By Noah Dalton
Mitchell High School split games on Friday and Saturday against Paoli and North Daviess, ultimately picking up their first win of the season in dominant fashion over the Rams, before suffering a loss at the hands of the Cougars the following afternoon.
Mitchell scores season-high 23 runs to win home opener against Paoli
MITCHELL – In their first game of the season at Parker Field, the Bluejackets put on a show for the hometown crowd, scoring a season-high 23 runs on their way to a commanding shutout win over their Patoka Lake Athletic Conference opponent, Paoli.
Mitchell recorded 15 for the entire evening, with six of them coming in the opening inning, where they put up 10 runs to kick things off.
After an out in the first at-bat, the Bluejackets were able to get their next 10 hitters on base, scoring nine runs before the Rams could record the second out.
They scored six more in the second, batting through their entire lineup for the second straight inning, as the moved into a 16-0 lead through two innings. They kept up that pace in the third, scoring 6 more runs, before scoring just one run in the bottom of the fourth, they last time at the plate because the game was ended after the top of the fifth becasue of the IHSAA’s 10-run mercy rule.
Eight Mitchell batters recorded hits on the night: Page Mullis (1), Alyssa Young (1), Davaney Roop (3), Emma Chastain (4), Natalee Nissley (3), Paisley Modglin (1), Karsyn Coleman (1) and Aktyn Brown (1). Coleman finished the night with a team-high 3 RBIs, all of which came on a three-run double in the opening frame.
Coleman also took the mound for the Bluejackets, where she threw for all five innings, striking out 10. She carried a no-hitter through the first three innings, until a single from Haylie Gilliatt to lead off the top of the fourth broke it up.
Bluejackets struggle at the plate in 6-0 loss to North Daviess
ELNORA – The following afternoon, Mitchell hit the road, this time traveling to Elnora where North Daviess awaited them.
Coming off the success of Friday’s game against Paoli, the Bluejackets’ matchup on Saturday with the Cougars saw the tables turn on them a bit, finishing the game with just two hits in a shutout loss, 6-0.
It was a one run game through two innings, with North Daviess taking the early lead in the bottom of the first when Ocie Pershing singled to left field, scoring Alivia Dhahir, who reached base earlier in the inning after an error.
North Daviess tacked two more runs onto their lead in the third by way of the sacrafice fly. Dhahir scored her second run of the game, tagging up from third on a fly ball from Haley Graber, which also allowed Nicole Reed to reach third. From there, she scored thanks to another fly out in the next at bat, this time from Hannah Yoder, which gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead.
They scored two more in the bottom of the fifth, the first via an RBI single from Yoder, allowing Dhahir to score her third run of the day. In the next at bat, an error scored Reed, who began the at-bat on third and Yoder, who started at first after he hit.
Brown and Avah Cooper were the only two Mitchell batters to record hits, with each hitting a single.
Coleman and Nissley split time at the mound, with Nissley getting the start and throwing for two innings, before being relieved by Coleman, who threw the final two. The pair combined for five strikeouts, two from Nissley and three from Coleman, allowng five hits.
