Ousley powers Clear Fork to win over Shelby with two homers, Colts all alone in first

BELLVILLE — When the Clear Fork Colts needed a spark, senior first baseman Macy Ousley was ready to provide it.

In a 9-3 win over the Shelby Whippets to put the Colts all alone in first place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference standings, Ousley recorded her first multi-home run game when she clubbed a pair of momentum-shifting two-run homers to help the Colts overcome a 3-0 first-inning deficit to score nine unanswered runs.

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"I was feeling a different type of feeling tonight," Ousley said. "I was so nervous going into it but I was still confident in myself and my team and it took us a long way. We built on the energy every single inning."

The Whippets scored three runs in the first inning when Mallary Gundrum had an RBI single and Natalie Kennard ripped a two-RBI triple to open the game. Ousley then delivered a two-run shot in the third inning to shift the game in the Colts' favor. Mel Blubaugh put the Colts in the lead for the first time in the game in the fourth with a two-RBI double before an RBI single in the sixth followed by Ousley's second two-run home run made it 8-3. Jada Brokaw's sac bunt scored Mya Perry to round out the offense.

"It was a really big game for Macy," Clear Fork coach Chris Clapper said. "She has been hitting in the four hole, but I moved her up to the two hole because I am confident in her ability to get bunts down if we need to move a runner. But she swung the bat very well tonight."

Kendal Parsons and Kennard had two hits apiece for the Whippets (11-6, 8-1) while Karlie Walp, Gundrum, Kennedy Studer, Katie Taylor, Braylee Sturts and Maggie Bogner had one hit apiece. Kennard had two RBIs while Gundrum had one. After the first inning, the Whippets had just six hits the rest of the night.

"We have seen so much good pitching that paints the outside corners and when we scouted Shafer, she really liked that outside corner," Martin said. "We took advantage of that in the first inning but then started getting jammed a lot on inside pitches. We got used to letting the ball travel so we could take it the opposite field that we did the same on inside pitches and we hit weak pop ups. We have to adjust that timing."

The Whippets will have chance to make that adjustment on Thursday at home against Clear Fork where they can get back to a tie for first in the MOAC.

"The message is, we have five more league games and they have five more, too," Martin said. "The big picture is, we have to take care of us and if we do that, we can still win a league championship. We cannot worry about them or anyone in our league. We want it to be in our hands and let it be in our control. We need to go tomorrow, give them a run for their money and focus on us the rest of the way."

Blubaugh had a day at the dish with three hits, three RBIs and three runs scored while Ousley had two hits and four RBIs. Katrina Rogers, Mya Perry, Addison Schlosser and Renee Anders had two hits apiece while Brokaw had one RBI.

Freshman Miley Shafer earned the win in the circle allowing three runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts in seven innings of work.

The Colts (11-4, 9-0) find themselves in first place in the MOAC standings, a full game ahead of Shelby and three games ahead of third place River Valley.

"We are just wanting to compete every game," Ousley said. "We want to build on this and we believe we can. We won't let off the gas. We might be winning, but we will keep this thing rolling."

If the Colts can sweep Shelby on Thursday, they can set up a chance to claim at least a share of the league title next week in a series against River Valley.

"It feels good and we will enjoy it for right now, but we aren't done," Clapper said. "We cannot take our foot off the gas or take tomorrow for granted. We also have River Valley and Highland left so we have to stay focused on closing out the rest of our league schedule strong."

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Clear Fork Colts beat Ontario Warriors in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference softball