Doing the splits is tricky and sometimes painful. But on their home softball diamond, Clarkston did it against Waterford Kettering Thursday, taking the first contest of a doubleheader 4-0 and dropping 4-3 in the finale.
Kettering moved to 12-0-5 and 6-3 in the Oakland Activities Association while Clarkston failed to pull to .500. The split makes the Wolves 11-13 and 1-5 in OAA play.
Freshman Bailee Braunreuther pitched a complete game shutout in the first game and then took over for Megan Moehlig in the second after the starter pitched into a predicament.
In the sixth inning, the Captains loaded the bases. Moehlig struck out Kettering’s Taylor Styke and then was pulled in favor of Braunreuther. The Captains scored the go-ahead run before she got a strikeout and a pop up to close the inning.
‘Obviously you’d like to get as many (runs) as you can with the bases loaded, but if you can squeak out one and come back with pitching and strong defense, you’re in pretty good shape,? Waterford Kettering coach Jamie Miller said.
‘Unfortunately in fast pitch, it comes down to one run, you can’t get too greedy.?
Clarkston coach Don Peters made the move to get some experience for Braunreuther in a tough situation. He was impressed by Braunreuther’s reaction in the jam and her work throughout the first game.
‘She had nice movement on the ball and nice control. The defense made the plays behind her and we got a few timely hits,? Peters said.
‘She’s growing and she’s getting better. She hadn’t pitched for a while, so her learning curve has to be accelerated because she didn’t throw all winter.
‘She’s doing a nice job.?
At bat and trailing 3-2 in the sixth, Caitlin Morris scored from first base on a double hit by Shantel Uballe to erase a Kettering lead just one inning earlier.
Miller liked the way her Captains responded to losing the first game.
‘We’ve been working on playing from behind a bit since last week. Things don’t come easy and you have to work for it. Losing that first game, it was a wakeup call that they were going to have to work for it,? she said.
‘They dug down a little for the second game and fought a little bit harder to pull out the win.?
Peters was optimistic about the remainder of the Wolves? season with the district playoffs drawing near.
‘We’ve been working really hard on getting better and it looks to me like they’re getting better,? he said.
The Wolves will be racking up road miles in the next week with a visit to North Farmington Wednesday, Traverse City for a tournament Saturday and Oxford and Rochester next Monday and Tuesday.