For most of Wednesday night’s softball contest, Columbus North had no answers for their hitting power of sectional foe Shelbyville. The Golden Bears collected 13 hits for the game, with seven of those going for extra bases.
The Bull Dogs, meanwhile, could not string any hits together and went on to take a 13-2 loss.
According to North coach Robyn Coffer, Wednesday’s outing was a much better effort from her team than Tuesday’s 9-6 loss against Seymour.
“We did not play as bad as what the final score said,” Coffer said. “(Shelbyville) hit the ball extremely well, and they’re a good hitting team. We did not hit as well as I would have liked. We had some miscommunications here and there, but it was a lot better than (Tuesday).”
The Golden Bears (1-1) were led offensively by junior Hannah File. The James Madison University commit was a perfect 4 for 4 from the plate with two doubles, two triples and five runs scored.
The Bull Dogs (3-5) got off to a slow start, producing only one hit the first two innings. On the other side, the Golden Bears tallied 10 runs and nine hits through three innings.
The Bull Dogs finally got on the board in the third inning when Claudia Sims took advantage of Golden Bear errors to make it 10-1.
Bull Dogs starter Christine Bombardiere recorded nine strikeouts in the loss. TeAnn Bringle, a sophomore Indiana University recruit, recorded five strikeouts while picking up the win for the Golden Bears.
The Bull Dogs got their second run of the game in the fifth. Katie Prall reached base and scored later in the inning after Makayla Caudill put the ball in play. The Golden Bears put away the game in the seventh inning by adding two more runs.
Abey Bass scored File off of a single and Natalie Weber drove home Bass.
On paper, Shelbyville looks like the early favorite in the sectional, so for Coffer there were some things to take away from the game.
“We will have to mix things up pitching and locating the ball better,” Coffer said. “We will be prepared and more focused. We got much better, and that is hard to say when Shelbyville was crushing the ball all night.”
