By Staff
MATTAWAN – Pitching hitting and defense helped lead the Brandywine varsity softball team to the championship of the Mattawan Invitational on Saturday.
The Lady Bobcats improved to 9-5 on the year by beating St. Joseph 5-0, Paw Paw 6-3 and Vicksburg 1-0 in the title game.
Brandywine pounded out 29 hits, committed just three errors and got 43 strikeouts from senior pitcher Kendra Zache to win the championship.
In the title game, The Lady Bobcats and Lady Bulldogs were scoreless through five innings of play.
Brandywine scored a run in the top of the sixth and then held on for the victory.
Brandywine outhit Vicksburg 6-2 in the contest.
Brooke Coshow had the game's only extra base hit as she doubled.
Zache had a two-hitter, recording 15 strikeouts in the process.
In the opening game against St. Joseph, Delaina Schroeder, Becky Modlin and Shawna Bromley all doubled as the Lady Bobcats finished with nine hits.
Schroeder also had a single and drove in three runs.
Zache tossed a three-hitter with 14 strikeouts.
Brandywine trailed 1-0 to Paw Paw early in the semifinals, but knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the third. Brandywine took a 4-1 lead in the fifth inning and increased it to 6-1 with a pair of runs in the sixth.
Paw Paw scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, but could not catch the Lady Bobcats.
Brandywine finished with 14 hits, including a triple and a double by Kristina Ford. Zache allowed four hits with 14 strikeouts.
Mattawan Invitational
First Game
Brandywine 310 001 0 – 5 9 1
St. Joseph 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
WP – Kendra Zache (B, 5-5) and Jill Sater
LP – S. Helsey (SJ) and S. Cobb
2B: Delaina Schroeder (B) 2, Becky Modlin (B), Shawna
Bromley (B)
Second Game
Paw Paw 100 000 2 – 3 4 1
Brandywine 001 032 x – 6 14 2
WP – Kendra Zache (B, 6-5) and Jill Sater
Colleen Lynch (PP) and Jackie Brown
2B: Kristina Ford (B), Brown (PP), Lynch (PP)
3B: Ford (B)
Championship Game
Brandywine 000 001 0 – 1 6 0
Vicksburg 000 000 0 – 0 2 1
WP – Kendra Zache (B, 7-5) and Jill Sater
LP – Kristen Kuhlman (V) and Marianne Cagney
2B: Brooke Coshow (B)
Record
Brandywine 9-5