Blues Take Two Of Three PM Avenges Softball Losses To Narrows, Bath
The Blues seem to be getting hot at just the right time.
Though parts of the season have been a struggle for the young Parry McCluer High School softball team, including last Monday’s nondistrict loss to visiting Nelson County, the Blues earned a pair of Pioneer District victories last week, knocking off Narrows 14-9 on the road last Tuesday taking down Bath County 12-6, two days later in Buena Vista.
And with the two league wins, the Blues have thrust themselves right into the race for the one of the top seeds in the upcoming district tournament, slated to begin Thursday. For the district tournament schedule and updates, visit www.thenewsgazette. com.
Improving to 6-10 overall and 4-5 against district opponents, the Blues ended the week just a half game behind Highland County and one game behind Narrows in the chase for the top three seeds. PM was scheduled to square off against Highland in the regular-season finale yesterday in Monterey. The Rams, who went into the game 4-4 in Pioneer play, were slated to face the Blues after a contest against Craig County on Monday, while Narrows finished with a 5-5 record against Pioneer foes.
“We didn’t play well against Nelson [County], but I think we were in a better place mentally heading into the district games,” said PM head coach Troy Clark. “We hit the ball well in both of those games. We hit a little spell when we were pretty down. It says a lot about our girls. They could have folded up the tent, and they didn’t do it.”
At Narrows (6-13), PM’s offense continued its late-season surge with 18 hits and a huge fourth inning to hand the Green Wave its sixth straight loss last Tuesday. When the two teams met on April 14 in Buena Vista, PM lost 15-5 in five innings.
In the rematch, six different players recorded two or more hits for the Blues, including Sophia Bouchelle, who went 4-for-5 with four RBIs, and Sophie Chittum, who banged out three hits and drove in a pair of runs. Kendall Painter contributed to the explosion with a double, a triple and four RBIs. Zoey Tolley, Patience Hill and Jordyn Hostetter each chipped in two hits for PM.
“It seems like when we got back to our district games, they were more focused and more confident,” said Clark. “They have grown during the season, and it’s been pretty cool watching t hat h appen, fi guring o ut approaches to the plate. They’re kind of growing up as they go.”
The Blues roared out to four runs in the first two innings, but Narrows battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the third. Then the Blues took off with the seven-run inning to all but put the game away.
Hostetter singled to begin the frame. Caroline Watts followed with a walk, and Tolley’s bunt single loaded the bases. Painter chased them all home with a triple to put the Blues back in front, 7-4. Painter scored on Patience Hill’s sacrifice fly; Bouchelle and Lexi Armstrong had run-scoring singles later in the inning, and when Armstrong scored on an error, the PM lead had ballooned to 11-4.
The Green Wave scored four times in the sixth to cut the lead to 11-9, but the Blues got a couple of insurance tallies in the seventh to secure the win. Hill doubled with one out, and Chittum followed with a single. Bouchelle then picked up two more RBIs to seal the victory.
“In the early games, we had one inning where we kind of fell apart, and it kind of happened there in the sixth,” Clark noted. “We were able to answer back a little bit, so that was a good thing.”
The offense allowed the Blues to overcome nine errors, and freshman pitcher Caroline Watts to earn the victory on the mound. Watts, surrendering just two earned runs, went the distance for PM, scattering seven hits while striking out a season-high eight and allowing two walks.
PM 12, BC 6
Watts only struck out four Bath County batters on Thursday in Buena Vista, but she allowed only one hit over the first three innings to secure the victory on the mound.
Bath County (7-11 overall, 4-6 district), which had beaten PM 13-8 on April 16 in Hot Springs, did post three runs in both the fourth and sixth inning of the rematch, but that wasn’t enough to overcome two huge innings for the Blues.
One of those big innings was the bottom of the first, when PM banged out five hits and tallied five runs to jump out to an early lead. The first six batters reached in the inning for the Blues. Painter drove in two runs with a triple, and she scored on Hill’s RBI single. Bouchelle plated two runs in the frame, and the Blues had a 5-0 lead.
“I thought that was a big part of why we won,” said Clark. “They kind of did that to us over there.”
PM expanded that lead to 7-0 with single tallies in the second and third, and after the Chargers cut the advantage to 7-3, the Blues had their second big inning in the fifth.
Armstrong singled to lead off the frame, and after Armstrong went to second on an error and stole third, she raced home when Sarah Dudley drove in that run. Hostetter walked and stole second to put runners at second and third, but it looked like the Blues would squander that scoring chance until Painter blasted a double to plate two more runs. Hill followed with another twobagger, and PM pushed the lead to 11-3.
The Blues pounded 14 more hits in the game, eight of the nine starters reaching via a base hit. Hill was 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the way, while Painter drove in four runs with a double and a triple. Watts was 2-for-4 at the leadoff spot, while Armstrong and Dudley also recorded a pair of hits for PM.
NC 16, PM 6
The Governors came to Buena Vista on Monday of last week and took advantage of PM’s six errors to post 10 unearned runs and topple the Blues.
The Blues were able to pull within two runs, 5-3, but Nelson County tallied multiple runs in the final three innings, including six runs in the seventh to secure the win.
PM was held to six hits, with Bouchelle’s 2-for-3 effort leading the way.
The Blues were scheduled to close out the regular season yesterday at district rival Highland County, with seeding implications on the line.
“It’s a good group of girls,” praised the PM coach. “They haven’t quit on themselves, and they haven’t quit on each other. [To win that game against Highland,] we need to play defense, not give them free base runners. If we keep hitting like we have been hitting, I think we’ll be fine. We need to make the routine plays, and if we can do those things, I don’t think there’s any doubt we can win that game.”
