Bussard fans 15 in loss for Lady Vikings
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Brailyn Hunter Dalynne Bussard
AKRON — Bria Rensberger laced the go-ahead, two-out, two-run single to cap off a four-run fifth inning, and Brailyn Hunter also had two RBIs to help the Rochester softball team rally from a 4-1 deficit to defeat host Tippecanoe Valley 6-4 Friday.
Rensberger and Hunter also tag-teamed the pitching. Rochester coach Jim Coleman replaced Rensberger in the circle with Hunter with two outs in the first inning and Rochester trailing 3-0.
Hunter allowed one run over 5 ⅓ innings for the win. Coleman then reinserted Rensberger to start the seventh, and she struck out Olivia Powell, Kahlyn Manns and Temperance Caudill to end the game.
Their pitching overshadowed the pitching from Valley sophomore Dalynne Bussard, who already has the Valley career strikeout career record and who struck out 15 in this game.
Hunter and Aubrey Wilson had two hits each, and Aubrey Miller, Rensberger and Mia Howdeshell had one hit each.
Bussard had two of Valley’s six hits, and Caudill, K.C. Shriver and Olivia Powell had one RBI each.
Miller had reached on a sacrifice bunt and an error that allowed a run to score in the third. That cut the lead to 3-1 at the time.
She batted again with runners on first and second in the fifth and Rochester trailing 4-1. A passed ball moved runners to second and third. Miller bunted again, this time for a hit. When the throw to first to try and get Miller was late, Howdeshell scored from third, and Wilson moved to third.
“I see we have some work to do on that,” Valley coach Brian Barger said. “That’s probably the first time anybody has extremely bunted a lot, but the last couple, three games, I have been trying to move the lineup around, change things around. We still got two weeks to get everything going to where we want it set for Knox (in the sectional quarterfinals).”
On a hit-and-run play, Hunter looped an RBI single to right-center to score Wilson and move Miller to third. When the throw to try and get Miller was late, Hunter scooted into second.
Jadyn Field popped back to Bussard for the second out, but Rensberger’s hot grounder inside the third baseline scored Miller and Hunter to give Rochester a 5-4 lead.
“Against a good pitcher like Dalynne, to put the pressure on their defense really helped us, and that started to get our team going,” Coleman said. “Hunter’s confidence that she had tonight in the circle, the rest of the team just fed off that. So to come back against a pitcher like Bussard on the road against Valley speaks volumes. Hopefully, we can use this as a push for the rest of this season and into the sectional.”
Threlkel is Valley’s first-string catcher, but she had to play designated player due to a minor shoulder injury.
“Letting Rochester get the momentum, you can’t do that,” Barger said. “We got out to that 4-1 lead, and I think we kind of just let off the gas, and they took advantage of it. We made some mistakes, and that’s your ballgame.”
Hunter yielded a one-out single to Bussard in the fifth, but Hunter and Rensberger combined to retire the final eight Valley hitters.
Left fielder Keyton Doran, making her first start of the season, made a running catch in foul territory on Mackaylie Costello, and Kaitlyn Threlkel grounded back to Hunter.
Doran made an even better lunging catch to rob Shriver to lead off the sixth.
“She makes those plays in practice,” Coleman said. “It was one of those situations where I felt we had to get her some time.”
Second baseman Mylee Heinzmann then made a running grab in foul territory to retire Anna Shock, and Addy Dunnuck grounded to first.
Hunter had an RBI ground-rule double to deep right-center to score Wilson in the top of the seventh and give the Lady Zs some insurance.
Rensberger did not need it, finishing with her three whiffs.
“Pitching helped,” Miller said. “Putting Bray in really screwed them up. They just got off Jimtown, and Jimtown’s a really good school with really good pitchers, so I think putting Brailyn in and then no one giving up really set the table.”
The start was much more problematic for the Lady Zs.
Wilson reached on a dropped third strike to start the game before Bussard struck out Miller, Hunter and Field for the rare four-strikeout inning in the first.
In the bottom half, the speedy Manns tripled to deep right. Caudill reached on a sacrifice and an error, scoring Manns.
Caudill advanced to second and then third on a pair of wild pitches.Costello walked to put runners on first and third.
Costello tried to steal second, and Field elected to throw through. Costello was safe, and Caudill hustled home on the front end of the double steal.
One out later, Shriver singled to bring home Costello and make it 3-0.
Coleman then replaced Rensberger with Hunter.
“I made the change for a couple reasons,” Coleman said. “I thought they were timing Bria really well. And two, we came out defensively and just couldn’t find the ball. So my thought on removing Bria was one, bring in somebody with a different speed in hopes we would catch them out in front a little bit. Hunter came in and gave us 5 ⅓ innings. She hasn’t seen the circle in well over a week. I started her at third, and this was her first start at third base this year as well. Not only her performance and her composure in the circle, but what a huge hit there in the seventh inning.”
Hunter retired the first five batters she faced. Bussard singled, but Hunter and Field teamed up for a strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out double play with Costello at the plate.
Shriver walked to lead off the fourth. Shock’s infield single and Dunnuck’s single loaded the bases for Powell, who delivered a sacrifice fly to left to make it 4-1.
But Rochester responded in the next half-inning.
“It’s been good,” Miller said of winning three games in a four-day span to improve the team’s record to 8-9. “I think it’s built confidence for not only our fielding, our hitting but definitely our pitching.”
Barger said Bussard “seems to be OK” after suffering an apparent leg injury stepping in a small hole in front of the pitching rubber while in her motion.
Rochester 6, Valley 4
Rochester 001 040 1 – 6 7 0
Valley 300 100 0 – 4 6 1
WP – Brailyn Hunter (5 ⅓ IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K)
LP – Dalynne Bussard (7 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 15 K)
2B – Brailyn Hunter (RHS)
3B – Kahlyn Manns (TV)
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