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Dunedin's defense disappears

JEFFERSONTOWN, Ky. -- Dunedin National hit a green wall against Central region champion Gladstone, Mich., on Thursday. And not the one in Fenway Park.

An error by shortstop Apryl Wall in the bottom of the second allowed Becky Bartosz to score from third with the winning run that eliminated Dunedin from the tournament 3-1.

Bartosz hit a fly ball over leftfielder Megan Peitsch's head that rolled to the wall. Peitsch fielded the ball well enough to hold Bartosz to a triple, but Wall bobbled the cutoff throw, allowing the run to score.

Ashley Wall helped the Central region team tack on two more runs in the third when she let a ground ball trickle through her legs, allowing Lesly Noel to score.

"Errors in the field, it's going to happen," Dunedin catcher Kristina Hilberth said. "We can't have a perfect game, we're not a perfect team."

Michigan, however, was as close to perfect as a team could get. It converted all 12 of its infield putouts and Noel helped her defense by striking out eight. She even snagged a line drive by Carly Trudell to end the game.

"I think they have a deeper pitching staff," Dunedin coach Vince Ionata said about Michigan before the game. "I don't think we'll see a big inning unless there are mistakes by the other team."

Dunedin scored its run in the seventh.

Sarah Kohlbrenner led off with her second hit of the game by lining a first-pitch fastball into leftfield. Kohlbrenner stole second and scored from third on a fielder's choice.

By then it was too little too late.

"To tell you the truth, I never really watched them play that much," Michigan coach Judy Tochterman said. "When we started out I guess I felt we were the better team."

Dunedin starter Bryce Crouch gave a valiant effort in the loss. She allowed five hits and struck out five.

Michigan won two of its four round-robin games by 1-0 scores, including a 17-inning marathon against the West region champion. Dunedin was coming off a 2-0 win over Canada to capture the top seed in Pool A. There were a total of 11 one-run games and 10 shutouts in round-robin play.

Michigan will play Midway, Texas, in the championship game Saturday. The Southwest representative defeated host Kentucky 7-0.

Dunedin will play Kentucky today in the consolation game at 1 p.m.

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