By Noah Dalton
Mitchell High School played two games in consecutive days to start the week, first traveling to Scottsburg for a battle with the Warriors, before hitting the road again for a trip to Eastern Greene to take on the Thunderbirds the next night.
Bluejackets struggle at the plate in 5-0 loss to Scottsburg
SCOTTSBURG – Mitchell’s most recent matchup prior to their battle on Monday with Scottsburg, a win over Shoals on Saturday, went about as well as it could’ve for the Bluejackets.
They earned 12 hits at the plate, batting in 15 runs and eventually scoring 22. They allowed one run to the Jug Rox, though the outing with a five-inning no-hitter from Mitchell pitcher Page Mullis, who only allowed three runners on base in the game (one walk, two hit by pitch) with one eventually scoring in the fourth inning.
Against the Warriors, the script was flipped, as the Bluejackets were held nearly hitless, earning their first and only base knock in the top of the sixth, a single from Alyssa Young. It wasn’t a complete 180, with Scottsburg not reaching the 22-run total that Mitchell hit a few days earlier, but the five they scored were more than enough to confirm their victory.
They scored one run in the first inning, loading the bases in the first three at-bats to set up a sacrifice fly from Kelsey Pinto-Herrera. They added an RBI single from Hailey Schafer in the third, as well as another sacrifice fly from Pinto-Herrera to increase their lead to 3-0.
They tacked on two more in the fourth thanks to back-to-back triples from Chloe West and Haley Thomas, with Thomas reaching home on an error in the following at-bat.
It was a lights-out performance at the hill from Sydney Mayer, who helped push the Warriors to the win with a complete game shutout, striking out eight and giving up just one hit.
Bluejackets bounce back with 5-2 win over Eastern Greene
BLOOMFIELD – Mitchell bounced back the next night, beating the Thunderbirds 5-2 for their third win of the season (3-6).
The Bluejackets earned the win through strong offensive performances in the fourth and sixth innings, where they were able to score all of their runs.
It was Eastern Greene who put the first point of the game on the board, scoring one in the third when Addison Ramey batted Jessica Hovious in from third after she’d gotten there from a triple earlier in the inning.
Mitchell countered back in the top of the fourth, loading up the bags with one out. With Aktyn Brown at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Davaney Roop to score from third. Brown then laid down a bunt, scoring another Bluejacket baserunner and reaching first herself on an error from the Thunderbirds infield. An RBI from Mati Rosenberger brought in another run, to put Mitchell up 3-1 at the close of the inning.
Eastern Greene added another run to begin to close the gap in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double from Melanie Wyatt, drilling a fly ball to left field to trade places with a runner at second base.
Mitchell scored the final two runs of the game in the sixth, with Ella Gerkin scoring from third on a wild pitch after she was brought in as a courtesy runner for Roop, who hit a triple to lead off the inning.
The Bluejackets put another runner on base, Natalee Nissley, who drew a walk from Ramey, who stood at the mound for Eastern Greene.
She advanced to second on a ground out, eventually being brought home via a double to center field from Rosenberger, which put Mitchell up 5-2, an advantage they’d go on to hold for the victory.
The Bluejackets will be back at Parker Field on Wednesday for another Patoka Lake Athletic Conference matchup, this time against Crawford County (0-6). Mitchell will enter the game 1-0 in PLAC games.
