Columbus North got some big hits and was leading early against Whiteland in Monday’s softball contest.
After the third inning, the Bull Dogs’ hits faded.
North tallied only three hits over the final three innings, and the Warriors plated several runs to hand the Bull Dogs a 13-3 six-inning loss.
“I was probably more disappointed with this loss than anything that we’ve ever done here in the last couple years,” North coach Ron McDonald said. “There was another game last year against Bloomington South that I was disappointed with, but this one is the worst. We’re better than this.”
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Bull Dog starting pitcher Peri Foust saw her first action pitching in over three months due to injury. She was limited on a pitch count Monday and was taken out in the third inning.
“I’m going to try to pitch her a little bit more (today) against Seymour and probably pitch her again Thursday (against Franklin),” McDonald said.
After Whiteland (3-3) went hitless in the first, Brooke Bruin led off the bottom of the inning for North (0-3) by reaching on an error. That error would prove costly when Bruin reached second on a fielder’s choice, stole third and scored on a passed ball.
Bailey Lofton then hit a single. Lillian Mackey ran for Lofton and stole second and reached third on a passed ball. Rachel Cowan delivered an RBI-single to put the Bull Dogs ahead 2-0 after the first inning.
The Warriors cut the deficit in half in the second when Deborah Hill smacked a double and later scored on an single from Abbigail Nacio to make it 2-1.
North’s final run came in the top of the third on a solo home run from Meghan Waggoner to build the lead back to 3-1.
Whiteland gained the lead in the third with an RBI-double from Macy Cornelius, an RBI-single from Haley Wilkerson and another RBI-single from Nacio to lead 4-3. The Warriors never surrendered the lead back the rest of the game.
After putting up a run in the fourth and three more runs in the fifth inning to grow the lead to 8-3, Whiteland scored another five runs, four of which came off a grand slam from Hill down the right field line.
“Our leaders aren’t leading right now. To me, it’s seems like we’re more worried about our individual stats than we are as a team,” McDonald said. “I want to see people come out here and play hard as a team. I’m just disappointed.”
