NEW PALESTINE — It was more of the same for New Palestine on Thursday night. An impressive home run display powered the Class 3A No. 1 Dragons to a 19-8 softball victory against visiting Hamilton Southeastern.
Despite the scoreline, it wasn’t a romp from the start. In the top of the first, first baseman Jordan Rager ripped a two-RBI single to give the Royals a 2-0 lead. After allowing the first three batters to reach, Dragons pitcher Mackenzie Jones settled down and got out of the inning with no further damage.
“Holding them to two runs there in the first was big for us,” Dragons coach Ed Marcum said afterwards. “And then scoring four on them in the bottom half of the frame allowed us to take control a little bit.”
The Dragons got one run back immediately as center fielder Jaylin Calvert rocketed a home run to right field. Later in the inning, Michaela Jones came up with two on base and crushed another ball for a three-run homer to give the Dragons a lead they would not relinquish.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryIn the second inning, the Dragons put up nine runs, powered by three more home runs. First, Mackenzie Jones hit a three-run homer to match her sister, then Michaela Jones smacked another immediately after, and Macy Miller added a two-run homer for good measure. The first 10 runs the Dragons scored came via the home run.
“The wind was blowing out today,” Marcum said. “When I saw that I figured both teams would be able to get some out of here.”
New Palestine was able to add three runs each in the third and fourth innings, which gave them an 11-run lead and allowed the game to end after the top of the fifth inning.
The victory improves the Dragons early-season record to 3-0. They are scheduled to play again, weather permitting, Saturday in their New Palestine Invitational tournament. The first game will start at 9 a.m.
