Injured Huron falls to Archbold in district final

NAPOLEON — Huron was right there. The Tigers got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning and had an opportunity to maybe tie the game. Archbold shut that down and took advantage of a banged-up Huron defense in the fifth inning. The top-seeded Blue Streaks scored seven runs to finish off a five-inning 11-1 run-rule win over the Tigers in a Division V district final at Napoleon High School on Friday. Huron finishes the season with a record of 12-10. The Tigers return all but one player to next year's team. "We have one senior, but everyone else comes back," Huron coach Jude Schmidt said. "Hopefully this motivates them. I'm sure it will. It's a bad taste, especially being one hit away from potentially tying the game." Archbold (20-6) led 3-0 after three innings, but Huron got something going in the fourth. After two quick outs, Reece Hotz singled and pinch-runner Jayden Budka went to second on a wild pitch. Then a ball hit by Madison Holeman was errantly thrown to first. The error allowed Budka to score and Holeman to get all the way to third. Allison Hillman walked and stole second, but Archbold pitcher Madi Bowers induced a popup on the infield to escape further damage. "If we get a hit, it's completely different," Schmidt said. "That's how close we were. That's how critical each person is in their position." The Blue Streaks got the run back, but physical damage hurt Huron more in the bottom half of the inning. Holeman retired the first two batters without problems before Adi Kinsman singled up the middle. She stole second and scampered to third when the pitch hit the dirt. Makena Tiell then smoked one up the middle off of Holeman's left leg. The play was nearly made at first, but Tiell was safe. The Tigers were further damaged when, after a ball hit by Meg Ames, Huron got Tiell in a rundown trying to get to third. Starting shortstop and leadoff hitter Lucy Hinners got the tag on Tiell, but not without pain. Hinners left the game and didn't return. With nearly an entirely new defense on the field from the start of the game, the Tigers struggled in the fifth inning. The Blue Streaks hit the ball well, but were aided by a couple mental mistakes by Huron. A two-run triple from Charlee Forward ended the game. "I'm proud of the effort," Schmidt said. "We got banged up — line drive off the leg, foul ball off the knee, cleat to the head. That's our core, too. That's hard to replace that. The defense went down. We hung in there and battled." Bowers was tough in the circle for Archbold. She struck out six, but three of those came in the first five batters of the game. "We knew she changed her speeds well," Schmidt said. "She hits her spots. She didn't have many walks. She's not a big strikeout pitcher, but she pitched good today. She mixed it up and kept it up and down. She executed." Huron was able to get runners on base in every inning. In the second inning, Holeman singled before Archbold turned a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the frame. In the third, Kyleigh Gillman was hit by a pitch before a second double play in as many innings aided the Blue Streaks' defense. "That's hard," Schmidt said. "You hit a ball hard to second base and a hard one to shortstop. You like when you hit the ball hard." Kaylee Albrycht is the lone senior for the Tigers, who were playing in their third district final in six seasons. "She's been a special one to coach," Schmidt said. "It's tough seeing her finish. She was a freshman playing in a district semi with runners at second and third in a 2-1 game. She puts a single over the second baseman's head. Then today, she got a hit in her first at-bat. "She's had a great career and done a lot of great things." Huron 000 10 — 1 4 1 Archbold 210 17 — 11 14 1 WP: Bowers. LP: Holeman. 2B: (A) Bosco, Ames. 3B: (A) Forward