Wild ending lets Edgewood top Bloomington North in softball opener

ELLETTSVILLE — The Bloomington North and Edgewood softball teams swung their bats well in Tuesday's season opener, piling up 32 hits and 25 runs, with runners in scoring position every half inning but one.

Then oddly enough, as the evening chill took hold after the sunset, Edgewood's hitters didn't have to take the bat off their shoulders to win the game in the bottom of the seventh. A walk loaded the bases before a wild pitch sent pinch runner Addison Yearby scurrying home with the winning run to end a 13-12 shootout.

It was a game that seemed destined to end up that way as North did a terrific job of coming back every time Edgewood scored. And the Mustangs were resolute in coming up with one more run after the Cougars tied it in the top half.

"We're just fortunate there in the seventh that we got a break," Edgewood coach Mick Hammett said. "And we had one of our best hitters up."

On the other end, the pitching and defense might have generated an equal amount of concern. Both starters, Edgewood's Jaylyn Robinson and North's Feutz went the distance. But it took over 270 pitches to get through 6 2/3 innings as both teams had 16 hits and recorded only three strikeouts.

And each coach saw potential game-saving plays made with the glove along a few misses that kept innings alive longer than they should have been.

"In a game like that, with 25 runs scored, there's a hundred things that could have changed it," North coach Geoff Aiken said. "First game, proud of the effort, proud of the resiliency, they kept fighting. Lot of things we see now we can get better, but of course it's that way. You're never going to be perfect right out of the gate. We know what to work on now."

What ended up hurting North and sophomore starter Kendyl Feutz the most were the free bases the Mustangs earned from seven walks, three steals, a hit batter and three wild pitches.

"We put the bats on the ball and had two strikeouts total, which is impressive," Aiken said. "Great to see everybody hit. Offense, I think we're in good shape. Defense, they hit them where we weren't to begin with.

"We've got to throw more strikes. We had a lot of walks but a lot of pitches weren't even close. That's what we've got to work on. Kendyl kept fighting. I do think we've got to work on being closer to the plate. We've got to work on not trying to throw so many different pitches and just throw one or two that work."

The bottom of the seventh started with a walk, a fielder's choice and a fly to center to give leadoff hitter Alli Bland a sixth at bat. The freshman, coming off a fine debut season with the basketball team, singled up the middle to put two on. Alayna Flynn drew a walk and Cortney Hamilton worked a 2-2 count before Feutz bounced a pitch in the dirt that got away from catcher Nat Burns.

"The defensive part's frustrating," Hammett said. "The hitting part is positive. We hit well, so we just need to keep that going."

Comeback kids

It was a game of perseverance for North and nothing illustrated that more than scoring its first 11 runs with two outs, each in tit-for-tat fashion.

"We couldn't get a third out on them," Hammett said. "We had a couple bumbles there I thought where they should have had five or six runs instead of 12. I'll have to break it down when I get home and see."

Edgewood jumped up 5-0 in the bottom of the first after the first six batters reached safely. Feutz finally got things shut down, avoiding the 11-run inning the Mustangs broke out last year.

North came to the plate in the second and answered with five, getting a two-run single by Kaylynn Higgins and a three-run homer to opposite field by Nat Burns.

"I said, 'Nothing close,'" Hammett said. "And I meant a foot outside of the box. And that was on the outside part but it wasn't a foot outside."

Edgewood scored twice in the bottom half, North responded in kind in the top of the third to tie it at 7 as crooked numbers took over the scoreboard.

"That proves that we can do those types of things," Aiken said. "It was frustrating, getting down five, of course, that was better than last year."

The Mustangs scored three in the next frame and North did them one better. Burns walked and two outs later, Fuetz had an RBI single, Kaydence Silvers walked, Sydney Pitner dropped a triple into the right field corner and Kinsley Stanley drove in another run to make it 11-10.

But an error and an RBI single by Hamilton pushed the Mustangs back on top in the fourth. Both teams then took a deep breath for two innings before North opened the seventh with two singles and a walk to load the bases. But the only damage for Robinson was a sacrifice fly to center as a sharp play at short by Piper Stephens got the last out.

"They got here 25 minutes late, I think that (Robinson) warmed up, then rewarmed up quite a bit," Hammett said. "I think she was concentrating a little better and we were fielding the ball a little better (late)."

By the numbers

Bland, Edgewood's leadoff batter, finished 4-for-6, scoring twice while No. 2 hitter Alayna Flynn drew three walks and scored four times. Hamilton was 3-for-3 with two RBIs, Meleah Vest was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and Madi Bland went 2-for-5 and two RBIs to round out the top five in the order. Ella Sproul went 2-for-4 out of the No. 9 spot.

The Cougars had their own punch with Kaylynn Higgins going 3-of-5 with two RBIs, Burns was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer, Feutz was 2-for-5, Sydney Pitner 2-for-3 and two RBIs and Kinsley Stanley 2-for-4. The 7-8 hitters, Kaydence Silvers and Pitner each scored three times.

Despite all that, Edgewood left 12 runners on and North 10.

"There's tons of positives," Aiken said. "It's an unfortunate loss. You've got to chalk it up to Game 1. Anything can happen. It did."

EDGEWOOD 13, BLOOMINGTON NORTH 12

Bloomington North (0-1) 052 | 400 | 1 — 12 | 16 | 4

Edgewood (1-0) 523 | 200 | 1 — 13 16 3

Kendyl Feutz and Nat Burns. Jaylen Robinson and Cortney Hamilton. W: Hamilton (1-0). L: Feutz (0-1). 2B: Burns (N), Silvers (N), Vest (E), M.Bland (E). 3B: Pitner (N). HR: Burns (N).

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Wild ending lets Edgewood top Bloomington North in softball opener