BRADFORD – Bradford beat Tri-Village 14-10 in a high scoring Cross County Conference softball game on Thursday in Bradford.
Bradford is a dangerous team, Coach Shon Shaffer said, as the Railroaders displayed on Thursday by recording 18 hits and putting up 14 runs.
“We’ve been getting that,” the Bradford coach said of his team’s big offensive output. “We’ve been putting some runs on the board. I told the girls earlier in the season that this is one of my better hitting teams I’ve had since I’ve been here. We’ll score a lot of runs.”
Tri-Village coach Tracy Barhorst also was happy of her team’s offensive effort and sees a lot of weapons in her lineup as well.
“We’re very capable of that,” she said. “I’ve got strong sticks all the way through my lineup. I can bring anybody in at any time to do their job whether it’s a bunt, slap or a hit. I’m very fortunate.”
Tri-Village started off strong on Thursday with a pair of runs in the top half of the first inning.
Bradford took its first lead of the night with four runs in the third inning and then exploded for nine runs in the fourth inning to lead 13-2.
“We had a bad inning, but they fought hard,” Barhorst said. “They don’t ever give up. We showed that early in the season. They’re good kids, and they’re fighting hard.”
Bradford was on the verge of run ruling Tri-Village, but the Patriots fought back and scored two runs in the fifth inning to reduce their deficit to 13-4 and avoid the run rule.
“I thought we had them for good in the fifth being up 11,” Shaffer said. “Tater (Tatyana Cotrell) went out, got hit at the plate, so we had to bring in our sophomore pitcher. And Holly (Rosengarten) does a nice job, puts it hard to hit.”
Tri-Village continued to battle its way back into the game, scoring four runs in the sixth inning to reduce its deficit to 13-8.
After Bradford scored one run in the bottom of the sixth, Tri-Village added two more runs in the seventh inning but ultimately fell short, losing 14-10.
“The girls played good,” Shaffer said of his team’s play. “They didn’t take the win for granted and kept pushing.”
Olivia Hart and Bailey Wysong both went 4-for-5 for Bradford. Bianca Kneener was 3-for-4, Ally Booker was 2-for-3 and Amanda Brewer, Cotrell, Chelsea Gill and Aspen Weldy recorded hits, too.
“I think we’re right in the mix,” Shaffer said. “We’re not a juggernaut team by any means, but we’re a dangerous team. I wouldn’t want to play us in the playoffs. We’re one of those teams that if everything is clicking we’re really hard to beat. But we’ve also laid some eggs this season.”
Tri-Village’s Payge Malott went 3-for-4 with three RBI. Kloey Murphey was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and three runs. Trisa Porter went 2-for-5 with a double, two runs and two RBI. Madi Foreman was 2-for-3 and scored a run. Rachel Miller was 2-for-4. Shelby Frech was 1-for-4 with a double. Danika Mann was 1-for-3 with a run and two RBI.
“We’re where we want to be,” she said. “We are exactly where we want to be. We play in a tough league, we play tough teams, but we as a team are where we want to be.”
