ABOVE) Ada freshman Reese Jordan hurled her first varsity win over Arlington. BELOW) Ada center fielder Tess Griffith connects vs. Arlington.
By Cort Reynolds
Playing at home on April 6, the Ada High School softball team swept Arlington in a doubleheader by the combined total of 26-3 on a sunny but cool day at War Memorial Park.
Ada won the opener 15-1 and also took the nightcap 11-2.
The Bulldogs improved to 5-1 with the dominating sweep. The Red Devils fell to 1-4 after the defeats.
“It was nice to get a couple more wins,” said Ada head coach Jeff Bassitt. “I thought we ran the bases well.”
The Bulldogs jumped in front 4-0 in the opener after one inning, and were never threatened. Three Arlington errors and a Karley Wagner single keyed the frame.
In the second inning, Ada tallied two more runs. Jenna Bassitt singled and stole two bases before scoring on a double by Aidra Preston. Preston then came home to extend the lead to 6-0.
In the bottom of the fourth frame, the Bulldogs tallied six more runs. The speedy Bassitt tripled and scored as Preston hammered her second home run of the season over the fence in left-center field.
Tessa Griffith and Wagner each reached on errors by the shortstop and came around to score to provide a 10-0 lead.
Freshman Reese Jordan and senior Katie Sizemore then singled, and both later scored for a 12-0 margin.
The Red Devils tallied their lone run in the top of the fifth. Ada added three more runs in their half of the frame. Abbey Johnston walked, stole a base and scored. Madi Rowland hit a single and then crossed home plate. Kiera Cash walked and scored to finish the blowout.
Junior ace Bassitt pitched four innings of three-hit ball with eight strikeouts and no runs allowed to earn her fourth victory. Jordan pitched the fifth in relief. Bassitt also scored two runs on a pair of hits.
Junior first baseman Preston collected two extra-base hits, three runs and two RBI with one steal. “Aidra really hit the ball hard in the first game,” said Bassitt.
Junior center fielder Griffith contributed two runs, two RBI, two stolen bases and a hit.
Wagner had one hit, scored twice and drove in two runs.
Jordan and Sizemore each had a hit and scored a run. Senior Daicy Robinson added two hits and two RBI. “Daicy had two nice hits,” Bassitt added.
Ada stole nine bases in game one, and swiped 13 bags in the nightcap.
GAME ONE
| 1 2 3 | 4 5 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| ARL | 0 0 0 | 0 1 x | x | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| ADA | 4 2 0 | 6 3 0 | x | 15 | 12 | 0 |
WP-Bassitt (4-1) LP-Durliat
2B-Preston (A)
3B-Bassitt (A)
HR-Preston (A)
In the nightcap, freshman Reese Jordan earned her first varsity pitching win with five solid innings of five-hit hurling. She allowed two runs and struck out five.
“Reese did a great job to get her first varsity win,” Bassitt noted.
The Red Devils took their lone lead of the day with a run in the top of the first frame. But Ada answered with four runs in the bottom of the first to seize control.
Preston started the rally by lofting a one-out double to left field. Natilyn McClain laid down a bunt single to put runners on the corners. Preston then narrowly beat a throw home with a nice slide after a wild pitch to tie it 1-1.
Griffith then plated McClain when she lined a double into the right-center field gap. Wagner singled to left-center field to drive in Griffith for a 3-1 lead.
Jordan dropped down a nice bunt single up the third base line to keep the line moving. Sizemore drove in Wagner with a hard ground-out to shortstop.
In the top of the second, Jordan pitched around a walk behind a whiff and a nice defensive play when Preston scooped a short-hop throw at first base.
In the Ada second, Bassitt came up and lined a shot over the right fielder’s head. She put her head down and raced around the bases for an inside-the-park homer when she surprised the defense on the relay throw when she kept flying around third for a 5-1 lead.
In the Devil third, the visitors threatened when Leah Durliat beat out an infield hit and stole second. But Bassitt then fielded Ellie Marquardt’s single to the outfield and gunned down the hesitant Durliat at third base to stem the momentum.
Later on, Bassitt hauled in a long fly to center field off the bat of Avery Patterson and nearly threw out Marquardt tagging up to score and cut the deficit to 5-2.
A long double down the left field line by Devil Allueva prolonged the inning before Jordan escaped further damage.
Ada threatened in the home third but didn’t score. In the top of the fourth, Jordan sandwiched called strikeouts around a sharp single to left field by Karis Birch.
Third baseman Sizemore then made a diving catch of a pop-up in foul territory to help end the threat. “That was a nice catch,” said Bassitt.
In the bottom of the fourth, Robinson singled to center field. Alainee Buxton reached on a passed ball third strike, and flex runner Dailah Preston scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-2.
Two more wild pitches plated Buxton. McClain legged out a sharply-hit ball to left field for a double, but was stranded to keep the margin at 7-2.
In the top of the fifth, Durliat reached second on a throwing error. Jordan retired the next two hitters. After a hit batter put two runners on, Wagner fielded a hard grounder and flipped to second sacker Bassitt for the force-out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Jordan beat out an infield single to shortstop and stole her way to third. A soft liner off the bat of Sizemore was dropped at shortstop to make it 8-2.
Dailah Preston drove in a run with a groundout for a 9-2 cushion.
In the sixth, Bassitt relieved Jordan and walked the leadoff batter before striking out two. McClain also threw out Velazquez trying to steal second. In the home sixth, Ada tacked on two more runs.
McClain singled with one out, then stole second and third. She then scampered home on a wild pitch to provide a 10-2 bulge. Griffith walked and came around to score the final run later on an RBI bunt by Wagner.
Bassitt retired the Devils in order in the seventh to close it out. A flyout to substitute left fielder Gabbie Fleming, a strikeout and a pop-out to Jordan capped the sweep.
McClain led the offense with three hits, two runs and four stolen bases. She also gunned down two runners trying to steal.
Bassitt scored on her homer, and pitched two innings of hitless relief with three strikeouts. Griffith contributed two runs, a double and one RBI. Jordan singled and swiped three bases in addition to five solid innings of pitching.
Sizemore collected two RBI with one hit and a run. Wagner also drove home two runs with a hit and scored one run. Freshman Dailah Preston added a run and one RBI. Aidra Preston hit a double and scored.
“The defense played well,” said Bassitt. “McClain had a really nice game behind the plate, and at the plate with three hits.”
”Gabbie made a nice catch in left field,” he added. “The kids that came off the bench played well.”
Ada out-hit Arlington 10-5, and both teams committed two errors. The Bulldogs stole 22 total bases in the twinbill.
GAME TWO
| 1 2 3 | 4 5 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| ARL | 1 0 1 | 0 0 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| ADA | 4 1 0 | 2 2 2 | x | 11 | 10 | 2 |
WP-Jordan (1-0) LP-Marquardt
2B-Griffith (A), McClain (A), Preston (A)
HR-Bassitt (A)
Ada hosts non-league rival Riverdale (4-0) Tuesday, April 9. “That will be a good game, they are a competitive team,” said Bassitt.
The Falcons edged the Bulldogs 7-5 last year to end their eight-game win streak to start the 2023 season.
Ada then entertains Hardin County rival Kenton (1-2) Wednesday, April 10.
The Northwest Conference opener is at Columbus Grove (4-1, 0-1 NWC) Thursday, April 11.
Ada’s scheduled league lidlifter at home vs. Spencerville (1-3) was rained out April 4. No makeup date has been set yet.
