For Columbus, there's no substitution for win
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BY LORI GRIFFIN / Lincoln Journal Star
Columbus softball coach Jack Gutierrez had all the confidence in the world that subbing out his players in the eighth inning wouldn’t be a problem Saturday against Class B No. 9 Lincoln Pius X.
And the confidence he had in his team proved to be right when the Discoverers held on to earn a 1-0 win at the Lincoln Public Schools Classic at Doris Bair Park.
The win gave Columbus a 3-0 record and the championship of the pool.
POOL 1
Scores: Omaha Gross 5, Lincoln East 4, 8 innings; Columbus Lakeview 8, Norfolk 4; Omaha Gross 8, Columbus Lakeview 0; Lincoln East 7, Norfolk 5; Omaha Gross 5, Norfolk 2; Lincoln East 10, Columbus Lakeview 2. Omaha Gross wins pool.
Highlights: In East’s loss to Omaha Gross sophomore Alyse Menghini was 2-for-3 with two runs and a double. Marley Christian was 2-for-2. In a 10-2 win against Columbus Lakeview, Menghini was 3-for-3 with a double and Kara Scheel was 2-for-3 with a double.
POOL 2
Scores: North Star 3, Fremont 1; Ralston 6, North Platte 0; Fremont 3, Ralston 2; North Star 3, North Platte 1; Fremont 5, North Platte 3; North Star 3, Ralston 1. North Star wins pool.
Highlights: Against Fremont, North Star’s Paige Policky struck out six in the win. Against North Platte, Brittany Coufal was 2-for-2 with an RBI and freshman Kylie Harpst earned the win. In a win againt Class B No. 4 Ralston, the No. 10-ranked Navigators Mallory Nesson had two hits, while Coufal earned the win and was 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs at the plate.
POOL 3
Scores: Omaha Skutt 13, Lincoln High 0; Norris 9, Wayne 6; Omaha Skutt 2, Norris 0; Omaha Skutt 1, Wayne 0, 8 innings; Wayne 11, Lincoln High 1; Norris 11, Lincoln High 1. Omaha Skutt wins pool.
POOL 4
Scores: Pius X 4, Northeast 1; Columbus 2, Milford 0; Pius X 5, Milford 0; Columbus 7, LIncoln Northeast 3; Columbus 1, Pius X 0, 8 innings; Northeast 3, Milford 2. Columbus wins pool.
POOL 5
Scores: Southeast 11, Omaha Bryan 0; Beatrice 9, Kearney 3; Beatrice 15, Omaha Bryan 0; Southeast 12, Kearney 4; Kearney 21, Omaha Bryan 2; Beatrice 1, Southeast 0. Beatrice wins pool.
Highlights: Against Bryan, Sydnie Abel earned the win, giving up two hits and striking out five in four innings. KK Houser and Kasey Bose each had two hits. Against Kearney, Sara Scheffert earned the win and Houser was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and four stolen bases. Matley Jones was 2-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and an RBI and Tiffany Jones was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. In the loss to Class B No. 3 Beatrice, Southeast had the bases-loaded in the first inning and no outs and could not muster a run. The Knights left seven on base. Courtney Gau threw a two-hitter, striking out seven Lady Orange batters. Beatrice, the pool winner with a 3-0 record, earned the win when Daleigh Fossler bunted in Amanda Taylor with the winning run. In a win against Kearney, Elizabeth Schwartz was 4-for-4 with a home run and earned the win in the circle. Against Bryan, Alicia Armstrong was 3-for-3 with 4 RBIs and Abbie Vitosh earned the win.
POOL 6
Scores: Southwest 4, Waverly 3; Elkhorn 7, Grand Island 1; Waverly 4, Elkhorn 3; Southwest 11, Grand Island 0; Waverly 12, Grand Island 3; Southwest 8, Elkhorn 0. Southwest wins pool.
Highlights: In pool winner Lincoln Southwest’s win against Waverly, Ashley Dunn got the win and Becca Changstrom earned the save. Taylor Flodman doubled for Waverly and added an RBI. Monica Knabe homered and Brittni Eitzmann tripled. Against Grand Island, Alli Catlett hit a grand slam and Changstrom threw a one-hitter, striking out nine. Changstrom threw a no-hitter against Class B second-ranked Elkhorn, striking out 12 Antlers. Ashley Dunn was 2-for-4 and Alex Schmidt added three hits. In Grand Island’s loss to Waverly, Megan Richardson had two hits and in the Islanders loss to Elkhorn, Rachel Weakland was 3-for-3.
“It’s our philosophy to use a lot of subbing,” Gutierrez said. “We’ve got some girls who are better hitters and some who are better at defense. The more seasoned girls came through tonight.”
Columbus (4-1) scored in the top of the eighth with the international run rule in effect.
After a single, Columbus’ Melanie Braun scored the winning run from third on sophomore Jena Andeldt’s single.
“She does a good job, but she made some mistakes,” Gutierrez said. “She got out at second (after attempting to advance to third).
“It’s that kind of instinct that the older kids have but some of the younger ones need to develop.”
After the Discoverers best finish at the LPS Classic in several years, Gutierrez is excited about his team’s potential for the rest of the season.
“We haven’t done that (gone undefeated) in a while and we thought that we have had really good programs in the past. We feel good to go 3-0 and are excited to see what we can do the rest of the season.
“We are 4-1, but we could have very easily been 5-0. We just lost a nine-inning game to Northeast (on Thursday). It was a close game,” Gutierrez said.
Discoverers pitcher Megan Kresha gave up just one hit, striking out three Thunderbolts.
Pius X pitcher Abby Wilmes gave up just three hits, including a double by Andeldt. She struck out eight Columbus batters.
Earlier, the Thunderbolts earned wins against Northeast and Milford. Against the Rockets, Jamie Reed was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Lauren Bodfield also added two hits.
Against Class C No. 8 Milford, Wilmes earned the win, striking out seven.
Columbus advanced with a 2-0 win against Milford and a 7-3 win against Northeast.
Reach Lori Griffin at 473-7174 or lgriffin@journalstar.com.
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