Taylor Dougan threw a no-hitter and Northeast Nodaway, after a slow start, gave her plenty of run support as the Bluejays beat Union Star 14-2 Thursday for their fourth straight win. Dougan walked several batters but proved difficult to hit off of; not one single ball left the infield and Bluejay fielders did not make one single error behind her.
At the plate, Northeast had trouble laying off the high pitches in the early innings; they went down in order to start the first. Union Star tested new Bluejay first baseman Blair Schmitz in the bottom of the first, but she fielded everything cleanly; she caught a pop fly, dropped a liner but picked it up and hustled to the bag for the out, and ranged to her right for a grounder and threw to Hallie Oelze covering from second as Oelze showed that she was learning her new position at second in a hurry.
Northeast continued to swing at the high pitches in the second; Sarah Fox got hit by a pitch with two outs and Kristan Judd beat out a slow roller to second to put runners on first and second. But Allison Carter grounded out. Union Star used a two-out rally in the second to go up 1-0 as Jerika Wilkerson walked, Audrey Silvey was hit by a pitch, and Lauren Humphrey walked. Wilkerson scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0 before Dougan struck out Shelby Ray to end the inning with no further damage done.
Northeast continued to struggle at the plate but all of a sudden, Emily Bryant got a two-out home run to the left field wall all the way to the 235 foot sign and circled the bases standing up to tie it at 1-1. That seemed to break the Bluejays out of their offensive funk as they would go on to score in every inning.
Dougan whiffed two in the bottom of the third as she retired the Trojans in order and then Northeast finally got going in the top of the fourth. Blair Schmitz led off the inning with a triple over the left fielder's head to the wall; she would go on to bat 2 for 5; with a 4 for 4 showing in Northeast's second matchup against North Andrew, Schmitz has been on a 6 for 9 tear with two triples and a home run since her walkoff hit against Pattonsburg. Hallie Oelze then reached on an error as Union Star shortstop Hannah Todd let a grounder get under her legs; Oelze then reached second when Todd dropped a cutoff throw and third when the second baseman let the ball roll a few feet away. Sarah Fox popped out, but Kristan Judd grounded out to plate Oelze to make it 3-1.
Dougan hit Jerika Wilkerson, who stole second with two outs in the fourth but struck out Silvey to end the threat. Northeast would then break the game wide open in the fifth. With one out, Taylor Dougan helped herself out with a bunt down the first base line that pitcher Hillary Todd bobbled for an error. Dougan went to second on a wild pitch and Bryant stretched a single into a double as Dougan scored on the play. Bryant went to third and then Rachel Runde was hit by a pitch. Blair Schmitz then crashed another line drive off the left field wall, this time for a 3-run home run that made it 7-1.
Union Star came the closest to getting a hit in the fifth inning, but strong fielding by the Bluejays preserved Dougan's no-hitter. Kaylee Barnett hit a slow roller up the middle that looked like it would be in for a hit, but Hallie Oelze showed her range when she cut it off and threw to first for the out. Hannah Todd then hit a slow roller down the third base line, but Rachel Runde picked it up and Blair Schmitz stretched for the throw to get the third out of the inning.
Mallorie Peters hit a pop fly single down the left field line in the sixth and then Emily Bryant was hit by a pitch. They engineered a double steal and then Rachel Runde grounded to the third baseman, who thought there was a force at third and didn't tag anyone, letting Peters score to make it 8-1.
Wilkerson scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-2, but then Northeast scored six in the top of the seventh. Hallie Oelze stretched a single into a double and then Sarah Fox hit a line drive over the third baseman's head to score her and make it 9-2. Allison Carter then beat out a grounder to third and then Fox broke to third and was safe on the throw back. Fox then scored on a wild pitch and another wild pitch moved Carter to third. Mallorie Peters got her second straight hit, a slow roller down the first base line that scored Carter. Taylor Dougan singled to left and took second as the left fielder let it roll by her. Emily Bryant hit a line shot past third to score Peters and then Runde doubled off the wal in left to score Bryant and Dougan to round out the scoring.
Lauren Humphrey walked to lead off the seventh for Union Star, but Kristan Judd threw her out stealing.
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