Thursday night’s softball game between Columbus North and Franklin Central is one that the Bull Dogs want to quickly forget.
All it took was one inning for the Flashes to break the game wide open by scoring seven runs and handing North its second loss of the season, a 10-3 defeat.
“When you get a team like Franklin Central and (coach) Kathy (Stricker), they’re used to hitting the good pitches, and they’re a good hitting team,” North coach Ron McDonald said. “We had some chances those first couple innings, and we just didn’t get the hit we needed, and I think that would have made the difference.”
Josie Lemmons led off the bottom of the first with a single for the Bull Dogs (5-2). She later advanced to second on a passed ball, and then got caught between second and third. A throwing error by the Flashes at third base caused Lemmons to round third and score for a 1-0 lead.
North added to lead in the second when Lillian Mackey nearly blasted a home run, but it came up just short, and she settled for a double. Two batters later, and with Mackey on third, she scored on a sacrifice fly from Bailey King to increase the lead to 2-0.
Franklin Central tied the game in the third when Jenna Thompson hit a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Abby Madere hit a double to score the first run of the game to cut it to 2-1. Brenna Fink slapped an RBI-single to tie it at 2-2.
Maddi Weaver led off the top of the fourth for the Flashes with a double. She advanced to third on a groundout. Weaver scored on an single from Grayce Marcum. After Marcum advanced to second on another groundout, Thompson delivered the two-out RBI-single to lead 4-2.
After Kasey Hinkle walked, Medere hit an RBI-single to make it 5-2. Fink then knocked in two more runs with a single, and then Olivia Colip capped off the seven-run inning with a two run home run to make it 9-2. Franklin Central added another run in the top of the fifth when Macee Roberts smacked a double and later scored off a single from Morgan Back to increase the lead to 10-2.
The Bull Dogs responded back in the bottom of the fifth when Lexi Heafner hit a double and scored on a King single. North couldn’t find any offense the final two innings to try a comeback.
Meghan Waggoner took the loss in the circle, going 3 and 2/3 innings and allowing eight runs, with one strikeout. Heafner finished 2 for 2 with a double.
North will host a six-team tournament on Saturday. The Bull Dogs will play Bedford North Lawrence at 8 a.m. and North Harrison at 10 a.m., then will play a placement-round game at 3 or 5 p.m.
“I told the girls, ‘Let’s just forget tonight and start again because we’ve got Bedford North Lawrence Saturday morning,'” McDonald said. “We just want to come in there and play good ball.”
