CC grabs 3rd Regional softball title
(Talk of the Town photo by Andrew Ferrell) Columbia City softball takes time out of their celebration to show that they are Regional champs after they beat Mishawaka Marian 8-3 for the title.
By Andrew Ferrell
Columbia City gets to add another placard to their trophy case as the softball team snatched an 8-3 Regional championship over the 3A #2 Lady Knights of Mishawaka Marian.
The Lady Eagles advanced to the regional game by only allowing 1 run in the entire postseason, up to tonight's game. City took out first round sectional opponent West Noble 18-1 in 5 innings, had strikeouts on all batters in the second game against Tippecanoe Valley, and shutout Lakeland in the sectional championship 6-0.
The Lady Eagles continued their dominance from the mound again tonight as junior pitcher Cassie Vodde didn't allow any runs through 5 innings. Much of the Lady Knights offense is from their bunting game, but Columbia City had the right pitcher on the mound for the counterattack.
"She (Vodde) made it hard for them to get a good bunt down. I mean she is bringing that ball pretty hard," head coach Steve Cox said about his pitcher.
CC didn't start getting things rolling until the bottom of the second when sophomore Alyssa Brandt smacked a 2-run homer into deep centerfield to give the Lady Eagles a 2-0 lead. City continued applying offense in all of the remaining innings as Vodde had an RBI in the third and underclassmen Mariah Hanauer and Alyssa Hansen each had a RBI in the fourth. Brandt and sophomore Hannah Schnorr each brought in a run in the fifth, while Vodde brought in another runner for the final CC run in the sixth.
Mishawaka Marian scored all three of their runs in the sixth inning off of Columbia City errors, allowing Colunmbia City to pick up the 8-3 victory.
The Lady Eagles picked up their first Regional Championship since the 1996-97 season and their third Regional title in school history. City moves to 14-12 on the season and travels to Twin Lakes on Saturday for a Semistate game against Andrean at 11 am.
