Grand Gracie: Milam’s 2 homers lift Culver past Caston

Coffing, Logan hit back-to-back homers for Lady Comets

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Gracie Milam Aiden Molebash

FULTON — The Culver softball team was playing a game for the ninth straight weekday against host Caston Friday.

Gracie Milam is Culver’s senior catcher, and she said you can play through fatigue when you are playing for your sisters.

Milam went 4 for 4 with six RBIs, including a tiebreaking grand slam in the seventh inning to give the Culver softball team an 8-4 win over the Lady Comets.

Aiden Molebash pitched a five-hitter with 14 strikeouts in the circle for the Lady Cavs. She gave up back-to-back RBI singles to Myli Rude and Lexie Field in the sixth that tied the game but came back to fan Audrey Ault and Avery Baldwin with the bases loaded to end the inning.

She gave up a bloop single to Mia Mersch with one out in the seventh but struck out Hadlie Coffing swinging and Kylee Logan looking to end the game.

Abigayle Zehner and Brianna Schlemmer added two hits each for Culver. Molebash also had an RBI.

Coffing and Logan hit back-to-back homers for Caston. Coffing had 10 strikeouts in the circle.

Culver improved to 13-4 overall and 6-1 in the Hoosier North. Caston is 10-7, 3-3.

Culver hosts Winamac at 5 p.m. today. Winamac (5-0) is the only unbeaten team in the Hoosier North, and Culver is the only team with one loss.

Hayden Lute, Culver’s No. 9 batter, led off the seventh with a single. Zehner singled her to second. Brooke Davis, who had struck out her three previous at-bats, reached on a bunt single to load the bases.

Molebash hit a chopper to third. Mersch fielded and threw to the plate for a forceout.

That brought Milam to the plate.

She had doubled and scored in the first and reached on a bloop single in the third on a ball that just evaded shortstop Jordyn Middleton. In the fifth, she hit a towering fly down the left field line that stayed just fair inside the left field foul pole and landed over the fence for a two-run homer.

While that homer stayed in the air awhile, her seventh inning blast was a lightning bolt to left that just carried over Field’s head in left field and landed over the fence.

Her teammates were there to mob her at home plate.

She now has six homers on the season and nine for her career. She also hit two in a game against South Central (Union Mills) on May 6.

She has 33 RBIs for the season.

She said the grand slam came on a screwball. She said that you have to want to be in that situation in order to succeed.

“When I was in the batter’s box, I was just saying to myself, ‘Contact is all I need. Contact is all I need,’” Milam said. “I have to do it for my sisters and my coaches and for the parents outside. I honestly just said ‘contact,’ and then I saw the ball and I hit it.”

Culver coach J.B. Overmyer was asked how much of Milam’s success can be attributed to natural talent and how much to hard work.

“Both,” Overmyer said. “She’s been struggling here lately, and today, she found her way back. She can hit the ball. Against slower pitchers, she’s still trying to crank it out. Those end up just going straight up in the air, so I’m glad today she’s back and hitting the ball hard.”

Culver took a 2-0 lead when Zehner led off the game with a triple and scored on Molebash’s RBI grounder to shortstop.

Milam doubled, and courtesy runner Hanne Dollevoet scored when Savannah Schlemmer reached on an error.

Molebash retired nine of the first 10 batters through three innings with the only baserunner reaching on a dropped pop-up.

But in the fourth, Coffing led off by sending a fly to deep left over the fence. Logan then duplicated the feat, putting one at almost the exact same spot that Coffing did to tie it 2-2.

Molebash stayed tough, retiring six straight batters after that.

Overmyer said that Molebash and Milam called the pitches themselves.

“She puts a lot on her back,” Overmyer said of Molebash. “She knows what she’s going to do. Aiden and Gracie, they were calling their own pitches tonight. They were calling them. She called a good game. She pitched a good game. This team relies a lot on her, and she’s willing to put the team on her back.”

Milam’s first homer gave her a 4-2 lead.

Hoping to add to the lead, Brianna Schlemmer singled to lead off the top of the sixth, but Coffing slipped a called third strike past Maddie Kitts. Alexis Gasanovas then hit a short pop over Coffing’s head. Middleton raced in and made a lunging catch. She then got up and made a one-hop throw as she was falling down to Rude at first for a standout, inning-ending double play.

Mersch led off the bottom of the sixth by reaching on a third strike wild pitch. Coffing’s fly to left was dropped for a two-base error, moving Mersch to third. Logan walked to load the bases.

Warner popped to first, bringing Rude to the plate.

All five of Culver’s games this week have been road games.

“Mentally tired, physically tired, but overall, with playing travel and everything, I’m used to it, and at the end of the story, it comes to having my sisters behind me that keeps me pushing,” Milam said.

Culver 8, Caston 4

Culver 200 020 4 – 8 11 3

Caston 000 202 0 – 4 5 1

WP – Aiden Molebash (7 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 14 K)

LP – Hadlie Coffing (7 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 10 K)

2B – Gracie Milam (CUL)

3B – Abigayle Zehner (CUL)

HR – Gracie Milam 2 (CUL), Hadlie Coffing (CAS), Kylee Logan (CAS)