Pitcher Dallis Coffelt gained her first varsity win as a Northeast Nodaway Bluejay in 100 degree heat Saturday afternoon at the Northeast Nodaway Tournament. The Bluejays picked up just their second win in two years, beating North Nodaway 8-3.
Earlier, Northeast had lost 6-2 to South Nodaway in four innings after the game was called due to the time limit. Northeast made some outstanding defensive plays early as Coffelt, playing shortstop, made a running catch behind the pitcher's mound in the first inning. That area is a dead spot since the pitcher is leaning forward from delivering her pitch and the shortstop is frequently guarding the hole. But Dallis made a running catch to help hold South Nodaway to one run in an inning that threatened to get away. She also snagged a soft line drive to end the inning. The Longhorns scored their lone run on a dropped third strike that got away.
The focus of the tournament was on capitalizing on chances at the plate. Northeast had lost 8-1 to a solid North Andrew team that they had lost by the 10 run rule to the last two years. But they were able to go the distance against them this time; however, their hitting needed to improve. They didn't score in the first two innings, but they did have some hard outs, always a good sign.
With two outs in the top of the second, pitcher Claudia Wiederholt threw 12 straight balls, walking the bases loaded and bringing in Coffelt to put out the fire. Allison Hilsabeck hit a screamer to Bailey Judd in left field that was sinking hard and looked like extra bases and three runs since the runner on first was going on contact with two outs. But Bailey caught the line drive to end the inning.
That meant that Northeast was able to take the lead in the third when Jill Spire hit a triple into the left field gap that scored Talina Nelson and Kerrigan Adwell to put Northeast up 2-1.
But South Nodaway went right back up 3-2 after a hit batter led off the inning. Northeast showed that they still needed to work on defending against the bunt as there were too many breakdowns in communication and blown assignments in the inning. Northeast also showed that they needed to work on two-strike situations as they had two called third strikes that killed any rally chances in the fourth. They had five called third strikes in the game. South Nodaway pitcher Allison Hilsabeck was hitting the outside corner at will with two strikes, knowing that Northeast Nodaway's players would not swing at that pitch and knowing she would get the call. Coach Hilary Loe said that she wanted her team to be more aggressive at the plate in the future. "If the umpire wants you to swing at those pitches, then you have to swing," said Loe.
Another walk carousel in the fourth along with a two run single by Sydney Murphy finished Northeast before the game was called due to the time limit. "We had too many breakdowns in communication," said Loe to her team. "The bad news is, we can't get that one back. The good news is, we have another game to play." She told her players to get that game out of their minds and focus on the next one.
As the morning progressed, the temperature shot up to 100 degrees as North Nodaway and South Nodaway played a tough battle won 8-4 by the Longhorns. North Nodaway used up both of their pitchers in that game, Cambry Schluter and Breann O'Riley, prompting them to start a freshman, Madison Thompson, for the Northeast Nodaway game and seeking to rest their two main pitchers. The team that was able to maintain the most focus despite the adverse playing conditions would be the winner. Coach Loe said that she was expecting her players to work things out for themselves more this year instead of her telling them everything. The idea is to help them to develop the softball instincts necessary to compete. Before the season, Loe said that one of her main goals was for the team to be more focused in practices and games.
Another breakdown in a bunt situation threatened to break it open for North Nodaway before the Bluejays even had a chance to bat, as they fell behind 3-0 as Taylor Adwell's double scored two runs. But Northeast threw out Schluter at the plate during the play to end the inning. This seemed to be a momentum-changing play as North Nodaway would not make a serious scoring threat for the rest of the game.
In the meantime, Thompson was throwing fast and wild, hitting the backstop regularly with her pitches. Northeast got two runners on with walks, but they had two outs as Kerrigan Adwell was thrown out at the plate on a grounder to third. But then Thompson could not get out of the inning as she proceeded to walk the next seven batters to make it 6-3. Talina Nelson appeared to strike out swinging, but catcher's interference was called following a conference and Nelson reached first safely to bring home another run. Nelson's swing had hit the catcher's glove. It is obstruction when the catcher or another defensive player hinders or prevents the batter from hitting the ball. The batter is awarded first base with runners advancing if forced. Jill Spire was hit by a pitch, finishing Thompson and bringing in O'Riley.
North Nodaway tried to rally in the top of the third, but Bailey Judd, who was catching, threw out a runner at the plate on a passed ball situation to keep them off the board. Dallis Coffelt, who pitched stronger as the game progressed, struck out the last five Mustang batters to pick up the win.
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