Blues Split Softball Pair

PM Drops Slugfest To Highland, Bounces Back At Craig

Parry McCluer High School’s young softball team learned two valuable lessons in a pair of Pioneer District contests last week.

First, the Fighting Blues learned that pitchers have to throw strikes, as Highland County took advantage of seven walks and five hit batters to eke out a 13-8 victory on Tuesday of last week in Buena Vista. Second, the Blues learned that they must catch the ball, as PM survived nine errors to win a 26-17 slugfest over Craig County on Thursday in New Castle.

With the split of the two games, the Blues ended the week at 2-3 overall and 1-2 against district foes.

In Thursday’s contest in New Castle, PM and Craig County combined for 42 hits and 46 runs, but it was the PM defense that led to two big Rocket innings. Seven of PM’s nine errors came in the second and third innings, allowing 16 runs for the Rockets (0-5 overall, 0-3 district), and the Blues found themselves behind early.

Fortunately for the Blues, they scored in every inning, including big responses after each of the big frames for Craig County.

After Craig County’s first big frame, which gave the Rockets an 8-6 advantage, the Blues responded with five runs in the top of the third. The rally started innocently enough, with Jordyn Hostetter drawing a leadoff walk, but two batters later Lexi Armstrong drove in two runs with a double. Kendall Painter added her own tworun double with two outs and later scored on a passed ball to put PM back in front, 11-8.

With another eight-run inning, along with three more PM miscues, in the third, Craig County regained the lead, but once again the Blues answered, scoring five more runs in the fourth to tie the game. Sophia Bouchelle drove in one of those runs with a triple, while Sarah Dudley and Caroline Watts each had RBI singles. Painter drove in two more runs with her base hit, knotting the score at 16-16.

The Blues moved in front for good with a six-run fifth inning. Armstrong’s triple that brought in two runs was one of the highlights of the frame, along with Painter’s two-run home run, which gave PM a 22-16 lead.

On the mound, Watts blanked the Rockets the rest of the way until giving up a single tally in the bottom of the seventh. She earned the win on the mound, going the distance while allowing only six earned runs.

Offensively, all nine members of the PM starting lineup recorded a hit, with eight of the nine getting multiple hits. Painter led the way, going a perfect 6-for-6 with two home runs, three doubles and a whopping nine RBIs.

Watts, Bouchelle and Dudley each had four hits apiece, with Watts driving in four runs and Dudley adding three RBIs. Armstrong was 3-for-5, scoring four times and driving in four, while Zoey Tolley was 3-for-6 with four runs scored. Patience Hill and Sophie Chittum each had two hits for the Blues.

HC 13, PM 8

In last Tuesday’s Pioneer contest, the Blues surrendered the aforementioned seven walks and five hit batters. Add to that 12 wild pitches, as PM’s mound woes led directly to the 13-8 setback.

PM hurlers walked or beaned Highland’s leadoff batter in five of the seven innings. Four of them came around to score as the Rams tallied runs in every inning but the fifth.

The big one was the seventh. After the Blues clawed their way back from deficits twice – first from down 3-0 after the first to take a 4-3 lead, then with two runs in the sixth to tie the game at 8-8 – Highland tallied five runs in the seventh to pull out the victory.

And it started with a hit batter. Anna Meehan was the recipient of that hit by pitch. She moved to third on Brooklyn Bussard’s single and a PM error, scoring on Colleen Adams’ RBI single. A walk and three wild pitches later, Makynley Smith laced an RBI double to drive in a pair of runs. Smith scored on another PM miscue in the field, and the Rams had a 13-8 lead.

The Blues, who had battled back the entire game, loaded the bases on three walks to start the home half of the seventh, but a strikeout and two hard hit fly outs ended the game.

The Rams scored their 13 runs on just seven hits. Adams had three of those, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a pair of RBIs. Smith had two hits to score two runs and drive in three.

PM was led by three players who had two hits apiece. Hill was 2-for-5 with three RBIS, while Watts had two hits and scored a run in five plate appearances. Tolley finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

The Blues have three games scheduled for this week. PM was slated to play at Rocktown on Monday before playing host to district rival Narrows yesterday. They’ll conclude the week with a district game at Bath County on Thursday at 5 p.m.

PM will start next week with a home game against Liberty (Bedford) on Monday at 7 p.m., following the 5 p.m. junior varsity game between the two schools. On Tuesday, the Blues will play host to local rival Rockbridge County at 5 p.m.