LINCOLN PARK — A pair of Downriver League clubs met up on the softball diamond for the second time this season on Wednesday as Lincoln Park invited in Dearborn Edsel Ford.
Both teams came in desperately in search for a victory and any sort of momentum heading into May, particularly Lincoln Park who was still eyeing their first win of the spring. Edsel Ford was looking for just their second win of the campaign, the only other being a 20-5 final over Lincoln Park back on April 10.
There was plenty of scoring once more between these two clubs on Wednesday, a combined 36 runs to be exact. But it was the visiting Thunderbirds snapping a six-game losing skid with a wild 24-12 win over the host Railsplitters, in a game that only lasted six innings.
PHOTO GALLERY: Softball – Dearborn Edsel Ford vs Lincoln Park
The football-type score is amazingly nothing new for either of these teams thus far this season. It is now the fifth time Edsel has seen their opponent plate double-digit runs, Wednesday being the first they win such a contest.
Offensively, the Thunderbirds have now scored 44 runs in their two wins, both against Lincoln Park, while being held to 13 total runs in their seven losses which include four of the shutout variety.
Meanwhile, a rebuilding Rails club has seen the opposition on average score close to 17 runs per game this spring, with the 24 runs put up by Edsel on Monday being a new high mark.
Arguably more wild that the amount of runs scored in Wednesday's affair was how the runs came about. Edsel put up nine runs through their first four rounds of batting before Lincoln Park eventually answered with a three-spot in the bottom of the fourth.
The fifth inning alone saw a combined 13 runs put up between the two teams. After Edsel scored five times in the top half, Lincoln Park responded with a crooked number of their own. An eight-spot in the home half of the frame trimmed the Rails' deficit down to three going into the sixth.
But Edsel, who scored at least one run in every inning on Wednesday, saved their best showing for last. The Thunderbirds sent 15 batters to the dish, the first seven of which reached base safely, and scored an incredible 10 times to put the game in the territory of a win via the run rule.
Hoping to replicate what they had did in the inning prior, Lincoln Park suddenly needed to score at least four runs to extend the game for another inning. But the Rails could only muster one more run in the bottom of the sixth and Edsel was able to leave town with the win.
Edsel saw 10 different players record at least one hit including seven with multiple knocks, all part of a 24-hit team effort in the win. Pacing that potent offense for the Thunderbirds were the 1-2-3 hitters of Ava Craft, Jaelyn Dexter, and Faith Douglas, all of whom combined to go 8-for-17 with six runs scored and each driving in a pair of runs.
Craft led off the game by taking the first pitch offered by Lincoln Park's Maryah Tate deep and over the fence in center for a solo home run, one of seven extra-base hits for Edsel. Douglas had a triple as part of her team-high five hits in the contest.
Sidnee Szymanski, Grace Douglas, Samantha Jamgochian, Jordyn Hazamy, and Payton Dexter were responsible for the other multi-hit games for the Thunderbirds on Wednesday.
Meanwhile for Lincoln Park, although it is their ninth loss in as many games played this spring, the offense finally came to life. The 12 runs scored on Wednesday by the Rails comes after tallying just eight runs in their eight games combined.
The hosts got a good spark offensively from the middle of the order, particularly the No. 6 and 7 hitters of Makayah Motzer and Kayla Llanes, each of whom had two-hit games. Both of Motzer's hits were good for triples while Llanes had a team-high four RBIs.
Lincoln Park also got two-hit games out of Tate and Maria Espinoza.
UP NEXT
Both teams have quick turnarounds and are back in action on Thursday, May 2.
Edsel (2-7, 2-7 DRL) will return home to host Taylor High, who won the first head-to-head matchup by a final score of 12-7 back on April 16. The Thunderbirds will then step out of DRL play and host Belleville a day later on May 3.
Lincoln Park (0-9, 0-9 DRL) meanwhile will stay home and hold its first of two scheduled meetings with a Southgate Anderson team that has dropped four of its last five games overall following a 10-2 loss to Gibraltar Carlson on Wednesday.
