GREENWOOD – Bedford North Lawrence split its two games in the Russ Milligan Classic during high school softball action on Saturday afternoon.
The Stars opened with an 8-6 victory over Columbus North, then suffered a 12-3 loss to Center Grove, ranked No.3 in Class 4A, in the finale.
In the first game, BNL scored in every inning but the fifth, totaling 11 hits while overcoming a defensive lapse with six errors, and then held off a late North rally. In the second game, the Stars jumped to an early 3-0 advantage before the powerful Trojans took control.
“I’m pretty happy with the day,” BNL coach Brad Gilbert said. “In the second game, we’re playing the No.3 team in the state, they’re strong and hit hard. We had a lot of fight by not folding, going all seven innings. That sounds like a small victory, but I was proud of that.”
BNL scored first in the first against the Bull Dogs (5-6), as Tori Nikirk singled and later scored on Ava Ratliff’s fly out. The Stars took advantage of two North errors for two runs in the second, then added two more in the third as Sara Williams had a RBI single.
The Stars extended their lead to 7-3 in the fourth on Nikirk’s RBI double and Kendall Graves’ run-scoring single. Their final run came in the sixth on another Williams single.
Macee Nicholson earned the win in the circle, allowing only three earned runs. Nikirk, Graves, Nicholson, Williams and Adalynn Bailey had two hits each.
“We hit well,” Gilbert said. “We added on every inning, we moved runners and kept fighting until we got a hit to score a run. I was pleased with the offense. Macee pitched a really good game. She looked really sharp. There were a lot of productive at-bats. That was nice to see. That was a good win. We knew it would be a battle, and we did what we needed to each inning.
“Adalynn is really hitting the ball. She also turned a nice double play.”
Against Center Grove, BNL had three straight hits during the three-run first as Ratliff (RBI single), Nicholson (RBI double) and Williams drove in the runs. But BNL would add only one more hit after that, as Center Grove hurler Sarah Riley struck out 8.
Center Grove (9-2) rallied with three runs in the third, then took the lead with a four-run fourth. Mae Munson had three hits and three RBIs, while Sydney Herrmann (three RBIs) and Hayden Baird belted home runs.
BNL pushed its record to 11-7.
”Our goal, during the second half of the season, is to get on a roll and get some momentum for the postseason,” Gilbert said.
The Stars will visit county rival Mitchell on Monday.
