NEW ALBANY – No.7 Floyd Central rallied from an early deficit to conquer Bedford North Lawrence 5-3 in the opening game of the Class 4A sectional on Monday.
The Highlanders (28-4) battled back from a 3-0 hole while starting their title defense with a tense victory in the rematch with the Stars. BNL, which suffered a 16-4 loss to Floyd in the regular-season clash on April 9, finished the season with a 17-11-1 record.
Floyd Central advanced to face Jennings County in the semifinal on Tuesday.
“The kids did everything we asked, except win,” BNL coach Brad Gilbert said. “The kids were fearless. They didn’t back down. I can’t complain about any of it. We played well enough to beat a lot of teams today, just not FC.”
The Stars attacked Floyd starter Emmy Miller for three runs in the first. Ava Ratliff was hit by a pitch, Kendall Graves singled, and Aliza Jewell walked. Tori Nikirk followed with a two-run single,, and Jewell scored on an Anna Williams bunt.
But that would be the only noise BNL would make. The only other threat came in the third, when the Stars loaded the bases (on walks) with one out and failed to score.
“We came out hot, but we didn’t do anything offensively after that,” Gilbert said. “They put the ball in play a couple of more times than we did. I’m really proud of the effort. We pitched well, we battled for walks, but we didn’t add on when we had the chance and you can’t do that against Floyd.”
Floyd Central started its comeback with solo home runs from Nora Koehler and Breleigh Lockhart in the second. The Highlanders finally fought in front in the fifth against Ratliff, who was working in the circle in relief. Addy Ware doubled to left, Peyton Drummond singled, and Kaeden Stewart lofted a sacrifice fly to right. The go-ahead run scored on a BNL error.
The Highlanders added a key insurance run in the sixth when Koehler walked, pinch runner Macy Helms stole second and took third on a wild pitch, and then scored on a Kiersten Fielder sacrifice fly.
BNL managed only one hit after the first inning. Ratliff singled with one out in the seventh, but Floyd turned a Graves line drive into a double play to end it.
“It just didn’t work out,” Gilbert said. “The game isn’t fair sometimes. That’s the way it went. We didn’t add on runs like we needed.”
Floyd freshman reliever Adeline Shultz worked 3 2/3 innings, striking out five, to earn the win.
“If you go back and look what we did in the second half of the season, every kid got better and we gained confidence,” Gilbert said. “We were on an upward trend. I’m proud of the fact we were ready to play today and did a great job.”
