GRANDVIEW HEIGHTS — When Elgin got off the bus at Pierce Park in Grandview Heights, Elgin softball coach Wendy Muselin reassured her young team.
“We talked to them about coming off the bus and being ready to play from the get-go,” she said. “We talked about making routine plays and not letting one mistake compound into two and three and shaking it off and getting the next ball.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for the Comets.
The third seeded Bobcats defeated No. 8 Elgin 15-5 in six innings of a Division VI district semifinal softball game May 19. Heights will now play in the district final May 22 at 5 p.m. at Pickerington North against No. 2 West Jefferson, which beat No. 9 Mechanicsburg 3-2 in the other semifinal.
Two errors led to two of three runs in the first inning for Heights, but Elgin came back with a two-run double from Mallorie Hempy, scoring Melody Hicks and Madisyn Hill to cut the lead to 3-2 in the top of the second inning.
Two more early errors in the bottom of the second led to the Bobcats putting up seven runs in the inning to take a 10-3 lead.
The Comets (8-10) sliced into the lead with two runs off RBI singles from Hayleigh Lowther and Cobra Jackson. They also had the bases loaded, but Heights got out of the jam. In the fourth inning, they cut it to 10-5 when Destiny Frye scored on a wild pitch.
Heights (20-7) ended the game with four runs in the fifth and the game-winner in the sixth.
Elgin goes into the offseason losing just one senior, but she’s a a tough one to replace. Madison Hill, their top pitcher and hitter, graduates.
“It’s big shoes to fill there. Big bat and just a solid player all around,” Muselin said. “She teaches the kids, too. She helps guide them on the field. It’s going to be a tough role to fill.”
With all but two on this year’s roster being a sophomore or freshman, getting reps in a district was good experience. Now Muselin wants to take that into the offseason.
“We talked about not taking the summer off,” she said. “It’s making sure we get into summer workouts and we get our lifting in and do some offseason work. We have to make sure we’re staying after it, especially knowing we have 14 middle school kids who expressed interest in freshman orientation.”
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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Elgin coach hoping softball returnees ready to attack offseason work