Cal-Mum 3B Courtney Flagler slides into home as Avon P Katie Renner attempts to tag her out (Photo credit: A.J. Devine)
CALEDONIA — The Red Raiders outscored the Braves by a combined score of 23-4 over their two game doubleheader on Tuesday. Cal-Mum senior Kelsey McMullen pitched all 14 innings for the Raiders.
“Kelsey gets some speed [on her pitches] but she also gets some movement as well,” Cal-Mum manager Dan Dickens said. “She gets a lot of ground ball outs, and when she’s getting ground ball outs is when she’s pitching at her best.”
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The two wins helped the Raiders secure at least a tie (with Warsaw) for the Division 2 crown going into sectionals later this month.
“Because Kelsey will be throwing every game of sectionals, we’ve got to get her into a rhythm. We’ve done it the last couple of years and we’ve had success with that,” Dickens said.
The first game presented a bit more of a challenge to the Raiders, as they were only up 3-1 in the fifth inning. Cal-Mum senior 3B Courtney Flagler hit a powerful shot to centerfield which brought home sophomore outfielder Emily MacDonald, and junior catcher Halle Platten followed that up with an RBI double of her own. The extra security allowed McMullen to cruise through the remaining two innings en route to the 6-1 final.
Cal-Mum then took the role of the away team for the second game, meaning they led off the top of the first inning. The Raiders wasted no time in getting on the board. Junior shortstop Hannah Anderson hit a ground-rule double down the left-field line and scored on Flagler’s RBI double two batters later. McMullen brought her home with an RBI triple of her own. Junior first 1B Emma Hallett and freshman 2B Gillian Flint both hit RBI singles in the seven-run first inning as well.
By the fourth inning, Cal-Mum had opened up a 13-1 lead and went on to win by a final score of 16-3.
Cal-Mum (11-2) will play at home against Perry on Thursday. Avon (4-6) will play York at home on Thursday.