News Photo by Owen Kinzey The Alpena High School softball team celebrates a home run by Paige Samp during the Wildcats’ 6-4 win over Garden City on Friday at Alpena High.
ALPENA – On Friday, the Alpena High School softball team played its final game before hosting the Wildcat Invite Tournament.
The Wildcats squared off with Garden City and played a good team game for a 6-4 win.
Paige Samp led the Wildcats through seven innings on the mound and crushed a home run at the plate to advance with a win going into the tournament.
While the defense behind her wasn’t always superb, Alpena bounced back every time to work out of tough jams just enough to sneak past the Cougars.
“We played a really clean game today,” Alpena Coach Paul Marwede said. “We focused on timely hitting, we ran the bases well, and we really played very well as a team.”
News photo by Owen Kinzey Alpena High School’s Sydney Hitzelberger hits the ball during the Wildcats’ 6-4 win over Garden City on Friday at Alpena High.
Although many of the games this season have started slowly, Alpena jumped on Garden City early to take a quick lead and immediate momentum.
Emilee Modrzejewski got on base first due to a walk, which set up Samp with a runner on base.
Samp then singled, driving Modrzejewski into scoring position, where a base hit by Sydney Hitzelberger brought him home.
Samp then came across the plate, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
After a quiet second inning from both sides, Hitzelberger put another runner on base by drawing a walk.
Ava Rospierski came on in the same inning and reached base on an error.
That error resulted in Hitzelberger going home to extend the lead to 3-0 in the third.
Through four innings of pitching, Samp finally found his first foul on the mound during the fifth.
Garden City’s leadoff hitter smoked a double. The two-hole hitter then followed with another double to score a run.
Three runners scored in the bottom of the inning, mostly due to Alpena fielding errors.
Now tied 3-3, the Wildcats are looking to regain the lead.
Deep inside, Samp won one of the runs he just gave up.
Samp caught the pitch he was looking for and drove it into center field, crashing into the scoreboard for a home run.
The Wildcats had renewed the lead, and more would come in the next innerring.
Going into the bottom of the sixth, Alpena prayed for some insurance for an easy approach to the game.
The Cougars made an early mistake and gave up a single to Hitzelberger, which later cost Garden City two more runs.
Those runs were costly, as Alpena now held a 6-3 lead in the seventh.
While Garden City responded with a late home run in the top of the inning, the Wildcats easily got the final two outs to close out the game in a 6-4 victory.
“We had a ball game in the fifth, where we capitalized to take the lead, and the next inning scored some insurance to make it easier on ourselves for the seventh,” Marwede said. “I’m happy with how we hit today. We made solid contact and really put the ball in play, which is promising.”
Alpena travels to Petoskey on Tuesday.
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News Photo by Owen Kinzey The Alpena High School softball team celebrates a home run by Paige Samp during the Wildcats’ 6-4 win over Garden City on Friday at Alpena High.
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News photo by Owen Kinzey Alpena High School’s Sydney Hitzelberger hits the ball during the Wildcats’ 6-4 win over Garden City on Friday at Alpena High.
