When one refers to the “friendly confines,” this usually means that the home team has the advantage of playing on their home field.
Monday night, however, it was the visitors from New Albany who took advantage of the soft dirt on the Olympians home field, running their way to an 8-4 victory in a Hoosier Hills Conference battle.
The Bulldogs played small ball all night, taking advantage of their team speed. Of their 14 hits, six were either bunts or infield hits. They might have had more had the East defense wilted to the constant pressure that New Albany’s running ability put on them.
Even in the loss, East coach Rusty Brummett was pleased with his team’s defensive effort.
“They have amazing team speed,” he said. “Our defense played great tonight. We made plays. But we knew they were fast. We knew they were going to run. They were able to take advantage of our soft infield to beat out some infield hits.”
And the Bulldog running didn’t stop there. Once they got on base, they took advantage of their speed to swipe six bases without getting thrown out.
“If their first two hitters get on base, it’s almost an automatic double or triple for them because of their speed. They will steal bases. We even tried to throw some pitches high and outside to give our catcher a chance, and that didn’t help,” Brummett said.
New Albany (3-4, 2-3) jumped out of the gate quickly, scoring four runs in the top of the first.
The Olympians (4-8, 1-3), on the other hand, struggled to get going offensively. They did get on the board in the bottom of the first without the benefit of a hit. Leadoff hitter Kendra Pastrick was hit by a pitch. After moving to third on a pair of groundouts, she scored when the Bulldog third baseman dropped an attempted pickoff throw.
Although not overpowering, New Albany starter Brianne Schoenfeld hit her spots all night and kept East off balance. The Olympians’ first hit of the night came in the third, a bloop double by Brooke Valles down the left-field line. The next hitter, Jenna Robbins singled up the middle, but Valles was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
The only other offensive output that East was able to muster was in the seventh. Pinch hitter Cassie Claycamp reached base on a fielder’s choice. Kaitlin Brummett then singled to right. An error by the Bulldogs, their fourth of the night, loaded the bases. Madyson Foster then hit a bases-clearing double to give the Olympians some life. However, Valles flied out deep to right and Foster was doubled up at second to end the game.
“We have struggled to hit pitchers that don’t throw the ball very hard this year,” Brummett said. We have to make adjustments. We need to look off speed and then adjust to the speed. Instead, we are looking for speed and adjusting to off speed. We have a couple of players making that adjustment, but we need more of that.”
New Albany was able to add to their lead in the fifth, scoring three runs on five hits in the inning, and again in the sixth on a solo homerun to up its lead to seven runs before the East rally in the seventh.
Kaitlin Brummett finished with two hits for the Olympians. Foster had a double and three RBIs, and Valles had a double.
