By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

BRADFORD — The Lady Trojans got back into the win column and remain undefeated in WOAC play with a 13-3 run rule win at Bradford on April 18.

Arcanum head coach Mike Morris said he was a bit worried about the game after a quiet bus ride to the game. After a slow start in the first two innings, the team started to get the bats going.

“The first two innings we had some errors. We gave them, I think, three unearned runs again. They were giving us some too so it evened out,” Morris said. “But when you put the ball in play, good things happen. Pitchers did their job, we just got to keep getting better and better. We’re 6-0 in the league, so that’s what we’re focusing on right now.”

It was a 3-3 game after the first two innings. Senior Paige Burrell drove in a run on a sacrifice groundout to go up 1-0. In the bottom of the first, senior Shay Swick had an RBI triple after an Arcanum error to tie it up at 1-1.

After each team scored two runs in the second inning, Morris told the team to wake up as they headed to the dugout. He said he hasn’t been happy with the flat starts.

The team responded with a five-run third inning. Burrell drove in another run to make it 4-3. Senior Kaitlyn Toy drove in a run on a Bradford error. Toy then scored on a wild pitch. Senior Brooklyn Ullery had a sacrifice flyout and junior Rylie Leeper scored a run to cap off the inning.

Bradford head coach Shon Schaffer said it was a rough night for the team with the errors. They had eight in the game and also had other mistakes on defense that don’t show up in the boxscore.

“I wouldn’t even guess how many errors we had. Whatever it is, it’s probably not enough. Some of the stuff that happens during a game aren’t errors, but it’s the mental part of it and playing slow and just not being able to make the plays,” Schaffer said.

The Trojans tacked on three more runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to claim the 10-run lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. The Lady Railroaders were able to get a runner to third base to prolong the game and give themselves a chance to make a comeback, but couldn’t get them across home plate.

Bradford had four hits in the game and drew one walk. Schaffer said he thought they didn’t hit the ball well or make good contact.

For Arcanum, junior Hannah Kendig went four innings and junior Belle Harleman came in for one inning. For Bradford, senior Izzy Hamilton pitched four innings and had two strikeouts. Junior Tegan Canan pitched an inning and got a strikeout.

Burrell, Toy and sophomore Kenzie Byrne each had two RBI. Byrne had three hits in the game.

Morris said while it was a good win in the end, the team still has some issues to iron out. They’re still having slow starts at the plate and have some defensive issues to work on.

“We’re waiting too long. We got to figure this out. Defense has got to get better, we just have to clean up the errors and we’ll be fine,” Morris said.

For Bradford, Schaffer said he hopes the team’s main takeaway from this game is that there is still room for improvement.

“(We’ve) got to get better. That was a team that we could have competed against and we made sure not to compete against them,” Schaffer said. “I told them to tighten their belts up, we’re in for a rough one.”

The Lady Railroaders are 4-6 (4-2) and will host Mississinawa Valley on April 20 for a 5 p.m. first pitch. The Lady Trojans are 9-4 (6-0) and will host Twin Valley South on April 20 for a 5 p.m. first pitch.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]