By Cort Reynolds
The Ada High School girls softball team split a home twinbill vs. Upper Scioto Valley and Miller City on a chilly Saturday afternoon, April 2, at Ada War Memorial Park.
The Lady Bulldogs whipped the rival Rams 11-4 in the opener, but lost the nightcap 15-4 to MC to run their record to 1-2 this season.
"Against USV we kept it together and answered back," said new Lady Bulldog head coach Jeff Bassitt. "We shut them down the last four innings and Jenna settled down."
Ada jumped on top with two runs in the home first vs. USV. Jenna Bassitt and Aidra Preston opened the game with consecutive singles and came in to score.
USV tied it in the top of the second on a double by Nevaeh Lowery and an RBI hit from Sydney Christiansen.
The Bulldogs edged ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the third when freshman Belah Price stroked a run-scoring single.
But in the Ram fourth a walk was followed by a two-run homer off the bat of Patience Cole, which gave USV its first lead at 4-3.
Ada responded quickly in the home fourth. Sophomore Katie Sizemore singled and moved up on an error by the left fielder. An infield single by Emilee Huffer scored Sizemore to tie it 3-3.
Freshman Karley Wagner then hammered an RBI double to the fence in left-center field. Bassitt delivered her home with a sharp single to left field to cap the three-run rally as Ada regained the lead back, 6-4.
In the top of the fifth Bassitt struck out the side, including two batters looking. In the bottom of the frame, junior Kayla Wince smacked a one-out double to center field.
Huffer looped a single to center field to put runners on the corners. Wagner was hit by a pitch, and a wild pitch later plated Wince. Bassitt drove home Huffer with a groundout to shortstop for an 8-4 margin.
The Ram reliever replaced Kennedy Hall and struck out the last two Bulldogs.
In the top of the sixth with two out, Cole singled to center field and moved up on an infield hit. But Bassitt escaped the threat by inducing a grounder back to the circle.
The Bulldogs tacked on three insurance runs in the home sixth to put the game out of reach. Price led off with a double to right field, followed by a bloop single to center from sophomore Daicy Robinson.
A double steal netted another run, although Robinson injured her ankle sliding into second base. The speedy Wince then smoked a drive to right-field and beat the relay throw for an inside the park homer that extended the lead to seven runs.
Bassitt set the Rams down in order in the seventh, capping the game with two strikeouts to earn her first varsity win. She ended up with 10 whiffs and allowed just four hits.
"It is always nice to get that first win," said first-year head coach Bassitt. "Karley had a hot bat with two doubles. Their pitcher Hall did a nice job. Natiyln did a good job catching."
Wagner collected three hits with two doubles in four at bats to pace the 17-hit Ada attack. Price doubled and singled, while Wince hit a home run and a double. Bassitt added a hit, a walk and scored a run.
Cole paced the Rams with a two-run homer and a single.
G1 123 456 7 R H E
USV 020 200 0 4 4 2
Ada 201 323 x 11 17 1
WP-Bassitt (1-1) LP-Hall
2B-Wagner 2 (A), Wince (A), Price (A), Lowery (U)
HR-Wince (A), Cole (U)
In game two, Miller City scored in every inning to post a 15-4 victory. The visitors tallied single runs in each of the first two frames to build a 2-0 margin.
In the top of the third the Wildcats added five runs on a double, two singles, a hit batter, two wild pitches and a passed ball.
Ada got on board in the home third. Bassitt beat out an infield single, went to second on a wild pitch and stole third. The speedy freshman then scored on an error to cut the deficit to 7-1.
In the MC fourth, the visitors plated three more runs on three singles, a hit batter and a wild pitch.
In the Ada half of the fourth, Wagner cracked a double to left field with one out. Wince then lifted a two-run homer over the fence in right-center field to pull within 9-3. "Kayla had a nice shot," Bassitt noted.
MC scored once in the fifth on a double and a single.
The Bulldogs tallied once in the home fifth. Tess Griffith singled to right field leading off and came around to score on a Preston groundout.
MC plated two more runs in the top of the sixth. In their seventh, a leadoff triple by Wilhelm led two more runs.
"We didn't do ourselves any favors," Bassitt noted. "The game is won with momentum, they got it and never looked back. We got the bats going against USV and played well, but we started off slow and never got going against Miller City. That was a big difference."
G2 123 456 7 R H E
MC 115 312 2 15 17 1
Ada 001 210 0 4 5 3
WP-Inkrott LP-McClain
2B-Wagner (A), C. Wilhelm (MC), Ellerbrock (MC), Mebe (MC)
3B-T. Wilhelm (MC)
HR-Wince (A)
Ada hosts McComb Tuesday and visits Perry (0-3) Wednesday. The league opener is set for Thursday, April 7 at defending NWC champion Lincolnview (1-0).
No makeup date has been set for the game at Cory-Rawson's Thursday postponement.
