By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

UNION CITY, IN — It was a full day of softball at the Dylan Williams Forever an All Star Foundation tournament on April 29. Tri-Village and Mississinawa Valley softball both played in the invite. The Lady Patriots came out as the winners of the invite after defeating the Lady Blackhakws and Union City.

Mississinawa Valley kept the game scoreless for the first three innings. Freshman Makenna Hoggatt was attacking hitters early and was throwing strikes.

Tri-Village senior Ashlyn Burk drove in a run in the fourth to go up 1-0. The Lady Blackhawks got out of the inning only allowing the one run.

But it was a different story in the fifth. Tri-Village scored five runs in the fifth to go up 6-0. Junior Kiersten Wilcox drove in two runs to go up 3-0. A few sacrifice hits and a wild pitch drove in three more runs for Tri-Village.

Tri-Village head coach Emily Osborne said the team has been working on getting the bats going early in the game after entering a hitting lull. While it is a work in progress, the team was able to get the bats going in this one.

Mississinawa Valley head coach Max Guillozet said all season long they had that one inning that will derail the team. It’s something that happens to young teams during the season.

“It has been that way for us all year. I wait for that one inning. A lot of times I know it’s coming, but I just don’t know when. That’s kind of how it’s been this season. We will be in games, but we always seem to have that one bad inning,” Guillozet said.

Hoggatt ended the game with two strikeouts and two hits. Freshmen Jasmine Buggs and Trinity Reichard each had a hit as well.

Sophomore Ellie Curtner ended the game with a two-run hit to get the run rule win. Burk pitched five innings in the game and freshman Addy Wright pitched an inning.

Osborne said Burk is having a good season for them after stepping up to be a pitcher for the team, something they needed.

“Ashlyn has been doing pretty well with us this year. This is only her second year of pitching. She’s a senior, but she knows that was something we needed. So, she’s been stepping up for us,” Osborne said.

In the championship game of the tournament, the Lady Patriots got the bats going early. They scored two runs in the first inning and defeated Union City, 5-3.

Wilcox, Curtner, sophomores Kaylee Stark and Brielle Smith each had a RBI. Freshman Elizabeth Poling pitched seven innings and allowed two hits while striking out six batters.

In the consolation game, Mississinawa Valley lost to Southern Wells, 6-2. Junior Kenzea Townsend had a RBI. Senior Gabby Elizondo had three hits. Freshman Cora Hoggatt pitched six innings and had five strikeouts.

When asked what he wants to see his team improve on before postseason play, Guillozet said he wants to see the team eliminate the silly errors and start hitting better.

The team just have not been able to get the bats going often this season.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of pitching we face, we’re just not hitting. You got to get baserunners if you want to score runs,” Guillozet said.

Mississinawa Valley is now 1-15 with a 0-8 conference record. The team will go to Randolph Southern on May 1 for a 5 p.m. game and then to Dixie on May 2 for a 5 p.m. first pitch.

Tri-Village is now 12-8 with a 5-3 conference record. The team will host Preble Shawnee on May 2 for a 5 p.m. first pitch.

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