Pontiac Indians post baseball, softball road wins in season-openers
METAMORA — Pontiac got on the first and did not trail as it withstood a late-inning rally from host Metamora to leave town with an 8-6 nonconference baseball victory Wednesday.
The Indians got on the board in the top of the second inning and pushed across three more runs in the third before the Redbirds got on the board. A four-run fourth inning was all PTHS could muster the rest of the way, but it was enough for the win.
Henry Brummel led off the Pontiac second inning with a base hit and he advanced to second base. Two outs followed before Zayn Eilts drew a walk. Alex Trevino was at the plate when a passed ball moved the runners up. A passed ball on the next pitch allowed Brummel to score before Trevino walked to put runners on the corners.
Pontiac starter Logan Barnett got out of a little jam in the bottom of the inning with two strikeouts after Metamora had runners on first and second with one out.
The Indians padded their lead in the third inning with a three-run outburst. Johnny Lenox was hit by a pitch with one out and scored from second one out later when Barnett helped himself with a double. Dakoda Ackerman came on as a courtesy runner before walks to Brummel and Tanner Legner loaded the bases.
Drew Wayman singled on a 2-1 offering to drive home Ackerman for a 4-0 lead.
The Redbirds got a run in the last of the third but PTHS answered with a four-run fourth inning that put the game out of reach.
Michael Kuska walked with one out to start the rally. Kuska stole second and took third on the play. He scored when Lenox reached on an error. Barnett singled after the second out of the inning for the Tribe and Brummel followed with a base hit that plated Lenox and moved Ackerman, the courtesy runner for Barnett, to third.
Legner capped the rally with a two-base hit that scored Ackerman and Brummel for an 8-1 lead.
It stayed a seven-run game until Metamora tried to rally late. The Redbirds pushed across two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and added three in the seventh. A two-run homer made it a two-run game with two outs but Colin Gould ended the game two batters later with a punch out.
Barnett had a double, single and run batted in while Brummel had two hits and a run batted in for Pontiac (1-0). Legner had a double and drove in two runs while Wayman had a hit and two RBIs. Lenox also had a hit and RBI.
Barnett went the first three innings and gave up a run on three hits and a walk. He struck out five. Nick Krueger went the next three for the win. He gave up two runs and three hits while striking out one. Gould finished up with a strikeout after yielding three runs, two hits and a walk in his inning of work.
Softball
Pontiac 5, Metamora 2
METAMORA — A four-run first inning staked Pontiac hurler Makayla Metz to a lead and the hurler helped make it stand as the Indians defeated host Metamora 5-2 in a nonconference softball contest Wednesday. It was the season-opener for the Tribe.
Freshman Elena Krause got the Indians rolling right away with a one-out base hit that triggered the four-run outburst. Krause stole second and third before Bailey Masching followed with a single that plated Krause for a 1-0 lead.
Rylee Zimmerman walked and freshman Brooke Burger came on as the courtesy runner. Burger and Masching each moved up when Mackenzie Coates was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Sam Johns made it 3-0 with a two-run single to right that drove in Masching and Burger, and Coates scored when Metz followed with a groundout.
A peculiar double play still led to a run in the Pontiac third. Coates and Johns each drew walks to lead off the inning and had advanced into scoring position before Metz hit a grounder back to the pitcher. Metz was thrown out at first and Johns was picked off second as the throw came in from behind, nabbing Johns as she tried to get back to the bag. Coates scored on the play.
Metamora got to Metz for a run in the bottom of the third inning. The Redbirds added a run off Krause in the fifth inning.
Metz got the win in the circle after throwing the first four innings. She allowed a run, three hits and three walks while striking out four. Krause made her high school debut in relief with a three-inning effort where she gavve up a run, two hits and three walks. She fanned one.
Krause led the Pontiac (1-0) offense with two base hits. Johns contributed a hit and two runs batted in and Masching had a hit and RBI. Metz drive in a run.
Lexington 14, Henry 13
LEXINGTON — Although Lexington managed just five base hits, the last one was the best one as Makayla Ziegler went yard to lift the Minutemen to a 14-13 walk-off victory over Henry-Senachwine in a nonconference softball contest Wednesday at Keller Park.
Each side had a six-run inning as the game was tied at 12-12 through five innings. The Mallards got on the board in the top of the first inning only to see Lexington score twice in its half of the frame to lead 2-1.
Each side added a run in the second before Henry pushed across six in the third for an 8-3 advantage. It was 10-3 after the Mallards batted in the fourth but Lexington responded with three markers in the bottom of the fourth. A two-run fifth for the visitors made it 12-6.
The Minutemen responded with six runs in the last of the fifth to pull even. Two bases-loaded walks brought up Ziegler, who cleared the bases with a triple to cut the LHS deficit to 12-11. Ziegler scored the equalizer on Belle Payne's sacrifice fly.
Henry went up in the top of the seventh with a run, which led to Ziegler's heorics in the last of the seventh.
Mackenzie Wesson was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Ziegler ended the game with a walk-off homer off a 1-1 offering.
Ziegler had three of the Minutemen's hits, which included a homer and triple, and drove in seven runs. Wesson also had a three-base knock and three runs batted in and Allison Epley had a single.
Grace Getty got the win in relief. Getty allowed three runs and three hits in four innings. She walked one and struck out two. Emilee Bratcher started and went three innings. She yielded 10 runs, 11 hits and struck out four.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Pontiac Indians post baseball, softball road wins in season-openers
