FREMONT – A night of frustration boiled over for the Fremont Ross softball team Friday.
Errant throws to first base led directly to Toledo Central Catholic’s only runs of the game. The Lady Giants, meanwhile, frequently put runners in scoring position only to come up short in bringing them home. Then, with a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, a controversial call went against the Lady Giants, bringing a quick, disappointing finish to a 2-1 loss.
Then the drama began.
The game
Trailing by a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, Ross quickly put itself in position for a walk-off victory.
Kayla Rich and Braelyn Horn led off the inning by reaching base thanks to Central Catholic fielding errors. Rich sent a flyball to left which was dropped while Horn tipped a groundball just feet in front of the catcher who failed to field it cleanly and suddenly, the Lady Giants were in business.
With one out and Rich and Horn having advanced to third and second, Ross stood one Kaylee Dodson base-hit away from a walk-off victory.
Dodson ripped a line drive low to the ground right to third base. The third baseman fielded the ball cleanly and quickly tagged out Risch for an inning-ending doubleplay as the umpire ruled the line drive caught before it touched the ground.
“I thought it did (touch the ground) while it was in her glove, it almost looked like a snow-cone with the ball being dragged on the ground, so it would be a live ball,” Ross coach Tony Hill said. “…He said she caught it.”
Ross had several opportunities to take control of the game before the final inning. In the bottoms of the third and fourth innings, the Lady Giants put runners on third and second and both times failed to score. The top of the ensuing inning, saw the Irish take advantage of Ross miscues. In the top of the fourth and fifth innings, Central Catholic’s lead-off hitter reached base thanks to a Ross error on the throw to first base.
Both times the runner came around to give the Irish an unearned run.
“The last two days we played down to our competition,” Hill said. “To a girl, we are better than Central Catholic. “To a girl, we were better than Bowling Green (Thursday’s opponent) and we just did not play well. I think we got overly-hyped up for Clay, so I expected a hangover for Bowling Green, that kind of carried over to today.”
In the pitcher’s circle Morgan Englund pitched a fine game, scattering five hits over seven innings with three walks and six strikeouts while walking three.
“Morgan pitched her butt off,” Hill said. “In any conference game, you have to score more than one run. Whether we give up unearned runs or not, you’ve got to score five or six runs in a conference game. We know that we’re more than capable of that. Gabby (Zuniga) and Paige (Risch) had fantastic days hitting. I wish I could put my finger on it. We’re not there as a team yet.”
Postgame
Following the game, as is custom for most teams, Ross gathered in the outfield for a postgame meeting, during which emotions between Hill and his players boiled over.
Several players left the field angry and in tears. Others appeared frustrated by the actions of their teammates. Upset parents exchanged words with Hill and long conversations were had with athletic director Chad Berndt.
At the center of the conflict appeared to be fundamental differences of opinion on where the line is between pushing a team and belittling it; between instilling accountability and discipline and treating players unfairly and with disrespect.
“We get blamed for the intensity we bring, it’s not good enough and some of the girls are fed up with it,” Braelyn Horn said. “Some of the girls feel like they shouldn’t be here, aren’t meant to be here and aren’t wanted to be here. They don’t think he wants them here.
“It’s not nothing to them,” she added. “If he’s giving off that, ‘I don’t want you guys to be here,’ persona, nobody’s going to want to bring that intensity to play and be here.”
Hill, who is in his second season as head coach, declined to comment on the postgame conflicts, until he’s had a chance to discuss the situation with Berndt more in-depth.
Horn and Morgan Englund, both fourth-year varsity players, were among the most visibly upset with the situation.
“We give him respect but I feel like we don’t get it in return,” Englund said. “If we do something good, we don’t get applauded for it. We don’t get a ‘Good job,’ or anything.
“Honestly, I cannot tell you the last time I was told ‘Good job pitching,’ and it sucks because I pitch my ass off. I try my hardest and it’s not good enough. I’m sure the other girls feel they’re not good enough.”
While tempers and frustrations colored emotions Friday night in the immediate minutes following the game, with time brought the perspective that the situation was gray, rather than simply black and white.
“We all need to step it up and figure out what’s wrong,” senior Hailey Taylor said. “It’s not necessarily on (Hill). Some of it is on him, but not all of it. You can’t just be that stereotype and just blame it on the head coach, there are other problems than just him.
“We’re going to try to work things out and I think we can do it. We have to be honest and truthful with each other and we really need to listen and not get mad at each other when we’re truthful,” Taylor added. “And if we can do that, I think we can get right back on track.”
Berndt was on hand at the game and had numerous discussions with players, parents and the coaching staff in the moments following the game. He said he plans to continue to gather information from all sides, including a Monday afternoon meeting with both players and then the coaching staff.
“I think it’s a combination of both external and internal factors, of which I’m finding out,” Berndt said.
“On Monday I’m meeting with the players just to try to identify what the root causes of the issues are and what steps need to be taken from there, I think that’s the best way of approaching it right now. I think, right now, everybody has an opinion and a viewpoint of what’s wrong and it’s their opinion. I have to find the facts to support that and make a decision on what best for the program moving forward.
“Tonight, obviously, with what happen, it was evident there were some bigger issues that came to the surface tonight that couldn’t be ignored, or weren’t going to be ignored anymore.”
| Box score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fremont Ross | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 15 | 2 | ||
| Port Clinton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 1 | ||
| TEAM | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | 2B | 3B | HR | ||||
| Rich | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Horn | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Zuniga | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Dodson | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Risch | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Logan | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Taylor | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Lenke | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Ochs | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Englund | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Szmanowski | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| TOTALS | 36 | 14 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| HBP -- Zuniga | ||||||||||||
| Team LOB -- 10 | ||||||||||||
| Team RISP -- 6 | ||||||||||||
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ||||||
| Englund | 7 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 |