Central deals Freeburg its first loss of the season

Sometimes having a little insurance pays off in a big way.

Central’s Kaitlyn Smith provided a prime example of that, her two-run single with two strikes and two outs in the top of the seventh inning capping a three-run inning for the Cougars and helping them come away with a 9-7 victory over previously unbeaten Freeburg on a cold, windy sometimes rainy Thursday.

“Taking two strikes right away, kind of had me freaked out,” said Smith, who was facing Freeburg reliever Josie Ledbetter. “But I still had the confidence that I could come through and help my team. Fortunately I was able to do that.”

A two-run first inning staked Freeburg (8-1) to an early 2-0 lead. Then after falling behind 5-3, the Midgets had rallied to take a 6-5 lead only to see Central come back again.

“We had too many errors to beat a very good team like Central,” said Freeburg coach Ben Howes, whose team had five fielding miscues which led to five unearned runs. “The positive thing is we battled back to the very end, had the tying run on base when the last out was made.

“We’ve got nothing to feel bad about, we’re 8-1. It was just unfortunate.”

Key sequence

The teams had entered the top of the seventh tied at 6-6, but consecutive errors allowed Central (9-1) to get its first two hitters aboard.

Freeburg pitcher Miranda Schulte did strike out the next two batters before Caitlyn Sellers snapped the tie with a single to right-center, making it 7-6 A walk to Olivia Wesselman followed, loading the bases.

Ledbetter replaced Schulte on the mound and after throwing two strikes to Smith, the senior connected for what proved to be the game’s deciding hit. The two RBIs gave Smith a team-high 16 for the season.

“Kaitlyn’s a gamer for us, she really bears down when we need her too,” said Central coach Gigi Kohrmann. “She won’t back down to anything and she showed that in that last at bat.”

Schulte opened the bottom of the seventh with a home run to right-center off Wesselmann. The Midgets would put two more runners aboard, but the game ended when Freeburg’s Cheyenne Bivens was caught in a rundown — Cougars catcher Caitlyn Sellers making a good effort to retrive the ball — while trying to score from third following a wild pitch.

Early on

Back-to-back doubles in the first from Jenny Homann and Schulte staked Freeburg to a 2-0 lead.

After a 25-minute rain delay with one out in the top of the third, Central took its first lead at 5-2 by pushing across five runs soon after the game resumed. Mackenzie Ratermann drove in two of them with a double.

After scoring a single run in the bottom of the third, Freeburg regained the lead with a three-run bottom of the fourth. Schulte broke the tie with a single, her third hit of the game. She would finish four for four with a pair of doubles, her fifth homer of the season and four RBIs. The four RBIs gives Schulte 25 for the season.

Kirsten Thomas led off the top of the sixth for Central with a double and would tie the game at 6, scoring on an error by the Freeburg shortstop.

Wesselmann (3-0), who pitched the final two innings for the Cougars, earned the win. Kaylee Schrand handled the first five innings for Central, allowing six runs on seven hits.

Schulte (4-1) took the loss for Freeburg. She allowed nine runs, four earned, on seven hits.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 10:02 PM with the headline "Central deals Freeburg its first loss of the season."