PHOTOS by Mark Andreasen / CLICK to enlarge

By Cort Reynolds

ADA__The Ada High School softball team endured the rain to soundly defeat visiting St. Henry 11-3 in a non-conference contest on Friday, April 24.

The Bulldogs blew the game open with a seven-run second inning and dominated the game.

Ada improved to 15-2 overall with the home win. The Bulldogs are now  10-1 at home. SH fell to 3-12 with the defeat.

Ada freshman Tea Griffith hurled the first four innings. She struck out four and allowed one unearned run to earn the win.

SH scored on an error and an RBI double by Breonna McCoy to lead 1-0 after the first inning.

Bulldog shortstop Emily Shanks made a nice running catch of a short fly to center field to thwart the Redskins in the second inning.

Ada then exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the second to take control by batting around. Shay Smith started the rally with a walk and a steal. Aubry Jordan and Summer Wibley walked to load the bases.

Dailah Preston looped a two-run single to left field to give Ada the lead for good. Alainee Buxton lined an infield single to second base to bring Wibley home. Shanks walked.

Reese Jordan then drilled a two-run double into the left-center field gap. The Redskin third baseman made a nice backhand snag of a hard one-hopper off the bat of Griffith, but her throw was wild and Jordan scampered home on the error.

Griffith then later came home on a wild pitch to make it 7-1.

The Bulldogs executed a double play to end the third inning. After a Natalie Schwieterman single, the next batter tried to bunt and was out at first. The runner kept going to third but was easily gunned out as Jordan put the tag on.

Summer Wibley lofted a long single off the center field fence to open the Bulldog third. However, she was stranded at third.

In the SH fourth after a strikeout, McCoy smashed a double to deep right field. Griffith then snared a hard line drive right back at her, then whiffed Renee Wendel, who swung late on a fastball.

In the bottom of the fourth, Sophie Fleming led off with an infield single to third base. Reese Jordan reached on an error by the third sacker on a hard-one-hopper. Griffth singled on a sharp RBI ground ball up the middle to plate Fleming.

Gabby Fleming lifted a long fly to center but it was caught. Aubry Jordan lined a single to left field that plated her sister Reese to provide a 9-1 lead.

Griffith later came home on a wild pitch to stretch it to 10-1.

In the top of the fifth, catcher Hannah Gast drilled a one-out solo homer over the left field fence to cut the deficit to 10-2. Aubry Jordan recovered to get two whiffs in the inning.

Taliana Parker ripped a leadoff single to right field leading off the Ada fifth. After two groundouts, Parker slid home on a throwing error to make it 11-2. Jordan and Griffith then drew consecutive walks, but both runners were stranded.

SH scored in the sixth when McCoy walked and came home on a single by Alexis Buschur.

In the home sixth, Wibley launched a double that hit the center field fence about a foot shy of a home run. But she was stranded after a fly-out and a line-out to third.

Ada freshman Aubry Jordan pitched the final three frames. She struck out five and allowed one earned run on two hits and a walk.

Ada out-hit SH 10-5 and took advantage of seven errors to score six unearned runs. The Bulldogs also benefited from drawing seven walks.

Reese Jordan stroked a two-run double to help pace the offense. Wibley hit two long drives off the fence for a double and a single.

Junior outfielder Preston knocked in the first two runs with a single.  

Griffith and Aubry Jordan each ripped an RBI single. Lone senior Buxton drove in a run with an infield hit.

McCoy doubled twice and scored two runs to pace the Redskins. She also had one RBI. Gast homered.

Redskin sophomore Haylie Harlamert suffered the pitching loss. Southpaw reliever Chloe Miller allowed six hits and just one earned run in 4.3 solid innings to close the game for SH. 

The Bulldogs have outscored their opposition 208-40 over 17 games, a 12.2-2.4 runs average margin per game.

The Ada girls visit defending NWC champion Lincolnview (11-3) in a makeup game Saturday at 1 p.m. The Lancers blanked Spencerville 13-0 on Thursday. The Bulldogs are 5-1 on the road.

WP-Griffith LP-Harlamert

2B-R. Jordan (A), Wibley (A), McCoy 2 (SH)

HR-Gast (SH)