The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Amherst has a blast against Midview
When Southwestern Conference foes Amherst and Midview met April 2, many expected a close battle, but the Comets only needed five innings for an 11-0 win.
Amherst totaled 11 hits and improved to 2-1 overall behind starter Madison O’Berg’s complete-game shutout.
“We know Midview is very good and they have a lot of girls back from last year,” Amherst coach Lacey Reichert said. “We also had in our minds that we came in here last year and got blanked. They beat us, 5-0. We didn’t want that to happen again this year. That was on the girls’ minds.”
With Middies starter Marcella McMahon in the circle, the Comets jumped to an early lead. Freshman Lindsey Reavis led off the top of the first with a blast to center field that hit the top of the wall for a double leading to a Kasey McGraw sacrifice RBI and 1-0 lead.
Freshman Mackenzie Cornwell drove in Lauren Kachure in the second inning for an RBI double, and Amherst scored five runs in the fourth to go up, 7-0.
Kachure, the Comets’ top home run hitter, blasted a solo shot to left center, and Reavis and Crisler later drove in three more runs for a 11-0 lead in the top of the fifth.
Kachure went 2-for-2 with an RBI and two runs, Reavis went 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs and McGraw had three RBI.
“My home run felt really nice,” Kachure said. “I feel like there was pressure on me last year because I had the most home runs in the county and it felt really good to get another home run. I’m more proud that we won the game and the home run just added to our win.”
Kachure added that the Comets had a strong approach at the plate.
“Going from (playing) North Ridgeville and Keystone, it was all over the place speed wise,” Kachure said. “So we had to adjust and her speed was just perfect for us. We kind of struggled last game hitting, but right off the bat when Lindsey almost had that home run that really got us going.”
The Middies (0-1) had six hits and two errors, but no one around their program is panicking after one game. Coach Mike Ives know what type of team he has.
“Luckily it’s a long journey,” he said. “We’ll be fine, everyone just needs to relax. I’m not going to look too much into one game. It’s a long season. That’s a great softball team over there and they’re two years (out) from going to state and they didn’t lose much. But we need to keep believing in ourselves. You can’t have two bad innings and expect to beat a really good team.”
O’Berg tossed 73 total pitches and struck out three batters while yielding one walk. She improved to 2-1 overall.
“I feel like we’ve all worked hard and we deserved this win,” O’Berg said. “The offensive performance takes a lot of weight off my shoulder. From last game to this one, I’ve been working hard and we knew Midview is a good hitting team and I had to work on my spins and that worked today.”
Amherst has already faced a tough schedule, losing to Keystone last week, 3-2, but Reichert wouldn’t want it any other way, knowing what her team could do down the stretch.
“We have to play the best to be the best,” she said. “That’s why we schedule Keystone and obviously Midview is in our conference, we’ll see them twice. But to be as good as we want to be, those are teams we have to play and beat.”