There was no rest for the weary Tuesday night, September 19th as North Harrison's softball team dropped its fourth straight game to a red hot Albany squad 9-1. The Warriors dropped their first five games of the year, only to beat King City 9-1 for their first win. They have kept winning ever since, fueled by the fielding of Abigail Troncin, the pitching and hitting of Addisyn Crawford, and the rest of the team following their lead.
Defensively, the game for North Harrison went the same way as the Hamilton game; they had a ton of situations where they could get to strike two, and they could get to two outs easily enough, but they could not get the third strike or the third out. Five of Albany's runs came with two outs. Crawford carried the Warriors with two doubles and a screamer off Shamrock pitcher Erica Gerken's glove that rolled into no-man's land for a base hit. It was death by a thousand cuts as the Warriors scored in every inning but the third.
The Shamrocks made some outstanding defensive plays in the field to keep the game from turning into a run rule rout. In the Warrior third, shortstop Ruby Heintz made a shoestring catch of Abby Troncin's line drive to rob her of a base hit. In the same inning, Izzy Manville hit a tricky grounder that pitcher Erica Gerken couldn't handle, but second baseman Carmon Fordyce raced in and grabbed for an out. In the Warrior fourth, first baseman Andi Nail ran down Jayden Hillyard's foul pop fly in front of the fence. In the fifth, Gerken alertly grabbed Tatum Peterson's bunt attempt and second baseman Carmon Fordyce raced to first to cover for the out. In the seventh, Abigail Troncin hit a towering pop fly close to the third base line that everybody else lost in the lights, but shortstop Ruby Heintz alertly ran and grabbed. Heintz also made a running catch in foul territory. Kira Robertson was a steady presence in center field, making three catches there. The Shamrocks will have to keep building on such plays if they are to get out of their slump.
Offensively, the Shamrocks got some good swings off Crawford, but could never string anything together. They got four hits during the game, and five balls that were hit hard, but right at somebody. Crawford mixed her fast pitches with a drop ball when needed to get strikeouts. North Harrison scored their lone run in the seventh when Kira Robertson grounded out to score Ruby Heintz.
Recognized for Senior Night were Erica Gerken, Ruby Heintz, Jaci Davis, Natalie Parkhurst, Hailey Claycomb, and Haily Bears. Nobody wanted to leave at the end as hugs, gifts, and pictures were taken and stories were shared about the various seniors; underclassman Carmon Fordyce was showing off her muscles by carrying around two of her teammates. There was the time that the team discovered that Brandon Craig still had athletic ability despite his recent knee surgery when Erica Gerken shot a hard foul at him during the Albany Tournament last year. There was the time during the middle of the season last year when coach Brandon Craig was giving a Come to Jesus speech and a yellow cat wandered onto the field to see what the commotion was about. There was the time that Jaci Davis was put in right field, got a fly ball hit at her that she lost in the sun, that she saw at the last minute, dove at it, and flopped on her belly; she was shaken up and had to come out, and Coach Brandon Craig didn't have the heart to yell at her.
The goal now will be to find the light at the end of the tunnel and lay the groundwork for the returning players to mesh with the current junior high squad. They were pitted against a really good Albany squad, but they got the 5-4 win after a back and forth game. Ava Rinehart got her second home run in two games; the last junior high Shamrock to hit two home runs in a year was Jayliegh Robins, who is now playing for Southwest Community College in Creston. The "B" squad won 9-6, with Gracie Young hitting a triple in the last inning to start the rally that broke a 6-6 tie.
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