Clyde battles through rain for district win

FREMONT — Clyde knows it can be better. The Fliers struggled offensively for the first four innings before finally getting to Genoa pitcher Makayla Magrum. Top-seeded Clyde put up seven runs over the final two innings, topping the fourth-seeded Comets 9-0 in a Division IV district semifinal at Fremont Ross on Tuesday. "It's hard to complain when you win 9-0, but we didn't play as well as we're capable of playing," Clyde coach Marc Marshall said. "I think it's a little bit of jitters with the tournament. Like I told the girls, the biggest thing you have to do is survive and advance." The Fliers improved to 21-6 and will face either second-seeded Lake (23-3) or sixth-seeded Rossford (6-13) for the district championship. The final is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday at Fremont Ross. Lake and Rossford were tied at 2 in the top of the third inning Tuesday in the second semifinal when rain postponed the rest of the game to Wednesday. Clyde topped Lake 11-2 on April 4 at Lake. The game was scoreless after four innings. "I know more about Lake," Marshall said. "They are a very good team with a very good pitcher. Coach (Dave) Rymers does a very good job with them. They are very aggressive at the plate. Same thing for Rossford. They have a new coach, but they're always aggressive in that league because they have to be." Clyde took advantage of numerous miscues by Genoa (6-14) to score early. in the first, Teaghan Smith was hit by a pitch and Kennedi Long singled. The Comets looked to be out of the inning on an easy ground ball, but courtesy runner Addy Caudill beat the throw to second, which ended up being dropped. That allowed Smith to scamper home and put the Fliers up 1-0. Ember Andres led off with a single in the fourth. She swiped second base and when the throw went into center she went to third. The toss there was errant as well, allowing her to jet in for a 2-0 lead. That was more than enough help for Taitum Jeffrey, but Clyde got the bats going in the fifth inning. Smith singled and went to second on a wild pitch. Long tattooed a double to the fence to make it 3-0. Run-scoring singles from Vanessa West and Mya Stiefel extended the Fliers' advantage to 5-0. Clyde pumped in four more runs in the sixth, nearly ending the game via run-rule. The Fliers took advantage of errors from Genoa and West added a two-run single. "It was ugly," said Marshall of the first four innings at the plate. "(Magrum) wasn't doing anything in particular. Moving the ball in and out. I think we were a little tight with it being a tournament game. We weren't swinging at strikes to start with, which is uncharacteristic of us. We usually have a pretty good eye at the plate, but tonight for some reason we didn't." Jeffrey was a little wobbly in the first inning. Her first nine pitches were balls and she walked the bases loaded. But she struck out the side to keep Genoa off the board. Jeffrey allowed just three hits and walked only one batter after the first inning. She struck out eight. "It was a different (circle), so hopefully when we come back on Thursday, she'll be a little more (comfortable)," Marshall said. "She just didn't have her stuff today. She battled and got some big outs for us." Long finished with three hits for the Fliers. She's been tough as nails behind the plate catching Jeffrey, but also a huge threat in the No. 4 spot of Clyde's lineup. "She's done a nice job all year," said Marshall of the senior. "She's done a really solid job behind the plate and hitting-wise. She's one of the seniors you wish you could flunk and keep her back for another year." Genoa 000 000 0 — 0 3 7Clyde 100 134 X — 9 12 2 WP: Jeffrey. LP: Magrum 2B: (G) Britt; (C) Long