U-18 Energy finishes 4-1 in home tourney
Emporia falls 1-0 in bracket play to Augusta
By Michael Ashford
Monday, June 25, 2007
With her team facing a 1-0 deficit and runners on second and third with two outs, the Emporia Energy’s Brendy Muninger didn’t feel any pressure.
In fact, she felt at ease.
What she didn’t have a feel for, however, was where the pitch from the Augusta Mavericks’ pitcher would go.
“I was pretty relaxed going up there,” Muninger said. “I thought it (the ball) was coming inside, but it was way outside.”
Instead of driving home the tying or even game-winning runs, Muninger swung and missed on a pitch outside the strike zone for the third out of the seventh and final inning, ending the Energy U-18’s run with a one-run loss to Augusta in the Mike’s Sporting Goods Summer Slam at Trusler Sports Complex on Sunday.
It was only Emporia’s first loss of the tournament, but unfortunately for the Energy, it came in single-elimination bracket play.
“We played our hearts out,” Energy coach Lin Muninger said. “They just happened to be the ones to get the run in. Either team could have won that game.”
Through six innings, neither team could do much offensively against the opposing pitcher, as the game headed into the seventh inning requiring the international tiebreaker rule to break a scoreless tie.
Augusta was first to try to score a runner from second, and the Mavericks were successful in doing so thanks to a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch from Emporia’s Amber Jones, which made it 1-0 after the inning ended.
Emporia sent Jennifer Lechien out to second in its half of the inning. Lechien moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt by Kallie Fessler, but the Energy could not find a way to move Lechien home.
Jones came up and laid down a bunt, but Lechien was kept at third when Augusta’s pitcher did not make a throw to first. Jones then stole second to put the winning run at second, but back-to-back strikeouts from McKenzie Cinelli and Muninger ended the game.
“It was kind of frustrating, but it happens,” Brendy Muninger said. “We just couldn’t get all the hits to connect to get a run in.”
The loss to Augusta spoiled an otherwise impressive weekend for Jones, the Emporia starter in four of the Energy’s five games of the tournament.
Besides holding Augusta scoreless until the tiebreaker inning, Jones earlier on Sunday pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout over the Sedan Heat in Emporia’s 4-0 victory. She also pitched in victories against the El Dorado Rage (10-1) and the Topeka Queens (8-0) during Saturday’s pool play.
“I knew I had good defense behind me, and that helped,” Jones said.
“Amber had a really good weekend,” coach Muninger said. “She’s just relaxed and having a lot of fun. We’re playing good defense behind her, and she doesn’t get flustered. She just works hard.”
In the 4-0 victory over the Sedan Heat, Brendy Muninger led the offensive charge, going 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Emporia got all the runs it would need in the third inning when McKenzie Cinelli scored thanks to a bases-loaded walk to Melissa Crawford.
Emporia tacked on three insurance runs in the fifth, with two coming off a double by Muninger.
In pool play on Saturday, the Energy began the day with a 10-1 victory over the El Dorado Rage in which Jones pitched a compete-game one-hitter. Muninger led the offense with a single, a double and three RBI. Her double — which drove in three runs — came in a five-run third inning for Emporia. Crawford, Chelsea Goins and Cinelli each added hits in the win.
Game Two saw the Energy take a 12-1 run-rule victory over the Osage City Indians. Crawford had two hits and two RBI, while Elyse Hecht and Lenae Wells added two hits apiece. Emporia got things going early by scoring five runs in both the first and second innings, while Hecht did her part in the circle by allowing just one hit.
Jones got what would be the first of two shutouts in Game Three on Saturday, as Emporia defeated the Topeka Queens, 8-0. Muninger had two hits and two RBI, while Crawford knocked out a single, a double and two RBI.
With a 14-7 record, the Emporia Energy next will head to Topeka on Friday to begin play in the State Tournament.
“We have a lot of confidence,” Jones said. “We can hit the ball, and this tournament really helped us a lot. We got some wins and some good practice before State.”