Kornacki: Wolverines Face Same Challenge as 2005 Champs
6/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Sierra Lawrence with Abby Ramirez
By Steve Kornacki
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Michigan hasn't been there once during its magical postseason run. But now it has its backs to the wall for the first time.
How it reacts after dropping Monday night's (June 1) championship-round opener to Florida, 3-2, will determine if the Wolverines can indeed pull out the Women's College World Series title.
They've been on a quest to duplicate the national championship won 10 years ago by a Michigan team that has sent them personalized letters of encouragement and inspiration. And if it accomplishes that goal, it will have to do exactly what that 2005 team did.
Those Wolverines lost the opener of the best-of-three series to UCLA but came back to win the last two games against a Bruins team that was the defending champion. These Gators just happen to be the 2014 national champions.
Michigan head coach Carol Hutchins said she had this message for her team after the loss that broke a 28-game winning streak: " You have to win two games in this tournament, this part of the tournament -- doesn't matter which two games."
But was this Michigan's best chance to win? Florida coach Tim Walton opted to rest his ace, Lauren Haeger, the national player of the year, the day after she threw 160 pitches in beating Auburn. And freshman Aleshia Ocasio came up big in her first start since May 15, allowing two runs in six innings.
Haeger didn't go away, though. She was the designated player and belted a two-run homer and a run-scoring double against Wolverine sophomore starter Megan Betsa.
Betsa is a 31-game winner but has a 5.79 earned-run average in the World Series after shutting out Alabama and struggling against both LSU and the Gators.
Wagner (24-2) has been lights-out in relief. She didn't allow a hit or a run in 3 1/3 innings, and she got the final out of the third inning to strand three runners. Wagner hasn't allowed a run in 13 World Series innings while giving up only six hits and two walks and getting 11 strikeouts.
"Haylie's got good spin," said Walton. "She locates well, she's a senior. She knows what she's doing. Her motion is very, it's a lot of motion, and the ball gets on you quick."
Betsa was visibly frustrated before coming out of the game in the third inning after hitting a batter and walking another among the last three hitters faced. Hutchins was asked if Betsa's confidence was shaken.
"Well," said Hutchins, "she appears to have some confidence problems, I would say. And we need our best confidence on the mound, I can tell you that. It's a long tournament, hopefully. We're here to get her confidence back. There's no reason not to have confidence at this point in the season. But it's been a tough week so far."
You can read behind the lines there and see that Hutchins is very likely to give Wagner the start Tuesday night (June 2).
The Wolverines came so close to pulling it out of the fire once again behind an inspirational relief appearance by Wagner.
Shortstop Abby Ramirez hit a two-run single to cut Florida's lead to one run in the top of the sixth inning. Then Sierra Lawrence hit one to the warning track that had Wolverine fans standing and screaming before the ball died just short of the seats for the third out. Earlier that inning, Wagner, batting right before Ramirez, lined a shot down the line that had plenty of distance but went about 10 feet foul.
Still, what happened in the seventh inning was an even bigger heartbreaker for Michigan. Sierra Romero got a leadoff walk and moved up to second on a passed ball, before Kelly Christner singled her to third base.
But with runners on the corners and nobody out, Gators reliever Delanie Gourley slammed the door shut and earned the save.
Kelsey Susalla lined a one-hopper that shortstop Kathlyn Medina turned into a force out at second and nearly a double play. It also was very nearly a run-scoring single, but Medina got to it. Romero stayed at third on the play, and then Lauren Sweet struck out. Lindsay Montemarano, who had sparked the team all season long, had the last shot at becoming the hero. But she grounded out to Medina to end the game.
"What a phenomenal play that she made up the middle to save the game for us," said Walton of Medina's play on Susalla.
Romero elected to hold at third.
"Well, that play was -- it was a rocket," said Hutchins, who coaches third base. "And you know, it was going up the middle. And when Sierra saw that [Medina] was trying to turn the double play, she hesitated obviously for a second because she doesn't want to make the out at the plate. When you hesitate, you can't go. It was the right decision because it was a quick play, bang-bang. They made a great play. Give their defense all the credit in the world. Their defense is fantastic.
"But when I saw them (try to) turn the double play, I was yelling 'Go!' But it was too late. She had to hesitate, and she made that decision. And that's the way it is."
Ramirez put her team in a position to win. And before leaving the on-deck circle to deliver the big hit, Lawrence put her right arm around the shortstop and relayed a message.
"She just gave me a little pep talk," said Ramirez. "We were putting our pinch runner in so there was some time. And she just calmed me down and said, 'See the ball, do what you do. You just need one base.' So all I wanted to do was get it out of the infield. (The pitch) was on the outside corner, but I was able to push it up the middle."
Hutchins thought the spark came too late for her players.
"Honestly," she said, "I felt that we didn't really come out to play to win until about the fifth inning. Our energy, we seemed a little tentative. Things didn't really go our way. And we just had to keep plugging away and get back to having our good energy that we're so known for. And I thought we got a lot better as the game went on.
"And we have to believe. And I thought we had a little bit of doubt maybe, maybe a little jitters. But I think we're better than that. And I told our kids, 'We've got to plug away, move forward, put it behind us, and we'll be better tomorrow night.' "
Romero, one of three finalists for the player of the year award Haeger won, is up to the challenge.
"They still have to beat us twice," said Romero. "So, the second time is going to be even harder. We'll come out there ready to fight. And we're not going to give it to them easy."
Wagner is convinced, too, that better things are ahead for the Wolverines.
"We have a ton of fight," she said. "And I think we're going to be able to come out tomorrow and just come out and play with the heart and soul we've been talking about the past few days, the past few weeks. We just have to come out and play Michigan softball. We didn't do that at the beginning of the game. And we're a very resilient team and we're very relentless and we'll just go after them."
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