EDINBURGH — During the summer, four freshmen on Columbus North’s softball squad play on Edinburgh coach Ben Taylor’s travel team.
Monday evening, some of those freshmen helped the Bull Dogs beat Taylor’s Lancers team. North scored single runs in five separate innings to post a 5-0 victory.
"I’m very proud," North assistant coach Kelsey Richardson said. "We came out on Monday, which we struggle with in practice and games, and they played a great game. The intensity never stopped, and they were positive the entire time. That’s what we’ve really been striving for."
Freshmen Rachel Cowan and Peri Foust combined on a two-hitter for the Bull Dogs (5-7). Cowan allowed two hits and one walk in five innings, and Foust gave up just one walk over the final two innings.
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"We’ve been able to hit similar stuff," Taylor said. "Rachel is a good pitcher, and Peri is a great pitcher, as well. We were just way off balance and not ready for this game tonight."
North got on the board in the second when Bailey Lofton led off with a walk, and Brooke Bruin sacrificed courtesy runner Carmen Rice to second. Rice then went to third on a single by Cowan and scored on a groundout by Lillian Mackey.
The Bull Dogs scored an unearned run in the third to take a 2-0 lead. Lexi Heafner singled with one out, went to second and third on errors and scored on a sacrifice fly by Meghan Waggoner.
In the fifth, Emalee Heafner doubled down the left-field line, went to second on a sacrifice by her twin sister Lexi Heafner and scored on a single by Sierra Norman to make it 3-0. Lucy Norman’s two-out single in the sixth scored Mackey for a 4-0 lead.
North capped the scoring in the seventh when Waggoner launched a one-out homer deep over the fence in left-center.
"We weren’t prepared tonight," Taylor said. "The girls came into warmups and to the game flat, and it showed in our defense. It showed definitely in the box with our hitting. Just all around, we weren’t ready for this game."
Edinburgh (10-7) finished with three errors, while the Bull Dogs played mistake-free defense.
"Our defense was on, and our pitching was on, too," Cowan said. "I think we’ve improved a lot from the start, and I can’t wait for more improvement."
Cowan and Sierra Norman each finished 2 for 3 for North. Waggoner had two RBIs.
"We’re just putting it together," Richardson said. "The girls are really big on doing it for the team, and that’s what we’re pushing for right now. I think we’re growing together, and that’s a big deal. We have five freshmen that start for us, and we’re just building a lot of team chemistry right now."
