By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – The Wizard had the answer for Bedford North Lawrence’s early-season struggles. There’s no place like home, Dorothy. Click some ruby slippers, or some cleats, together and follow the yellow-brick road to victory.
The Stars remained perfect on their home turf with an Oz-like win in their Hoosier Hills Conference opener. Solid pitching (smarts), great defense (courage) and a big inning (heart) were the traits BNL already possessed. It all came together in a season-best performance on Wednesday.
Bella Warren ignited a scoring inning with a blast, Macee Nicholson and Karsyn Coleman combined for a gem in the circle, and the defense behind them was error-free as BNL edged New Albany 3-2. In a clash that took only 75 minutes, the Stars (3-12) showed what can happen when the flying monkeys of mistakes are banished.
BNL scored all of its runs in the third inning, then kept the Bulldogs (3-8) at bay with big outs in key spots.
“It’s a conference win, we’re tied for first,” BNL coach Brad Gilbert said. “It’s definitely exciting to get the first one. I’m excited about how we played this week.”
After stranding runners in scoring position the first two frames, BNL found the plate. Warren started it with a huge blast to center field, her first of the season and only BNL’s third overall. After living on power surges the past decade, Warren’s bomb to lead off the inning was a needed jolt.
“She kept it simple, squared it up and the ball carried,” Gilbert said. “She wasn’t trying to hit one out, she just hit it on a line.”
BNL followed with two more runs. Jaden Schofield singled, stole second and scored on a single by Sara Williams. Nicolson clubbed a RBI double to left, and the Stars seemed on the verge of an explosive outburst. But from that point, Gilbert was dissatisfied with the swing selection as the offense went silent.
“That inning was huge,” Gilbert said. “We got some runners on in the first two innings and hit the ball well, but you have to give their defense some credit. Then we broke through. But we have to add on, because they were one swing from tying it up.”
New Albany countered with runs in the fifth on a two-out, two-run single by Candace Meyer. That ended Nicholson’s night, with Coleman coming on in relief to record the final seven outs without incident.
Nicholson struck out three and scattered six hits. The frustration of earlier struggles this season did not bog her down.
“At first, it definitely was frustrating,” Nicholson said. “But as the games started, we started figuring it out. Everybody was ready to go. We started hitting, and that just carried. And we can just get better from here.”
Meyer had two hits for the Bulldogs.
Williams was 3 for 3 and Schofield added two hits as her batting average continued to climb. She also stole two bases. BNL cut down a run at the plate in the fourth when Adalynn Bailey snagged a ground ball, with runners at second and third, and fired home. That would prove huge later.
”Adaylnn had a great play, she played a great game, and Macee worked herself out of trouble,” Gilbert said.
BNL will visit Jeffersonville on April 23.
