West bats blow past Central

May 6—TRAVERSE CITY — Wednesday happened just as Brittany Steimel visualized it.

The Traverse City West senior had one last chance to face off with rival Traverse City Central on the Titans' home field — and Steimel made sure to make the most of it.

Steimel propelled the Titans to two wins by mercy over the Trojans, winning both games from the circle and blasting a walk-off home run to end the first game of the doubleheader.

TC West defeated TC Central 13-2 thanks to the game-ending bomb to right center from Steimel that scored three runs and shut the book on the first game of the day. Steimel would hit another home run in the nightcap to help West to a 12-2 victory in five innings.

"She just battled and she fights and she plays her game," West head coach Dave Kenny said. "She is the quintessential competitor; you want her on your team because she will do whatever it takes ... she doesn't care. She just wants to win."

Steimel totaled 18 strikeouts across two games, pitching a total of 11 innings and allowing only five hits, six walks and four runs. The Northwood University commit combined to go 5-for-9 with seven RBIs and two home runs.

"She's a great pitcher and she's had a long, good history with West," TC Central head coach Nate Alger said. "She throws hard and we were able to pick her up a little bit and we have had success against her in the past, but she's probably the one to beat in this district."

Janie Sulecki rocked a grand slam in the nightcap to bring her day's total to seven RBIs. Sulecki hit a double in game one that knocked in two runs before going 2-for-2 in the nightcap and blasting the grand slam over the left-field wall.

"The girls have really worked hard this year and they are hitting the ball and they're confident," Kenny said. "I would hate to face this one through nine lineup. We have the biggest ballpark in northern Michigan and we still hit it over the fence."

The Titans had seven batters reach base in the first inning of the opener to score four runs and hop on the Trojans. The top of the lineup reached base in the second inning and Lauren Tkatch and Ava Tiesworth each had RBIs to make it 6-0.

The Trojans plated their first runs of the day in the third inning of game one with RBIs from Cate Heethuis and Jessica Behler. That's all that Steimel would allow.

"That's a learning experience for us," Alger said. "We've had a fairly good season with our offensive side of the ball, but tonight obviously with the pitcher from West we just struggle with the speed and the strength behind it."

Tiesworth and Sulecki added RBIs in the fifth inning before Steimel ended the game with the blast to right center in the sixth.

Lydia Heymes, Tiesworth and Sulecki picked up right where Steimel left off in the nightcap and each batted in runs to give the Titans a 3-0 lead at the end of the first. What looked to be a scoreless second inning for both teams turned into a five-run, two-out rally for the Titans after Kenny told his team to give the Trojans "a two-out nightmare."

"I think (the walk-off home run) really helped us bring more energy into the second game," Steimel said. "It gave us a lot of confidence in the dugout in the second game and on the field."

Kaci Sowers reached base on a single with two outs before Steimel sent her home with a homer to left field. The Titans scored three more runs in the inning thanks to Tiesworth and Mallory Smith RBIs.

Sulecki rocked her grand slam in the third inning after a pitching change and the Titans held onto the 10-run lead to enact the mercy rule after five innings. Sulecki went 3-for-5 on the day with seven RBI. Heymes, Tiesworth and Titan freshman Jordan LaFleur each had two RBI.

Lexi Hamstra had the Trojans' lone hit and RBI in game one, while Behler had a hit and RBI in game two.

This is the only time the two rivals meet during the regular season, but they do have a chance to meet again should they each reach the district final.

The Titans (12-5) face Alpena in the first round of districts, while TC Central faces Mt. Pleasant.

West takes on Alpena for its regular-season matchup next week. The Titans' only losses this season have come to schools from the Grand Rapids area and Kenny thinks his team is in contention for the conference title.

"I think we're a contender for sure," he said. "We have a tremendous respect for Gaylord. They've got some really good players, they're very young but they don't play like they're young and they're not afraid of us. We know that."

Follow Jake on Twitter @JakeAtnip