New Palestine head coach Ed Marcum looks concerned late in the game against Hamilton Southeastern.
Tom Russo | The Daily Reporter
FISHERS — Highly-ranked in the Softball Coaches Association of Indiana (SCAI) poll and undefeated to start the week, No. 3 New Palestine and No. 8 Hamilton Southeastern were trying to get back on track in Thursday’s game at Hamilton Southeastern High School.
The Dragons were coming off their first loss of the season Wednesday, at Franklin Central. The Royals lost earlier in the week to Mt. Vernon.
New Palestine committed two costly first-inning errors, leading to three runs, and left nine on base, five in the first two innings, in an 11-7 loss to the Royals.
Additionally, the Dragons were without No. 1 pitcher Courtney Study, who was competing for the school’s track and field team Thursday. Freshmen Kenna Tweedy and Sadey Hughbanks split time in the circle against the Royals.
“You have to be ready to go,” New Palestine coach Ed Marcum said of his club’s first-inning errors. “Unfortunately, we’ve seen this the last couple of years with playing on (artificial) turf at home. When we go to an away field it’s harder, and on dirt, we’ve struggled defensively. Maybe I’m not doing a good enough job getting us over on the JV diamond and beating balls at them. The three unearned runs contributed (to the loss).”
Still, the Dragons battled.
They answered the Royals’ three-run first with two in the second. When Hamilton Southeastern increased its lead to 4-2, the Dragons responded with a five-run fourth inning.
Both second-inning runs came with two outs. Nyla Lewis and Syd Oliver drew walks ahead of an infield single from Allie Blum. With the bases loaded, Aglaia Rudd singled up the middle to score two.
In the fourth, Oliver got the Dragons going with a solo home run to center field, her first of the season. Blum walked, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Rudd’s second single of the game.
After a Hamilton Southeastern error, and a fielder’s choice, forcing out Rudd’s courtesy runner at third base, Paige Ernstes hit a three-run home run — also her first of the season — to center field to give the Dragons a 7-4 lead.
But, the Dragons were unable to slow down the strong-hitting Royals. The hosts quickly answered with five runs in the bottom half of the inning to regain the lead, 9-7.
“Courtney’s running track and I have two freshmen trying to fill a gap,” Marcum added. “It’s tough. They’ve handled it mentally, but they’re finding out the level we play – we play the toughest competition in the state. It’s different than travel ball because they are playing against 18-year olds. I think both Kenna and Sadey are giving us everything they’ve got. We’ve got to make plays behind them.
“They both made some really good pitches, but HSE found some holes, and some balls fell in, and they capitalized with some shots.”
New Palestine left two runners on in both the sixth and seventh innings. Blum doubled to start the sixth and Rudd followed with her third single of the game, but both were left stranded. In the seventh, Jersi Gross had a one-out bunt single and Oliver received a two-out walk.
“(Hamilton Southeastern) is a very good team,” Marcum added. “The pitcher (Grace Swedarsky) did a good job of moving the ball. When we laid off of it we got quite a few walks. You can’t chase out and up. Unfortunately we did that a little too much, especially in key situations with runners on base.”
Marcum said he liked his team’s fight, calling it a better performance than in Wednesday’s 7-6 loss at Franklin Central.
“I was proud of the way we competed tonight,” Marcum added. “We played much better than (Wednesday). I knew it was going to be a tough game. If you told me we would have scored seven runs, I would have taken that. We left bases loaded, and in the sixth we had first and third with nobody out.
“We’ve got to get better. We play such a difficult schedule. Every game we play is going to be a battle. We have to a better job defensively and, offensively, we talk about situational hitting and we didn’t do that tonight.”
The Dragons busy week continues with a home game tonight against Carmel.
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Hamilton Southeastern 11, New Palestine 7
New Palestine (4-2);020;500;0; —;7;9;3
Hamilton Southeastern (8-1);301;502;x; —;11;13;1
Kenna Tweedy, Sadey Hughbanks (4) and Aglaia Rudd; Grace Swedarsky and Alex Kiemeyer. 2B: HSE – Morgan Hicks, Ella Francis, Madi Yankauskas; NP – Allie Blum. HR: HSE – Payton Fox (5); NP – Syd Oliver (1), Paige Ernstes (1). WP: Swedarsky (5-0). LP: Sadey Hughbanks (0-2).
