For the Daily Reporter
NEW PALESTINE — These are the days Ed Marcum is pleased to have pitching options.
The New Palestine softball coach split a five-inning contest Thursday between ace Mackenzie Jones (3.1 innings pitched) and Kaylea Bullock (1.2 innings). The Dragons (10-0, 3-0) continued their winning ways, defeating Southport (5-5, 3-1) 10-0 to begin a busy week with games tonight at Center Grove and, Thursday, conference rival Shelbyville.
“We’re kind of looking at this week trying to do that, where we get three innings or so out of each,” Marcum said. “I’m really happy with how the both of them have been pitching and it doesn’t let (the opponent) get too comfortable against one pitcher.”
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Jones started off on the wrong foot, surrendering a leadoff single to Southport’s Savannah Doane. But the New Palestine starter dominated from there on out, striking the next two batters in the first inning and totaling three for the game.
“I like how she starts and I go in,” Bullock said. “It’s part of working together and helps us as a team.”
Jaylin Calvert put the Dragons on the board with a deep count, leadoff home run. New Palestine would tack on two more in the first but the damage to Southport was greater than the runs scored.
The middle of New Palestine’s order, headlined by Ashley Prange and Emily O’Connor, fouled off ball after ball to the left field flank. Southport starting pitcher Abby Pendleton threw more than 25 pitches during the frame.
“I thought we did a pretty nice job of staying with it,” Marcum said.
“Our timing was just a little bit off, and (Southport coach Scott Montgomery) did a nice job of switching pitchers every time we go to the top of the order.”
After establishing the lead, Jones added to it. The senior belted a two-run home run following the whirlwind Prange and O’Connor at-bats.
It was smooth sailing for Jones on the mound afterword.
“They’re kind of different,” Marcum said of Jones and Bullock. “Mack throws down and Kaylea throws a little bit more of a rise, so we’re going to mix-and-match a bit and that’s what we’ve been talking about doing. We’re going to try to save our pitchers as much as we can at this point.”
Despite a steady-yet-light stream of rain throughout the day, the game began on time. The infield dirt was saturated but not muddy. Marcum ensured that stayed the case by pouring dry dirt on the pitching circle and batter’s box in between innings.
“The beginning was a little rough, but I think I just zoned into it the next inning,” Bullock said of the circle. Bullock had some control issues in her debut inning but increased her velocity in subsequent frames.
That didn’t stop the Dragons from playing aggressively, though. Marcum employed a rare pure steal after subbing in Kinsey Mitchell as a complementary runner with two outs in the first inning. The speedy freshman successfully swiped second, later scoring on the Jones home run.
The Dragons benefited from two Southport errors in the bottom of the second, one each in the outfield and infield. Between an already high pitch count and those unearned base runners, Montgomery opted to pull starter Pendleton after one recorded inning pitched.
“We have a really strong lineup and it just really helps the team get ahead and stay ahead the whole game,” Bullock said.
Southport’s Brittany Fisher pitched two innings in relief, striking out two Dragons. Cardinals shortstop Vanessa Miller made a highlight-worthy catch in the bottom of the third, gracefully robbing Rieley Widmann in shallow center field.
The Dragons scored a pivotal four runs in the fourth inning, including two off a Michaela Jones RBI single. Marcum made a number of defensive substitutions after the frame. A bases-loaded hit-by-pitch secured New Palestine’s victory in the bottom of the fifth.
