Confident Pioneer softball team takes first step with 5-1 pre-district win over Huron
As confident as the Pioneer High School softball team was, a one-run lead felt anything but safe. Pioneer's pitching had been solid and the offense had already produced a run to stake the Pioneers to an early lead over the first 2 1/2 innings. But now, the bases were loaded, leaving the door open for them to make Huron's comeback challenge much more demanding. Megan Mosher saw to that, delivering a two-out, three-run double in the third inning, giving Pioneer all the breathing room it needed in a 5-1 Division 1 pre-district win over rival Huron Tuesday at Dexter High School.
The Pioneers (16-17) move on to Saturday's district semifinals against Pinckney. The winner will face either Dexter or Howell in the championship game. Howell advanced with a 7-2 win over Brighton Tuesday.
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Even after beating Huron twice earlier in the year, Pioneer prepared as if they'd need a top-notch effort Tuesday to continue its season. The Pioneers, unsure of which River Rats pitcher they'd see, devoted plenty of time to being aggressive at the plate preparing for the post-season opener. So after loading the bases in the third inning, Mosher stepped to the plate having already struck out once. But on the third pitch she saw from Kristy Arbour, Mosher drove a long liner to the wall, clearing the bases and extending what had been a slim lead. "It felt really good and I think it just pumped us up," Mosher said. Pioneer starter Kelley Wier was in control throughout the day, throwing a complete-game three-hitter. Wier kept Huron (4-26) scoreless until the sixth inning when Grace Kanzawa led off the inning with a single before Arbour delivered her second hit of the day, driving in the River Rats' lone run. It was the only inning that Huron mounted any serious threat, failing to come through with a big hit when the situation warranted one. "I really wanted it so much for this team," Huron coach Jay Jondro said. "it's just been a long time since they've tasted any kind of success and I was just hoping we could piece something together." Outside of the 3-run third, Arbour kept Pioneer's offense from doing too much damage. Despite not pitching for several weeks, Arbour delivered a gutsy performance, but couldn't fully execute some of her off-speed offerings the way she had in the past. Pioneer tacked on one more run in the sixth, using a walk and a Huron error to push its lead to four runs and taking a positive first step on its post-season journey. "We were pretty confident this week and we're just playing our game," Pioneer coach Elissa Brode said. "Whoever comes out here to play, we're going to be ready to play against. It's nice to get the first one out of the way, but our job's not done."
And Brode's players - including Pioneer's seven motivated seniors - know it.
"It's just another game out of the way and we're looking," Mosher said. "We just need to keep hitting the ball, working hard and doing what we do best." Jeff Arnold covers sports for AnnArbor.com and can be reached at (734) 623-2554 or by email at jeffarnold@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffreyparnold.