Late scoring leads Rebels passed Wildcats
Jun. 24—GOOSE LAKE — It was the bottom half of the order that stepped up for the Northeast Rebels as they took down the Durant Wildcats 7-2 on Thursday night.
"Good teams are gonna find a way and this one did tonight." Head coach Travis Eversmeyer said.
In what was a pitchers duel early, the Rebels once again made the most out of every opportunity to pick up win number 18 on the season.
Madison Kluever got the start for Northeast and she continued to dominate as she has done all season up to this point. She retired the first three batters in order to start the ball game.
The Wildcats came back with a 1-2-3 inning of their own in the bottom half of the first to keep the Rebels top of the order from doing any damage.
Despite a two out single by the Wildcats, Kluever forced a pop out in foul territory that was caught by the first baseman to head to the bottom half of the second.
Kluever led off the second with a double down the left field line. A walk and a fielders choice loaded the bases before Piper Isbell singled up the middle to score a pair of runs and give the Rebels an early lead.
The pitching was stellar on both sides in the third inning as both teams went down in order.
The fourth inning gave the Rebels some trouble as a couple of singles put two runners on with two outs. A single and an error by the right fielder brought in two Wildcat runs as things were all knotted up.
"We preach the event, response, outcome mantra all the time. They did a great job tonight bouncing back from a couple of mistakes." Eversmeyer said.
However, if there is one thing the Rebels are known for, it is not giving up. A one out walk and a controversial play where the shortstop and runner on second ran into each other went the way of the Rebels as the umps gave them first and third with one out. Ella Trenkamp stepped in to pinch hit for the Rebels, slapping one up the middle to break the tie and score two runs.
"Just clutch hits out of the bottom. We just talked about 6-7-8-9 coming up with clutch hits when the top was kind of struggling tonight." Eversmeyer said.
In the fifth inning a two out error gave the Wildcats a base runner but Kluever was able to pitch her way out of it once again.
Leah Mangelsen led off the bottom half of the inning with a single. Jeorgia Nuemann tripled to center field to add another run to the total. Paige Hoist singled on a ball that never left the infield to score a run before Danica Eberhart shot one through the gap in right center to cap a three run fifth inning for the Rebels.
"It's huge. You get to breathe and that's awesome. You're just focused on outs at that point and the pressure plays become a little less." Eversmeyer said.
In the top half of the sixth Kluever found herself in a jam after a one out single and an error put two runners on. For the third time tonight she pitched her way out of a jam, forcing a pop out to herself to get out of the inning.
"Tonight she looked fresh. She got six or seven strikeouts and was getting ahead in counts which makes her tough. When she gets up you don't know what's coming." Eversmeyer said.
The Rebels got a few baserunners off of a single and an error but could not add to their lead and headed into the seventh inning up five.
In the seventh the Rebels made short work of the Wildcat lineup as they went three up three down and the Rebels picked up the 7-2 win.
