By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Into each life, some rain must fall. Longfellow’s “Rainy Day” poem has never been more apropos, considering all the moisture that has created havoc and frustration with the schedule this wet spring.
The forecast called for more precipitation Friday evening, and it was not wrong. Fortunately, the drops were scattered, infrequent and bearable. There were, however, lightning strikes. Rather than create a delay, these bolts caused Columbus East to take cover.
Bedford North Lawrence’s thunder in the top of the lineup made the noise as the Stars powered past the Olympians 6-1. Kendall Graves cracked two home runs, Ava Ratliff blasted another to add to her career state record, and Macee Nicholson was the calm in the midst of that offensive storm with six solid innings in the circle.
Considering all the adjustments, postponements and false starts this season, BNL (13-7) has felt a little frustrated by the unfortunate circumstances. Settling into a rhythm and routine has been difficult. Case in point, the Stars just completed their third home game of the campaign. That’s a little crazy.
“There’s been no momentum, no consistency,” BNL coach Brad Gilbert said. “We’ve not been able to get into a routine. It would be nice to get going.”
It’s also a little crazy that Ratliff had not launched a home run in seven games. She has now totaled 65 bombs in 112 career games. That’s easy math to figure out how often she strikes. So her two-run blast in the third was celebrated with the honking of multiple car horns and the collective exhale of relief. It’s not like she had been slumping, because she’s hitting a crisp .554.
“It was kind of frustrating,” Ratliff said. “Part of it was getting walked a lot, and I haven’t been swinging at the best pitches. I’ve been out in front.”
First, it was Graves who put BNL in front, with a monster homer to deep left in the first. Then Ratliff gave the Stars a 3-0 lead with her crunching drive to center in the third. Graves’ second home run (her first multi-homer game since Jennings County last season) in the fifth produced a 4-1 advantage.
“That felt really good,” Graves said. “I’ve been waiting to do that for a while. That was a good feeling.”
BNL added two key insurance runs. Later in the fifth, following singles by Ratliff and Nicholson, Sara Williams smacked a hard bouncer to shortstop that got through for a 5-1 lead. In the sixth, Adalynn Bailey doubled to right, and Tori Nikirk blistered a drive off the fence in center for the final run.
“With two outs, that was huge,” Gilbert said.
East (4-10 with nine straight losses) scored in the fifth on a RBI single by Jacque Boroughs. But Nicholson (7-3) got big outs while stranding nine runners in 6 innings. Relief pitcher Karsyn Coleman left the bases loaded in the seventh.
The Stars will host Orleans on Monday.
