TERRE HAUTE – Bedford North Lawrence’s prolific offense generated plenty of fireworks, but the third-ranked Stars got outslugged twice during the final day of the Lady Braves Bash on Saturday.
After a stunning loss in the second game of pool play, BNL (9-3) bounced back for a mercy-rule victory, then suffered a heartbreaking walk-off defeat in extra innings in the finale.
In the first game of the day, Avon shocked the Stars 10-9, scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh after rallying from an earlier five-run deficit. BNL rebounded to conquer Northview 13-1 in five innings in the final round of pool play, then fell to Class 4A No.7 Mooresville 11-10 in eight innings in the battle for third place in the eight-team event.
“It was great competition,” BNL coach Brad Gilbert said. “We got beat two games by one run, by walks-offs, so there was a lot of crazy softball today. We were in a lot of pressure situations, we hit the ball well. Just a few times we didn’t get some breaks. We couldn’t get an out here and there. I think we grew and got better. I was definitely pleased with the effort.”
Avon 10, BNL 9 – The Orioles, who had suffered an 8-2 loss at BNL just a week ago, fought back twice from intimidating BNL leads. The Stars owned a 6-1 advantage in the third inning and a 9-5 edge in the fifth but could not hold off Avon’s late charge.
The Stars started hot. Braxton McCauley slugged a solo home run in the second, Ava Ratliff hammered a three-run shot in the third, and Aliza Jewell blasted a two-run bomb later that inning for the 6-1 lead. Avon responded with a three-run double by Amanda Logeais in the bottom of that frame, and she later scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-5.
BNL came back with a two-run double by Lauryn Anderson in the fourth, and Jewell led off the fifth with her second homer for the 9-5 advantage.
Avon came roaring back against BNL ace Annie Waggoner. With two out in the fifth, Lilly Heath stroked a two-run double and Lylah Farrell followed with a two-run single to force the 9-9 deadlock. With two out in the seventh, Heath popped a RBI single to left for the walk-off win.
Heath had three hits and three RBIs while Logeais had two hits and three RBIs for Avon, which pounded out 13 hits. Jewell and Ratliff finished with 3 RBIs each for the Stars. Waggoner struck out 8 in 3 2/3 innings of relief work but gave up five earned runs.
“I felt like we were looking over our shoulder the whole day,” Gilbert said. “They had great hitters and put us in pressure situations. It was disappointing that we started coasting a little bit, we didn’t stay aggressive. The next thing you know it was tied up and we let it get away from us.”
BNL 13, Northview 1 – BNL vented its frustrations on the Knights, scoring four times in each of the first two innings.
In the first, the first five batters reached. Anderson was hit by a pitch, Ratliff and Waggoner cracked back-to-back doubles, McCauley added a RBI single, and she later scored on a wild pitch. In the second, Ratliff crunched a two-run homer, and the Stars added two more on a Northview outfield error.
The Stars triggered the mercy rule with a five-run fourth. McCauley had a RBI single and pinch-hitter Maddy Figg had a two-run single during the rally.
Ratliff, Waggoner and McCauley were all 3-for-3 in the middle of the lineup. Waggoner worked four innings in the circle and fanned 9. Northview was also guilty of four errors.
“We played really well,” Gilbert said. “That was a solid team. We hit the ball well and scored lot of runs.”
Mooresville 11, BNL 10 – In the tournament’s wild third-place battle, Mooresville’s Maddie Gainey blasted a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to win a high-scoring shootout.
The Stars bounced back from an early 4-2 deficit with a five-run third to take the lead. Ratliff ripped a two-run homer, McCauley bombed a second two-run home run, and Jewell followed with a solo shot in that outburst.
The Pioneers (3-2-1) fought back with a two-run homer by Zoey Kugelman in the fourth, then surged in front with a three-run sixth, taking a 9-8 advantage on Cidney Newton’s two-run single.
BNL rallied in dramatic fashion in the seventh. With two outs, Kendall Graves doubled to left, and Tori Nikirk rapped a RBI single to center to force extra innings.
In the eighth, with a runner starting at second base to speed the process, BNL went in front on Ratliff’s two-out double to center. But that wasn’t enough. Mooresville scored on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly, then won it on Gainey’s final swing.
Anderson had three hits, including two doubles, while Ratliff, McCauley, Jewell and Nikirk had two each. Kugelman was 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs to lead a 15-hit assault (that included three homers) by the Pioneers.
“We thought we were going another inning, but the girl put a good swing on the pitch,” Gilbert said. “It’s a game of momentum and inches. There were a lot to plays just out of our reach, We couldn’t quite close it out.
“We scored a lot of runs this weekend so there were a lot of positives. Our pitchers are throwing a lot of innings, just grinding it out. A lot of teams are hitting well right now. Things will be different when we have fresh legs. I like the fight of our team.”
The Stars are averaging 9.7 runs per game, but they’ve given up 35 runs in their three losses.
Avon shocked top-ranked Roncalli to win the title.
BNL will visit Linton on Monday.
