The Bruins held a team that had scored 50 runs in its first two games of the season to just four through five innings.
Then they ran out of steam.
The Blackford High School softball team kept things close but eventually endured a 10-2 home loss to the Jay County Patriots on Monday.
“We played good for at least five innings,” said Blackford coach Scott Cagle. “Then that sixth and seventh inning, I think we just made some errors, but you know, Jay County, they’re a good team and they’re 3-0 for a reason. They put a lot of runs up. And I was really happy with the girls, how young we are. So it’s nice, but we got to make the easy routine plays and we didn’t, but it’s competitive for five innings against a very good team.”
The early innings were a seesaw affair, with Blackford (0-1) getting on the board when Gracie Townsend-Strait drove home Kinze Clamme with a first-inning single, tying the game at 1-1. Jay County (3-0) took a slim lead with a second-inning tally before the Bruins took advantage of three straight Patriot errors to push across the tying run in the third.
The visitors proceeded to tally eight unanswered runs, plating two in the fourth, two in the sixth and four in the seventh as Jay County pitcher Carley Trinidad twirled a complete-game two-hitter.
“We just struggled,” said Blackford pitcher Serenity Lehman. “We swing at the high pitches a lot, and she was throwing them up there a lot, because she knows we can’t hit them as good. So I think that was our problem today.”
In the circle, Lehman was vital in keeping the contest tight. The senior racked up seven strikeouts in a resilient complete-game effort.
“I was happy with her, just that first outing,” Cagle said. “I about took her out the sixth inning, and she looked at me and she goes, ‘No, coach, I want to finish.’ So you got to give a senior that.”
Though Lehman allowed 17 hits, she limited Jay County’s ability to do damage. The Patriots had multiple runners on base in every inning, but Lehman stranded 10 Patriots and allowed just one extra-base hit.
“(Confidence came from) just knowing that I have my team to make plays we practice,” Lehman said. “And just, I know that I’m going to pitch however I pitch and my team’s going to be there to make plays.”
Lehman and the Bruins also earned plenty of respect from the Patriot camp despite the loss. The 2-2 deadlock in the third made the Bruins the first team to tie or lead Jay County after the first inning this season.
“It just builds confidence for these girls to know that we can be in a game like this,” said Jay County coach Doug Arbuckle. “And it was nip and tuck here, 2-2 for a little while, and we can stay focused and be in it, and then when we get that opportunity, we got to be ready to execute and jump on it.”
In addition to keeping things close, Blackford worked through the jitters caused by its first game of the season. That anxiety was exacerbated by the Bruins’ youth, as they started five underclassmen, two of whom are freshmen.
“It’s just that first day, and I’ve seen a lot of the, even the sophomores, but the two freshmen, you can just tell that they was nervous,” Cagle said. “But that’s just, they care. And that’s the thing. That’s why I told the girls out there. I said, ‘Hey, listen, we competed with them, but you girls put too much pressure on yourself.’”
A couple of quick notes to verify for accuracy: the reference to Jay County having scored 50 runs in its first two games and the total of 17 hits allowed by Lehman are both worth double-checking against the box score.