Streaking Panther Softball Wins Eight of Nine
After a slow start to the season, the young Stockbridge softball team has turned things around by winning eight of its last nine games and 12 of its last 14 to improve to 15-9 overall on the season.
The Panthers have climbed up in the GLAC standings by winning their last six conference games.
They swept Lakewood in three straight last week.
Stockbridge took the opener 8-1 behind a 13-strikeout performance by Bailey Bartrum. She also led the offense with three hits and two RBI.
McKenzie Noble had three hits and scored four runs, Joslynn Caskey two hits and three RBI, Jessica Sparks two hits, and Rylee Recchy a hit and two RBI.
The Panthers finished the doubleheader sweep with a 10-3 win.
Caskey picked up a pair of hits and two RBI, while Makayla Surline had two hits and an RBI. Noble and Hailey Gauss each had a hit and RBI, and Melanie Satkowiak a hit and two runs scored. Bartrum struck out eight for the win.
An Ashlee Grumelot walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh gave the Panthers the series sweep of Lakewood with an 8-7 win.
Lakewood tied the game with a pair of runs in the seventh, but Grumelot came through with the game-winner to lift the Panthers to the win.
Bartrum had a pair of hits and an RBI, while Surline had two hits and a run scored. Grumelot finished with a hit and two RBI, Noble and Arianna Place a hit and run scored each and Sparks a hit and RBI. Bartrum picked up the win with 11 strikeouts.
The Panthers took three from Maple Valley behind the amazing pitching effort of Bartrum. Stockbridge opened with a 15-0, 17-0 doubleheader sweep of the Lions. Bartrum struck out all 18 batters she faced in the two three-inning games, not allowing one batter to hit the ball in fair territory in the sweep.
Bailey Bartrum struck out 21 straight batters against Maple Valley
Caskey led the offense with two hits and four RBI in the opener. Grace Burg had a hit and two RBI and Bartrum two hits and an RBI.
The second game saw Grumelot pick up a pair of hits and two RBI, while Gauss and Place each had two hits and an RBI. Jamie Phillips added a hit and RBI.
The strikeout streak for Bartrum reached 21 as she struck out the first three batters of the third game that the Panthers won 23-7.
Maple Valley led off the second with a double to end Bartrum’s streak.
Bartrum led the offense with three hit and four RBI, while Sparks had two hits and an RBI. Noble, Burg, Gauss, Caskey, and Azora Parks each had a hit and RBI. Place added a hit and two RBI.
The Panthers played in a pair of tournaments. They won two of three to claim the Blissfield tournament title.
Stockbridge opened with an 11-4 win over Adrian.
Burg and Bartrum each had two hits and an RBI. Noble and Caskey had a hit and RBI, Gauss, Recchy, and Grumelot a hit and run scored. Bartrum struck out 12 for the win.
The Panthers then beat Blissfield 2-1 in a barnburner.
Caskey and Sparks drove in runs with its to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the fifth. Blissfield put the first three runners on in the sixth, but Stockbridge picked off a runner in a rundown for the first out. Bartrum got a strikeout and a groundout to end the threat with just one run. Blissfield put a runner on in the seventh, but Bartrum struck out the final batter to end the game.
Bartrum struck out 14 for the win. Grumelot and Noble added hits for the Panthers.
Stockbridge ran out of gas in the third game, falling to Melvindale 16-10. Bartrum led the offense with two hits, while Noble and Gauss had a hit and RBI each. Caskey, Satkowiak, and Sparks each added one hit.
The Panthers then won two of three at their own Panthers Invitational.
They opened with an 18-3 pounding of Onsted. Place had a big game by going 4-4 with two RBI. Noble, Batrum, and Recchy each had two hits and two RBI, and Sparks two hits and one RBI. Gauss added two hits and three RBI and Surline a hot and three runs scored.
The Panthers then took out East Jackson 10-6. Noble had a double and triple and two RBI, Caskey and Sparks two hits and an RBI each. Surline, Recchy, and Burg each had a hit and RBI. Bartrum struck out 14 for the win.
The final game of the day to decide the title saw the Panthers fall to Bad Axe 8-7 in eight innings.
Both teams scored three runs in the seventh to send the game to extra innings. Stockbridge took a 7-6 lead in the eighth, but Bad Axe scored twice to win the game in a walk-off.
Gauss had a big game with four hits and two runs scored. Caskey added three hits, Place two hits and an RBI, and Grumelot one hit and four RBI. Sparks added a double and run scored. Bartrum struck out 12 for the Panthers.
