Highland’s Maddy Stuckman got her team on the board Thursday with a first-inning RBI triple against Galion. The Scots would win 5-4.
Rob Hamilton | Morrow County Sentinel
The Highland softball team bounced back from a rough start to avenge a loss to Galion earlier in the week.
After falling 7-6 to the Tigers on Tuesday, it didn’t look great for the Lady Scots in the early going, as Kortnie Ganshorn and CeCe Campbell had back-to-back one-out singles and Madelyn Schieber followed with a three-run home run to stake the visitors to an early lead.
It wouldn’t take long for Highland to change things for the better, though, as they responded with four in their half of the opening inning.
With one on and one out, Maddy Stuckman hit an RBI triple and was then brought home by a single courtesy of starting pitcher Lydia Shaffer. The Tigers would record the second out of the inning, but two walks led to a two-run single by Kaymi Lewis to give Highland the lead.
“We’re trying to raise these girls with fight and that’s what they’re learning this season — how to fight back through adversity,” said Highland coach Abby Steele. “We’re down at the top of the first 3-0 and we’re coming back and going ahead 4-3 and hanging on as much as possible. I’m really proud of how they worked and how the bats got going when we needed them to.”
The Tigers would tie the score in the top of the second inning, but Highland would quickly respond again. In the bottom of the frame, Stuckman drove in Aubree Bellamy with a single to put the Scots back in front by one.
“We’re playing a very competitive team, so we told them the other night, it’s got to be a team win,” said Steele. “We’re going to take both our pitchers and they’re both getting reps. Our biggest goal this year is to pitch strikes and minimize errors and that’s what these girls did tonight. They came together and made it happen as a team.”
From there, despite only having three baserunners over the remainder of the game, Highland was able to maintain their lead due to strong pitching and defense.
Shaffer pitched around a pair of baserunners in the third inning and with one on and one our in the fourth, gave way to Kelsey Munday, who got out of the inning. Munday then pitched around a pair of singles in the fifth and one single in the sixth before recording three straight outs in the seventh on fly balls to the outfield.
“Our first pitcher (Shaffer) is a sophomore coming in and she led off, threw strikes and did a great job for us,” said Steele. “When we needed a change of pace, our senior (Munday) came in to finish the game and just threw strikes and did what we needed to get those outs. Her defense had her back. Our outfield had the last three outs. That’s what we wanted out of them. We’re okay if they hit it, we’re just going to play defense and have our pitcher’s back.”
The duo of Shaffer and Munday scattered eight hits in the game, while only walking one and striking out three. Meanwhile, the Scots recorded seven hits and drew six walks. Stuckman finished with a triple and single, while Lewis had a double and both Shaffer and Bryleigh Young added two singles each.
Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS
