Michigan
softball falls in
Championship, aims
to rise once again
By CHRIS CROWDER
Daily Sports Writer
Tera Blanco took a mid-60s fast-
ball to the upper arm. Her elbow
guard was too low to protect her
from the seven-ounce, neon yellow
sphere spinning toward her. The
freshman first baseman kneeled to
the dirt in pain. She stayed there
for the length of a breath and got
back up to trot to first base.
The
Michi-
gan
softball
team
found
itself
knocked
down. It had
been
through
it before, and
it didn’t need a
helping
hand.
Michigan coach
Carol Hutchins
brought
the
team
through
trials, but she didn’t offer a helping
hand. They figured it out all by
themselves.
“The biggest thing you have
to do with these young kids is to
throw them on the ground and
say ‘Figure it out,’ ” Hutchins
said before the WCWS began.
“Eventually they figure out how
to get up … I’m not afraid to
throw them on the ground and
say, ‘you want up? Get up.’ ”
The Wolverines came back
from being down 3-0 in the first
inning
twice
before
against
Georgia in the Super Regionals
and against UCLA in the Wom-
en’s College World Series. Michi-
gan came back to win both times,
but had never overcome a defi-
cit over three to win, which is
what it faced in it’s sudden-death
Game 3 WCWS Final against
Florida on Wednesday. Four runs
proved to be too many against
the defending national champi-
ons.
Florida wasn’t
alone
in
try-
ing
to
knock
the Wolverines
off their game,
Michigan did it
to
itself
inad-
vertently to dig
its own hole. In
the first inning,
Haylie
Wagner
hit the first bat-
ter she faced. The next batter
bunted, and Lauren Sweet threw
down to second to get the lead
runner out, but the attempt was
a step too late.
In the second inning, sopho-
more third baseman Lindsay
Montemarano overthrew first
base.
Sophomore
right-hand-
er Megan Betsa entered and
plunked the first two batters she
saw.
Yet,
the
Wolverines
only
found themselves down four
runs in the third
inning when the
freshman
first
baseman Blanco
got hit. Four bat-
ters later, sopho-
more left fielder
Kelly Christner
stepped
up
to
the
dish
with
the bases load-
ed. She was the
tying run, but
she couldn’t connect on a 1-2 rise
ball to put a dent in the Gator
lead.
The Michigan offense struggled
to string hits together, as Florida
right-hander Lauren Haeger took
a no-hitter into the fourth inning.
Blanco struck back in her next
at-bat after getting hit, smack-
ing a single past the shortstop for
the Wolverines’ first base knock.
Junior second baseman Sierra
Romero stepped up to the plate
with two on and delivered, hitting
a RBI-single to cut the deficit to
three. Christner entered the box
again as the tying run, but flew out
to end the Michigan rally.
One run might’ve seemed like
a disappointment with so much
opportunity to score for the Wol-
verines, but it was a sign that they
were picking themselves back
up. Michigan displayed under-
standable,
subtle
frustration
after hitting out even when they
hit
the
ball
square.
The
ball was hit
well, but fell
into the web
of the glove
instead of on
the checkered
green grass.
Meanwhile,
Betsa
kept
racking
up
strikeouts like
she’s known best to do. Even
with two runners in scoring
position in the Gator half of the
fifth inning, she struck out the
side to keep her team in it.
When the Wolverines could’ve
easily laid down and given up,
they kept themselves in the
game. That’s the silver lining.
“They worked through adver-
sity,” Hutchins said. “They avoid-
ed a lot of adversity because they
always believed. They believed
that they were great.”
After Wagner got hit on the
elbow pad in the sixth inning,
she threw her bat down, either in
pain or anger. Either way, Michi-
gan was losing the fight, getting
hurt emotionally and physically
by Florida. But the Wolverines
kept standing, forgetting about
their cuts and bruises.
Despite playing their hearts
out, Michigan couldn’t overcome
its early mistakes and the oppor-
tunities it couldn’t capitalize on.
They didn’t win the National
Championship, but have the
right to count Wednesday’s loss
as a moral victory.
“Sometimes all you have to do
is make a decision on how you’re
going to respond during adver-
sity,” Hutchins said before the
team left for Oklahoma City.
Hutchins didn’t know where
her team was going to end the
WCWS, whether it be with a win
or a loss. But she did know that
her team would respond, win
or lose, in a fashion that would
made her proud.
Losing in the last game of the
WCWS with the title so close is
tough to live with. It’ll take some
time to move on, but Michigan
softball has done it before.
“We’ve stuck together through
some hard times,” Romero said.
“We’ve pushed through it. No
matter what, we’re a family.”
There’s no evidence against
them to say that they won’t pick
themselves up again.
12
Thursday, June 4, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
Haylie Wagner ends her four-year career at Michigan witha 4-1 loss to defending NCAA Champions Florida
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
Megan Betsa shined as an All-American in her sophomore season, leaving optimism for nest season.
Wolverines bit by Gators, season over
“We’ve pushed
though it. No
matter what,
we’re a family.”
“Eventually
they figure out
how to get up ...
I’m not afraid.”