HOPE
Edinburgh outhit Hauser 9-6 Monday, but the problem was that the Lancers just could not get that extra hit.
Edinburgh left six runners stranded, and as a result was handed a 3-2 Mid-Hoosier Conference softball loss.
“We just couldn’t get that one key hit,” Edinburgh coach Stephen Clark said. “We got on first and second a few times with no one out. We couldn’t get a run in, and that hurt us.”
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe Lancers (2-3, 0-2) had an opportunity early in the first inning. Maddi Clark and Sidney Beier each singled, but Jets pitcher Tessa Sims retired the next two batters to end the threat.
In the top of the third, Edinburgh’s Bailey Woodall hit a single. Probably the biggest play defensively for Hauser (4-1, 2-0) came when Hailey Lange made a perfect throw to second to catch Woodall on a steal attempt. That was huge because after Clark singled, and Beier stepped up and blasted a two-run homer to deep center field for a 2-0 lead.
The Jets responded in the bottom of the inning when Katie Taylor reached on an error. Sims then smacked the ball deep in the gap between center and right field. She made her way to third, but the throw to third was off and Tessa Sims ran home to tie the game at 2-2.
“Defensively, when you play a solid team, you can’t have two or three errors,” Clark said. “We had a couple of mental mistakes, and you just can’t do that against solid competition.”
In the bottom of the fifth, Hauser scored the game-winning run when Lange delivered an RBI triple to score Sims.
Another key defensive play for the Jets came in the top of the sixth inning when the Lancers’ Vanessa McManaway drove a ball deep to center field, and Lauryn Starnes was on the chase. Starnes made the backward leap to prevent the home run for a spectacular catch, but as she turned to show the umpires she had the ball, it dropped out of her glove, and McManaway was credited with a single. With runners on first and second, the next three Edinburgh batters were retired.
Woodall struck out eight in six innings pitched.