High school softball: Midview wins doubleheader against fill-in opponent Buckeye

EATON TWP. — Thank you, Buckeye.Midview was in danger of not having an opponent for Senior Day after Brookside had to cancel because of player injuries.Buckeye, who was scheduled to play in the Keystone round-robin Saturday, pulled out to give the Middies an opponent and Midview thanked them by winning both doubleheader games, 5-1 and 10-4."We were so grateful that (the Bucks) were able to do this for us so that we could have our Senior Day," Middies coach Cassie Haight said. "It spoke volumes about how communities can come together and make things work, because of some family stuff we had to rush our Senior Night and Buckeye really came through for us."The Bucks grabbed a 1-0 lead without the benefit of a hit as Casey Minarchick was hit by a pitch and Eleanor Shaw drew a walk. After moving up on a wild pitch, Ava Piovarchy sent Minarchick home with a grounder to second for the quick lead.It looked like Buckeye (9-3) would be able to add to the lead when Faith Shaw led off the fourth inning with a triple over the center fielder's head.Middies starting pitcher Savannah Holcomb was able to keep the run from scoring by getting a strikeout and then cutting Holcomb down at the plate on a bunt laid down by Kelsey Marano that went straight to the pitcher for an easy flip to the plate.A swinging strikeout later left the runner at first setting up the biggest half-inning of Game 1 for Midview (7-4).Bucks pitcher Lilly Young only allowed one hit through three innings and had struck out five when a Middies power surge took control of the game.Dezirae Thomas led off the inning with a laser off the top of the center-field fence for a home run that tied the game at 1.A walk to Holcomb and a wind-blown single off the bat of Savannah Presser that just eluded Buckeye center fielder Faith Shaw set up Jillian Vandersluis, who blasted a three-run homer deep over the left-field fence to give the Middies a 4-1 lead."I felt like we needed a little bit more and I saw (Young) was throwing a lot of rise balls and that's what I was able to hit," Vandersluis said. "It means a lot to be able to do this for the seniors and give them a win on their day."Holcomb had runners get on base in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but each time was able to escape any damage.The last Midview run of the game came when senior Nina Ballachino hit a home run off the baseball field fence in left-center."Lilly (Young) is a great pitcher, and I've faced her a lot," Ballachino said. "I think the second time through the lineup, our mentality was very different and our energy was way up after Dezirae hit that first home run."Midview took control early in Game 2, scoring five times in the first inning including a Hailey Dye grand slam.The Middies banged out 13 hits in the second game, getting three hits from Thomas and two hits each from Mallory Hechko and Arriana Presser.Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.