Brant’s bombs propel Poland to district final
Bulldogs top West Branch in dominant 8-1 semifinal win
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JEFFERSON -- From the opening pitch Tuesday, Poland's bats were red hot. But no one's bat was hotter than sophomore Mary Brant's.
Brant hit two home runs totalling five RBIs to lead the Bulldogs to a dominant 8-1 win over West Branch in game two of the Jefferson district semifinals.
"I'm glad everyone else got on base," Brant said. "I just wanted to do my team a favor and help them out a little, just looking for a hit. I noticed she was pitching a little outside, but I was just looking for one right down the middle a little higher just to crush it."
The Bulldogs tallied three runs in the first inning and three runs in the second inning off six combined hits to quickly run out to a 6-0 lead.
The Warriors weren't able to get on the board until the third inning when they scored their one-and-only run of the game.
"The good thing is, we didn't quit and (the players) stayed up," said West Branch head coach Jennifer Woods. "We made a couple mistakes early and they capitalized on them."
Even with the early hole, West Branch's six seniors made sure to keep the team's spirits high in the hope of mounting a comeback, but ultimately Poland kept a firm grip on the game.
"They do a good job trying to help each other out," Woods said. "You play seven innings and try to come back one run at a time. We got the one, but (Poland) had a couple nice shots."
13 shots to be exact, as the Bulldogs out-hit West Branch 13-4. In addition to Brant's two bombs, the rest of the top of Poland's lineup was dominant.
Lead-off hitter Emily Denney finished 3-for-5 with a double, Connie Cougras was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Abby Farber was 3-for-4 with an RBI.
"We talked about that before we started," said Poland head coach Jim Serich. "We've been struggling to put runs on the board, just dancing around it. Finally we came out and had a good practice yesterday and they fed off that practice. We tried to tell them to keep their hands back (because) (Warriors pitcher Ryley Pittman) is not going to overpower you. Just make sure you swing to contact and we did that the first two innings."
Poland's defense behind ace pitcher Katie McDonald was the biggest part of keeping the Warriors from mounting the runs needed for a comeback.
In the second inning, after a lead-off single put a runner on first, Poland's Leanne Williams had a solo double play. She caught a lineout down the first-base line to get the first out, then while on the ground leapt to tag first base to get the force out of the baserunner that had taken off.
Then, it happened again in the fourth inning. Farber collected the ball that had been put in play, tagged out the baserunner as she tried to run from first to second and then tossed the ball to Williams at first base to get the groundout.
"Abby Farber's going to St. Bonaventure to play and that's what you get out of a kid going to play up there and she's done it (for us) for three years," Serich said, who added that Farber picked up her 100th career hit for Poland, as well.
Poland's win sets up a rivalry showdown against Canfield in the district final Thursday in this season's third installment of the Battle of the 224. The Cardinals defeated Aurora 2-1 in the first game of the district semis Tuesday afternoon. Canfield won the first meeting between the two teams 12-6 on March 31, while Poland defeated the Cardinals 5-3 on April 29.
"We've still got a long way to go," Serich said. "We know what's waiting for us. We've seen them twice. There's no secrets. We know what they have. They know what we have. So it'll just be a matter of who flinches first -- who makes the first mistake. We're looking forward to that challenge."
nmadhavan@tribtoday.com