Freshman Cayla Contraras and junior Sydney Davis celebrate during the Chargers’ winning game against University of Tampa, March 17. Courtesy | Ashley Van Hoose
Senior MacKenzi Maxson was named Great Midwest Athletic Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week as Hillsdale softball won seven of 11 games during spring break, including a victory against the University of Tampa to snuff out its 11-game win streak. The Chargers are also currently 2-0 in conference.
Despite facing some setbacks, head coach Kyle Gross said that he is proud of how the team is growing together and courageously facing challenging teams.
“Overall, my team has faced adversity,” Gross said. “They’ve been a little inconsistent, but I am proud of how they have not allowed that to get them down. In the end, they are still who they are, you know, and just happy and they have fun.”
The Chargers are now 14-11 for the season.
Games four and five in the week were against The University of Tampa and resulted in a 6-0 loss and 1-0 win, respectively. Maxson said Tampa is a name still fresh in the minds of the upperclassman competitors due to their standing in last year’s regional tournament.
“MacKenzi had a phenomenal game pitching and only gave up two hits,” sophomore catcher Nathalie Hagle said. “I would say her pitching this game was the best of the year so far. I had a double in the third inning to score Sydney Davis allowing us to win 1-0.”
Maxson threw a complete game two-hitter and only allowed four baserunners in the second game. This defense ended Tampa University’s 11-win streak, granting her the G-MAC pitcher of the week.
The first game the Chargers played was against Saint Martin’s University and ended in an 8-5 loss as Saint Martin’s managed to gain a 4-0 lead against Hillsdale in the first two innings.
Hagle said despite the defeat, she was proud of freshman Ava Stripp for hitting her first home run of the season. Hagle also praised junior middle infielder Sydney Davis.
“Sydney was the MVP of this game in my opinion as she did very well hitting and had three RBI,” Hagle said.
The Chargers won their second game against Edinboro University of Pennsylvania with a score of 11-1.
“Our team really shined in this game,” Hagle said. “We came out and scored 4 in the first inning, sophomore catcher and utility player Olivia Ligouri had a grand slam, and MacKenzi Maxson had four strikeouts in four innings.”
The third game was against regional rival Lewis University and resulted in a 7-4 win for the Chargers.
“They are a regional opponent and a team that we ended up eliminating from Regionals last season after they had put us in the losers bracket at the beginning of Regionals,” Maxson said. “They’ve lost some key players, but they’re still gritty, so getting a win against them on Sunday felt amazing.”
For games six and seven, the Chargers played Florida Southern College, winning 8-5 and 5-2, respectively. During the first match, Haggle hit three sacrifice flies, scoring a total of three runs, and senior infielder Anna Chellman hit two RBI’s.
“The defense made very clutch plays, especially during double plays in the infield,” Maxon said. “Anna Chellman stopped a lot of hits to the hot corner, and our outfield range was great.”
The Chargers lost their eighth and ninth games to Embry-Riddle University, shouldering scores of 3-2 and 9-1, respectively.
For the last two games, the Chargers returned home to start their conference play against Lake Erie College. The Chargers used their home field to their advantage, securing a 10-8 and 9-0 win, respectively.
“We swept them, which is expected, but we really could not afford to underestimate them,” Haggle said. “Our offense really showed up yesterday, which made defense and pitching a little easier. Despite the win in the first game, we were definitely not happy by how close the score was.”
Gross said the psychological aspect of softball has a large influence on a player’s performance, and he noticed it in the games when some of the Chargers would get in their heads.
“There were an unfortunate couple times where players let up a little bit, and those little let ups cost us games,” Gross said. “I want my team to remember to stay very upbeat in the dugouts, having energy and really cheering for your teammates when you’re in the game, and out of the game.”
The Chargers will be facing Northwood University, Cedarville University, and Ursuline College March 25, 28, and 29.
