SHEPHERD - The Shepherd BlueJays softball team handed Gladwin their first conference loss of the season in game one of a doubleheader on Tuesday, but the Flying G’s were able to bounce back and claim the nightcap to earn the split to stay atop the Jack Pine Conference standings.
Game one saw the BlueJays take a 2-1 lead after one inning of play. It was a 3-2 Shepherd lead going into the top of the sixth inning, where Gladwin was able to tie things up. But, in the bottom of the seventh, Shepherd scored a run to pull out the 4-3 victory.
The nightcap was a pitcher’s duel between Gladwin’s Tessa Cameron and Shepherd’s Isabelle Robinson. The game was scoreless into the fifth inning, when Gladwin was able to take advantage of a pair of Shepherd errors to plate two runs. The BlueJays cut that lead in half in their next at bat, but Gladwin exploded for four runs in the sixth inning, and they held on to take the game by a 6-2 final tally.
With the win, Gladwin (16-9, 9-1 Jack Pine Conference) holds onto first place in the Jack Pine Conference, one game ahead of Sanford Meridian, who swept Beaverton on Tuesday. Shepherd (13-12, 8-4 JPC) sits in third place, three games back of the Flying G’s.
