Ryan MahanSpringfield State Journal- Register
CHARLESTON — In team sports, two sides are trying to have a greater determination on the outcome of a game. Will defense win out over offense? Will a dominant pitcher be able to blow a fastball past an all-star hitter? Will one coach outwit the other?
But with outdoor sports, it isn’t just a 50/50 battle. Sometimes the environment or weather has its own say.
And in the top of the first inning, wind gave Mount Zion a little boost.
With two outs and Mount Zion on top, thanks to a solo home run to lead off the game, sophom*ore Chloe Williams lofted a fly ball to center field. It kept carrying, and carrying, until it plopped, ever so gracefully, darned near where teammate Addy Rotz’s shot did.
“I didn’t think they’d go out,” Mount Zion coach Greg Blakey admitted. “They got up in the jet stream a little bit and they went, thank goodness.”
Williams’ supplied two-run cushion was good enough to keep Mount Zion in front for the entire contest in a 4-2 win over Chatham Glenwood in the Class 3A Charleston Sectional at Karch Field on Friday.
“I didn’t think (Williams’ homer) was going out,” Glenwood junior catcher Taryn Griffith said. “It was a changeup that hung up high and it happens.”
Mount Zion (32-5) will face Waterloo in the Decatur Supersectional at Millikin University’s Workman Family Softball Field on Monday at 4:30 p.m.
The wind was rarely as strong the rest of the game as it was early.
“I think the wind died halfway through the game, which didn’t help us,” Glenwood coach Vondel Edgar said. “The top of (Mount Zion’s) order is good.”
Glenwood (28-6) will regroup for the 2025 season after losing two senior starters, though the Feld twins — Cassie and Kate — are prolific producers surely to be missed.
More on Feld twins: How these Chatham Glenwood softball twin sisters live up to the family legacy
Taryn Griffith had two RBI singles for Glenwood in the loss and the Titans got eight hits — two more than Mount Zion — but couldn’t come up with enough with runners in scoring position.
Griffith had three hits while Mollie Cascio, from the No. 9 spot in the Glenwood lineup, was 2-for-3 with a run scored.
“I knew (Mount Zion sophom*ore pitcher Ella Fink) threw kind of high,” Griffith said. “I was just looking for something low in the strike zone and just try to drill it. I wasn’t really looking for anything big because I know she’s a really good pitcher.
“I was just looking to get the ball into play and try to help my team out to get runners on base.”
In the bottom of the second, Glenwood had its potential tying runner picked off from second for the final out. In the top of the fourth, Joelie Shafer hit a two-run double to the gap in right-center field to put Mount Zion ahead 4-1.
Glenwood threatened again in the bottom of the fourth when Cassie Feld was hit by a pitch and Ava Bobb hit a liner past the Mount Zion third baseman, but consecutive fly outs to the outfield squashed that chance.
Griffith pulled Glenwood within 4-2 with a one-out RBI single to center in the bottom of the fifth. The Titans still had two on but Cassie Feld hit into a fielder’s choice and Kate Feld struck out. The Titans had one baserunner in each of the sixth and seventh innings but couldn’t score.
More: Poplar Grove North Boone makes their hits count in narrow win over Auburn in 2A semis
Glenwood pitcher Irie Lohrenz struck out six and allowed four runs on six hits and one walk. Edgar liked how his sophom*ore responded after giving up the two first-inning home runs.
“The first inning is the toughest for good pitchers to get through; you see it all the time,” Edgar, a Mount Zion graduate, said. “I thought Irie settled down and threw a great game after that and gave us a chance.
“We had chances; we just didn’t get the two-out hit. When you give yourself a shot, that’s what you want.”
It was the second year in a row that Glenwood’s season came to an end against Mount Zion. Last year, the Titans fell 6-3 in the Glenwood Sectional championship game.
Contact Ryan Mahan:788-1546,ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
