tyler Scholfield pitched the final inning for the Comets. He threw 14 pitches and struck out one batter.
Brysen Schaffer was on the mound to start the game for the Rangers. He threw three innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs while striking out two. Drew Elder came in from the bullpen and gave up four earned runs. Alex Jackson pitched one inning out of the bullpen for the Rangers. Jackson gave up one hit and three earned runs.
Cole Webster led the Rangers in hitting. Webster had two hits including a double. Landen Calbaugh had one hit. Matt Stewart scored a run. Colton Bassage had a RBI-base hit. Bassage also had one stolen base. Drew Elder had one hit and Brysen Schaffer had one hit.
Drew Bradley led the Comets in hitting with two hits, two RBIs and one run scored. Tyler Scholfield had two hits and two RBIs. Wade Sommers had two hits and scored one run. Sommers also had a stolen base. Ashton Thacker had two RBIs and scored twice. Jaxson Phifer had one RBI and two runs. Bradley Wright had one hit, one RBI and two runs. Wright had a stolen base. AJ Bowers had a double-base hit and scored three times for the Comets. Bowers also had a stolen base. Ayden Males had a RBI. Connor Van Buskirk had one hit, one RBI and scored once for the Comets.
A four-run opening inning in game two gave the Comets a comfortable lead that they would not give up the whole game. The Comets added another three runs in the third inning. Pitcher Ayden Males threw all seven innings for the Comets, allowing only two hits and two runs. Males struck out 14 batters.
Sam Jones pitched two innings for the Rangers. Jones gave up seven hits and seven runs including two earned. Jones struck out one batter. Landen Calbaugh pitched two innings. The pitcher gave up one earned run and struck out two batters. Cole Webster pitched one inning, striking out two batters.
The Rangers were led by Logan Stukey who had one RBI-base hit. Cole Webster had one hit and scored once for the Rangers. Zac Affholter scored one run. Webster had one stolen base.
Three Comets had two hits for Jonesville. Connor Vanbuskirk had two hits and three RBIs. VanBuskirk had one stolen base. Ashton Thacker had two hits, one RBI and scored one run. Thacker had one stolen base. Tyler Scholfield had two hits, two RBIs and scored three times for the Comets. Scholfield had two stolen bases. Drew Bradley had one RBI. Jaxson Phifer scored a run. Bradley Wright had a double-base hit and scored two runs. Wright had one stolen base. AJ Bowers had one hit and scored a run.
The Comet varsity baseball team has a home game scheduled for Saturday, May 14 against Jackson Northwest. The game will start at 10 a.m. Reading has a scheduled game against Jackson Lumen Christi. Lumen Christi will host the game this Saturday at 10 a.m.
Softball
The Comet varsity softball team used strong pitching and seven runs in the seventh inning to shut down the Reading Rangers 14-0 in game one. Jonesville opened the game with a 6-0 lead after two innings. The Comets would not score again until the sixth inning.
Maddelyn Lee started on the mound for the Comets. Lee pitched all seven innings, giving up only one hit and striking out seven batters. Ariana McDowell pitched all seven innings for the Rangers. Mcdowell had six strikeouts and allowed 18 hits and 12 earned runs. Ashlyn Tesch had the team’s only hit of the game.
Mackenzie Baker had three hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. Baker had a double-base hit. Kierstyn Keller had one hit, two RBIs and one run scored. Abby Gutowski drove in three runs on her two hits. Lyra Nichols had an RBI and scored one run. Maddelyn Lee had two hits and one run scored. Brooke Owen had three hits, one RBI and two runs scored. Owen had a triple-base hit. Breanna Thacker had one hit, two RBIs and scored two runs. Gracen Hager had two hits, one RBI and two runs scored. Reese Stanton had four hits in four at-bats, two RBIs and three runs scored. Reese Stanton had two stolen bases. Baker had a stolen base and Gracen Hager had a stolen base.
The Rangers and Comets would battle once again in game two of the doubleheader. A strong 9-run start for the Comets through three innings helped Jonesville build a comfortable lead. Jonesville would add three more runs to their total before the game was called in the bottom of the fifth inning. Reading managed to add two runs in the top of the fourth inning that were scored off a Blakeleigh Cornstubble home run. Ariana McDowell scored a run for the Rangers on Cornstubble’s home run. Cornstubble also had another hit.
Cornstubble would pitch for the Rangers through the five innings. She struck out four batters and allowed nine hits and 12 runs including six earned runs. Lyra Nichols started all five innings for the Comets, giving up two hits, two runs and striking out nine batters.
Mackenzie Baker had one hit and scored three times. Kierstyn Keller had one hit and scored three times. Abby Gutowski scored once for the Comets. Lyra Nichols had two hits, three RBIs and scored two runs. Maddelyn Lee had one hit, two RBIs and scored a run. Both Lee and Nichols would have double-base hits. Addie Mclouth had one hit. Breanna Thacker had one hit and scored one run. Gracen Hager had two hits, four RBIs and scored one run. Grace’s triple-base hit was one of the key highlights of the Jonesville batting efforts.
Jonesville has scheduled games against Quincy on Tuesday, May 17 at Jonesville. Games start at 4:15 p.m. Reading will participate in the Al-Glick tournament this Friday, May 13.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Comet baseball and softball sweeps Reading in doubleheaders
