JEFFERSONVILLE – With apologies to all the misguided flat earthers, the circle of the Earth is breathtaking when viewed from outer space. Nothing is more important to humanity than the blue ball we inhabit. It’s all about the circle.
The same concept is true in softball. It’s all about the circle. Bedford North Lawrence proved that point with a dominating pitching performance while conquering Jeffersonville on Thursday night.
Three hurlers combined for a two-hit shutout as the Stars continued to rocket away from a rough start with another quality road win. Powered by a three-run first inning, BNL bounced the Red Devils 5-0 to remain perfect in the Hoosier Hills Conference.
Macee Nicholson, Sophia Jewell and Karsyn Coleman were the Zero Dark Thirty trio, keeping the Red Devils in the dark as BNL (5-12) recording its fourth win in the last five games.
“That’s not bad, we will take that every night,” BNL coach Brad Gilbert said. “They pitched really well, threw strikes and a lot of ground balls. The defense played well and we made some nice plays.
“In the last five games, our batting averages have gone up, the pitching has gotten better. I’m really excited about how everyone is playing. We’re treading in the right direction and getting better at the right time.”
Nicholson started and went three innings, allowing the two hits. Jewell dominated the next two innings and allowed only one base runner, and Coleman cleaned up with two innings of closing work. The Red Devils (1-7, 0-4 in the league) managed to advance only one runner to third base. Calculating the area of a circle requires knowing the value of pi. The value of quality pitching is far greater.
”Walks have gone way down, strikeouts have gone up,” Gilbert said. “We have to have the mentality, if we can score a few runs, we will be in most games.“
BNL scored all it needed in the first. Bella Warren walked and stole second, then scored on Jaden Schofield’s single. Schofield later scored on Coleman’s bunt, and Sara Williams scampered home on a wild pitch. The Stars, who managed only two hits, added a run in the second (two walks, Warren’s sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch). They finished with a run in the sixth, with Dalanie Davis stroking a single to set up a RBI ground out by Jewell.
”Any time you can score first, that puts pressure on the other team,” Gilbert said. “That was a big inning. It set the tone. I would have liked to have seen us hit better, but we played a lot of small ball and put pressure on them. With the way we pitched and the defense played, one or two runs was going to win.”
Joslin Wilson and Lilly Hardin had the hits for the Devils.
BNL, one of three unbeaten teams in conference play, will battle Floyd Central (12-6, 3-0) in a key clash for the league lead on Friday.
