NORTH VERNON — For the second time this season, the New Palestine Dragons softball team found itself in the national spotlight on Saturday.
This time was different.
On April 24, two USA Today Super 25 teams squared off in New Palestine, with the Dragons topping Center Grove and knocking the Trojans out of the national rankings. That was the seventh time in the last five years the teams had met.
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The matchup Saturday in North Vernon was more unique, pitting two Top 10 teams that had never met before against one another. Indiana’s No. 1 team, New Palestine, entered holding the No. 8 spot in the Super 25 poll. Kentucky’s No. 1 team, Louisville Male, came in at 19-0 and ranked No. 5 in the poll.
Both teams showed glimpses of why they are so highly regarded. The Bulldogs showed just a few more, handing the Dragons their second loss of the season, 6-2, in a rain-shortened game.
“We were right there. I feel like we’ll never know, but if the rain doesn’t come in there, we’ve got six more outs,” New Palestine coach Ed Marcum said. “With this team, we can do a lot with six outs.
“I hate to lose, but I do feel like that was a game we could have come back in. But that’s why you can’t get behind.”
The Bulldogs did to the Dragons what the Dragons typically do to most teams. Strong defense and power hitting carried them, and it started in the third inning, when things finally got rolling and the bats started to make solid contact for both teams.
What proved to be the winning run came early, in the top of the third in what was then a scoreless game. With two runners on base, Male’s Megan Konermann attempted to put down a sacrifice bunt. It rolled foul.
Bulldogs coach Josh Bloomer wasn’t happy. He immediately called timeout and questioned Konermann, asking her what she was doing and why she was bunting.
She blasted the next pitch well over the left field fence, her eighth home run of the season and the team’s 44th. As she rounded the bases, her coach, his point proven, told Konermann that’s why he didn’t want her bunting. Just like that, the Bulldogs had a 3-0 lead and a bunch of momentum, which led to a fourth run coming across in the inning.
New Palestine third baseman Emily O’Connor answered right back, hitting the scoreboard in center field to cut the deficit to 4-1 and getting the Dragons on the board.
“We talk about getting ahead early, especially on days like this,” Marcum said. “We had our chances. We did a really nice job of getting out of a jam in the first inning, but we had bases loaded there with one out, top of the order, and we can’t score. Their left fielder robbed (Michaela Jones) on a ball that, if it gets by her, we score three runs. That’s a different game.”
Male pushed the lead to 6-1 in the fifth, with back-to-back home runs off two different Dragons pitchers, Kaylea Bullock and Sam Booe. Jaylin Calvert responded with a lead-off solo home run in the bottom of the inning as the weather started to take a turn for the worse.
A constant drizzle mixed with occasional harder rainfall turned into a steady downpour. The field, already in rough shape, started to quickly get worse. The Dragons got two runners on base and looked to get back in the game, but an impressive diving catch in center field by the Male defense kept several New Palestine runs off the board. That was the second time in the game the Bulldogs outfield made a diving stop and the third overall, as Calvert had an early-game diving catch of her own in center.
The Dragons out-hit the hosts and were building momentum at a possible comeback, but the big hits didn’t fall, just as they didn’t earlier in the game. The infield became unplayable shortly after Male came up to bat in the sixth inning, forcing the weather stoppage and ending the game.
“Obviously they are a very, very good team,” Marcum said. “I felt like we hit their pitcher really well. We had a lot of good at-bats, but we left a lot of people on base again. We’ve got to come through with the big hit when we need it, especially in a big game against a very good team.”
New Palestine had eight hits in the game, with O’Connor leading the way with two. The Bulldogs, who came into the game averaging over 11 runs on 12 hits per game, had seven hits.
Bullock pitched 4.1 innings for the Dragons, striking out six and allowing six hits. Booe pitched the final 1.1 innings, striking out two and allowing one hit, the third Bulldogs home run.
“I knew Kaylea had to be her best to keep them down,” Marcum said. “She didn’t pitch as well as she did against Center Grove, but they are a very good hitting team, too. That’s nothing against her. No pitcher has kept them down, yet.”
It was the second game of the day for the Dragons, who opened things up with a 12-1 win against the hosts, Jennings County. The Dragons started sluggish in that one, taking an early 1-0 and being tied at 1-1 after four innings. The offense came to life then, and a five-run fifth and six-run sixth triggered the run-rule.
O’Connor, Calvert, Booe, Lexi Campbell and Macy Miller all had two hits in that game. Two Dragons combined to throw a no-hitter. Booe struck out eight and allowed no hits against the Panthers. Katie Kottlowski pitched the final inning, striking out the side.
The two-game split left the Dragons at 16-2 heading into Monday’s game against Shelbyville. Despite the second-game loss, Marcum hopes the experience of playing another state’s top team was a positive one for his team heading toward the tournament.
“I’m glad we had the opportunity to play them. I hope it showed my players that we’re right there. We lost, yes, but I leave that game knowing that we deserved to be on the same field as them,” he said. “If we played them again, I think it would be another good game. They’re very good, I’m not taking anything away from them, but I feel like when we’re playing our best, we’re very good, also. We didn’t play our best today, and against a team like that, you have to play your best. We didn’t.”
“It’s a good experience. We’ll learn from it. Hopefully we’re tired of losing and decide to turn it on.”