The Clinton Central Bulldogs Girls’ Varsity softball team racked up two wins and two losses in recent games against surrounding teams.
The Bulldogs traveled to Rossville to face off against Delphi on Wednesday, May 1 in a make-up game from April 29 that was original scheduled to occur at Purdue. The Bulldogs narrowly lost against the Oracles due to a last-minute spark of the bats for Delphi in the seventh inning, resulting in a final score of 2 to 4.
The game kicked off with a slow start as both teams held the score to 0 for the first three innings before the Oracles secured one run in the fourth, followed by a score from the Bulldogs during the same inning. The teams held each other to 0 runs in the fifth inning before the Bulldogs came back with one additional run in the sixth inning to pull ahead of the Oracles with Kortney Surber hitting a double toe wind up on third before Carly Davison secured Surber’s run with a base hit, moving into the seventh inning with a score of 2 to 1.
The Oracles sparked their bats in the top of the seventh inning, as one walk led to a hit and multiple errors that ended the top of the inning with the Bulldogs trailing 4 to 2. In the bottom of the seventh, a hit by Richie and an error by the Oracles defense led to Richie reaching first base, but a strikeout before her at-bat and two following her hit resulted in the Bulldogs’ loss of 2 to 4 with the Bulldogs securing 6 runs and 2 errors compared to the Oracles’ 5 hits and 4 errors.
During the game, Richie only allowed one run through over four innings on the mound, while Surber scored both runs for the Bulldogs with Davison securing the RBIs.
The Bulldogs transitioned into a game against a county rival on Thursday, May 2–the Clinton Prairie Gophers. The rivalry saw an early lead for the Gophers that opened the game wide enough for the Bulldogs to never make up ground, resulting in a final score of 0 to 3 in favor of the Gophers.
While the Bulldogs had no errors during the game, keeping the tally to nine errors over the past seven games combined, the girls’ bats remained dormant throughout the game. While the Bulldogs’ bats failed to send the ball flying, the girls only clocked in five strikeouts during the game, falling short due to the defensive plays of the Gophers to keep the Bulldogs off the bases regardless of their ability to put the ball into play. The Bulldogs did not secure a hit until the fifth inning with an infield single from Davison that did not result in a scored run.
The Gophers secured their first run in the first inning with the remaining two runs following quickly in the bottom of the second inning. Following the first two innings, the two teams held each other to zero runs, rounding out the game with a final score of 0 to 3 in favor of the Gophers. The Bulldogs only managed one hit during the game while giving up zero errors while the Gophers secured eight hits and completed two errors.
On Friday, May 3, the Bulldogs brought it back with a strikeout victory against Southmont, finishing with a score of 11 to 3 to end their short low-scoring loss streak. During their third game within three days, the Bulldogs were able to push through a slow start in the field with the Southmont Mounties being held scoreless until the third inning.
In the bottom of the first, the Bulldogs scored three runs to spur an early lead and momentum for the team, leading into a scoreless second inning for both teams. During the third, the Mounties secured two runs before transitioning the field to the Bulldogs who scored four more runs, bringing the score to 7 to 2 in the early stages of the game. The Bulldogs would keep the Mounties to zero additional runs for two more innings as they scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth and one run in the bottom of the fifth as their final run of the game, bringing the score to 11 to 2 by the top of the sixth inning.
The Mounties would attempt a comeback with one additional run in the top of the sixth inning before turning the field back over to the Bulldogs, who remained scoreless for the inning. With the Mounties unable to score again the seventh, the Bulldogs walked off with a victory of 11 to 3 with 11 hits and 3 errors compared to the Mounties’ 8 hits and 3 errors.
During the game, Surber hit a homerun over the fence, Kyjah Thomas played her first varsity start with an outstanding showing with two catches in left field, a 2-4 game at the plate and an RBI. Alli Adair was slotted back into the starting lineup for the game as well, securing a 2-4 game at the plate and two RBIs.
The Bulldogs secured a second victory during their fourth consecutive day of games against Crawfordsville with a final tally of 17 to 6. The game marked their second Sagamore Conference face off in back-to-back nights, and the Bulldogs’ bats were blazing with 17 hits and only three strikeouts during the game.
The Bulldogs held the Crawfordsville Athenians to a score of zero until the bottom of the fifth where two walks, a hit bitter and three hits would account for six runs for the Athenians, which were the only runs scored for the team during the game.
The Bulldogs leapt to an early lead during the first inning with two runs, followed by two more in the second, six in the third and two in the fourth heading into the fifth inning with a score of 12 to 0. The Bulldogs would further the gap between the scores with five runs in the fifth inning, bringing the score to 17 to 0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning where the Athenians battled back to close the gap with six runs, ending with a score of 17 to 6, enacting the mercy rule that concluded the game after only five innings. The Bulldogs secured 17 hits with only 1 error while the Athenians secured 4 hits and 8 errors throughout the game.
The Bulldogs are set to face off against Tipton High School tomorrow, May 7 at 5 p.m. to attempt to continue their winning streak.