Columbus East played Bedford North Lawrence very evenly Friday evening for every inning but one.
For that one inning, however, the visiting Stars put on an absolute hitting clinic in the Hoosier Hills Conference matchup. Bedford North Lawrence pounded out 10 hits and scored 10 runs in the third frame alone, putting the game out of reach in a 12-1, five inning victory.
The Stars (8-1, 3-1) began the game hot, opening the top of the first with three straight singles to load the bases with nobody out. East pitcher Jordan Johnston then got clean-up hitter, Cassie Rutledge, to pop up to second to secure the first out of the inning.
An infield hit by Kate Williams plated the first Bedford run, however, and kept the bases loaded. The next hitter, Zoe Adams hit a fly ball to Olympian right fielder Keagan Nickerson. On the catch, the Stars’ Sarah Stone tagged up from third and tried to score, but a bullet from Nickerson to Becca Carter at the plate nailed Stone, ending the inning and limiting the damage to only one run.
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East coach Rusty Brummett is pleased with the progress Nickerson has made since coming back from a concussion earlier in the season.
“We have brought her back slowly from the concussion, but we are better team with her in field,” Brummett said. “She is a great athlete who made a great throw on that play early in the game.”
A home run by Stone in the third gave Bedford a 2-0 lead. The next seven hitters reached based via single. Two more runs to scored on an error, upping the lead to 9-0. A Stone sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning added another run. This was followed by the second homerun of the inning, a two run shot, by Hailey Miller. After all was said and done, 14 Stars had batted and they took the field in the bottom of the third with an 11-0 lead.
“We knew they were good,” Brummett said. “They have talent, but they are also well coached. They hit the ball hard, and nothing was hit right at us. They have some great two-strike hitters, and I give them all the credit. They are probably the second-best team in our conference, which is a very strong conference, right behind Floyd (Central).”
Although the Olympians (4-7, 1-2) struggled at the plate for the majority of the night, they were able to get on the board in the fourth. A leadoff double by Madyson Foster followed by a sharp single by Brooke Valles, which advanced Foster to third, gave East its only threat of the night. Following a flyout, Foster was able to score the Olympians lone run when the Stars’ shortstop could not handle a hard hit ball by Johnston.
Foster, Valles, and Kamryn Cantu tallied the only hits for East. Brummett was still upbeat after the game.
“We are still in a position to finish well in the conference,” he said. “If we win out, we have a chance to finish third. If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that it would be Floyd Central, Bedford North Lawrence, and Columbus East as the top three HHC teams, I would have been thrilled.”
