Surrendering five runs in the second inning and facing a four-run deficit, it seemed as if Columbus North was on its way to a 13th consecutive loss.
But behind stellar pitching from freshman Meghan Waggoner and nine unanswered runs, the Bull Dogs rallied to win their first game of the year defeating Conference Indiana foe Perry Meridian 10-6.
“I’m just really proud of the girls,” North coach Ron McDonald said. “Tonight, when we got down five, we didn’t quit.”
The Bull Dogs (1-12, 1-5) led off the scoring in the bottom of the first inning after Bailey Lofton drove in Haylee Acton, who had reached base on a single. The Falcons (3-10, 0-3) answered in the top of the fifth with five runs of their own, when North committee two costly errors in the outfield.
Waggoner went on to retire nine of the next 10 Perry batters. She pitched a complete game, giving up 13 hits, but only allowing one more run in the top of the seventh.
The Bull Dogs scored in every inning the rest of the way, starting with two runs in the second. Lilly Hurt reached on a single to start the inning and advanced to third on an Acton double. Acton and Hurt then scored on a double from Brooke Bruin.
In the third, Lofton reached on a walk and was driven in by a single from Hurt. Bruin and Sierra Norman reached base on consecutive singles in the fourth and were then driven in by singles from Jenna Fath and Brittany Reichenba.
After Aden Voss and Bruin reached base on a single and walk in the fifth, Lofton stepped up to the plate to deliver the knockout punch, sending a home run off of the scoreboard giving North a commanding 9-6 lead.
Lofton went 2 for 3 with three RBIs , Bruin finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs, and Fath finished 2 for 4.
“I think for us in the beginning of the season, it was very mental. We were very down on ourselves coming into this year from last year,” Fath said. “We are very young. We have a lot of freshmen. So for them realizing what it takes to win a game, I think will help us move forward into further games.”
Brooke Rice drove in the final run for North in the sixth, bringing home Reichenba after she was walked to begin the inning.
Reichenba went 2 for 3, and Rice finished 2 for 4.
“We have been close to doing this. We have been in every game,” McDonald said. “We’re capable of winning out. Before we left here I said, ‘We don’t want to sit on this one.’ And I think they are starting to believe that, too.”
