Opfer sparks Margaretta's return to district final

SHELBY — At the start of the season, Jamie Opfer wasn't a catcher but had no choice but to become one. But in the past two months, Opfer has grown "leaps and bounds," Margaretta coach Dale Dawson said. And she's become one of the biggest reasons the Polar Bears will get the chance to defend their district softball title. "I have a lot more confidence than what I did before," Opfer said. "I have a lot of confidence from my teammates and coaches, as well, and that helps a lot." In Wednesday's five-inning 11-1 district semifinal win over Clear Fork, Opfer had three hits, gunned out two runners attempting to steal second and made sure to lock in a number of borderline strikes on both corners for ace Mariah Fields. "She had a really nice game," Dawson said. "They're historically an aggressive baserunning team, and for her to take that element away, that was big for us." The 2-seed Polar Bears (19-9) advance into Friday's district championship game back in Shelby to play top-seed Huron. The co-SBC Bay champions split during the regular season, making it a high-stakes rubber match. "There was a little bit of doubt, because the early-season slump hung around longer than we wanted it to," Dawson said. "For these guys to stick in there and get a little more success and mature… We're really happy." Lilly Edwards, Ellianna Young and Fields each added two hits, with Fields driving in four runs. "We've just stayed confident and know that we can," Opfer said. "We've really merged together as a team." Fields allowed five hits and one run to a team that entered the game batting .381. She struck out six. "You can't rattle (Fields)," Dawson said. "I just know I have to stay confident," Fields added. "If I'm not confident, I won't pitch a good game." Fields could work mostly stress-free because Margarretta's offense wasted no time. Edwards reached on an error to start the bottom of the first, and Opfer followed with a single to left before stealing second to set up second and third. Powerful freshman Cassidy Lane brought the first run home with a single between short and third. Two batters later, it was the Polar Bears' other freshman starter, Young, lacing a liner the other way to the right-center gap to bring home two more for an early 3-0 lead. "(Young) is kind of symbolic of our team," Dawson said. "... She's a freshman we could've easily benched after a rough month. She's a phenomenal athlete, she just had to get comfortable and get some confidence." Fields doubled the advantage in the second after Hailey Williams reached on an error and Edwards and Opfer each singled. The senior Fields sat back and drove a ball deep to left-center to clear the bases with a double. "I was looking at the slow pitching and knew I had to wait on it," Fields said. "We've been working on that lately, so I just had to do that." Margaretta added a run in the third when Young singled, stole second and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch. "The cool thing, at practice one day I got on (Young) a little bit, and you don't know how the younger kids are gonna react," Dawson said. "And she came to me after practice and said, 'I like you yelling at me. Can you yell at me?' She got motivated from it." Any Clear Fork hopes were stifled even further when Edwards made a brilliant backhand play at shortstop that she fired to the stretching Skylar Colvin at first base to end the top of the fourth. The Polar Bears added two more in the bottom half. Opfer led off with a single into left, her third hit in as many at-bats. "Just had to stay confident and relax," Opfer said. "And just really wait, wait, wait on the ball and swing at good pitches, being aggressive but swinging at the good pitches." Fields followed with a hit the other way. Lane got the first run in on a sacrifice fly, and a Colvin groundout made it 9-0. Clear Fork plated its lone run in the fifth on an infield single and a double by star Melodie Blubaugh. Margaretta activated the 10-run-rule in the bottom of the fifth. Ellie Belak led off with a walk before Mia Kane doubled her home. Three walks followed, with Fields drawing a base on balls to force in the game-ending run. "It took a lot of team bonding and chemistry, and we have really come together," Fields said. "That's really what has brought us this far." Afterward, it was clear just how far this Polar Bears team had come as they donned floaties and sunglasses as part of their 'Beach Day' theme. At the start of the season, they had to replace a ton of senior leadership and talent, including moving Opfer behind the dish from third base to replace stalwart Phoebe Dreschel. Things were bumpy for a while, with Margaretta seeming unable to string together multiple wins during a 7-8 start. But since then, they've rattled off 12 wins in 13 games and are heading right back to where they always believed they could be. "It just took us a little bit of time to figure out who goes where, who does what, who assumes what kind of roles," Dawson said. "We knew that's the type of team we have right there." Clear Fork 000 01 — 1 5 1Margaretta 331 22 — 11 13 1 WP: Fields. LP: Chrastina 2B: (CF) Blubaugh; (M) Kane, Fields, Young