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Webb homers, drives in 3 for Lady Panthers in loss
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
ROYAL CENTER — Mackeylie Costello and Brittany Benn hit back-to-back homers as part of a three-run fifth inning, and the Tippecanoe Valley softball team rallied from a 4-0 deficit after one inning to beat Pioneer 14-10 at Herk Hoffman Field on May 12.
Corinna Stiles added a single and a double and two RBIs, and Dalynne Bussard doubled and drove in three runs. Costello finished with three hits and three RBIs, and Madi Smith, Benn, Abby Bowers and Anna Shock had one RBI each.
Casey Webb had a double and a three-run homer for Pioneer. Crystabelle Blickenstaff singled and also had three RBIs. Kamryn Newby had three hits. Kylie Attinger reached four times with two singles and two walks. Emma Sells, Adeline Cripe and Ava Beasy had one RBI each.
The game was Valley’s first of the day and Pioneer’s second. Pioneer had beaten Culver Academy 9-7 earlier in the day before Valley arrived. This game did not end until after 10 p.m., and Valley had to get back on the bus for a three-way doubleheader at Central Noble that also included Jimtown the following morning.
Costello’s two-run shot off Sells gave Valley an 8-6 lead. Benn then went deep to extend the lead to three.
Sells had an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, but Bowers struck out Cripe with runners on second and third to end the inning.
Smith, Costello and Bowers had RBI singles in the sixth to extend the lead to 12-7, but Pioneer’s Casey Webb answered with a three-run shot to cut the lead back to two.
Bussard’s sacrifice fly scored Stiles in the top of the seventh, and Molly Moriarty scored on a wild pitch to make it 14-10.
Attinger singled, Cripe reached on a hit by pitch, and Newby reached on an infield single to load the bases and bring up the potential tying run in the bottom of the seventh, but Costello made a running catch on Emilie Schmaltz’s pop-up to end the game.
“Yeah, we just fought all night long,” Valley coach Marc Green said. “They came back, and we just came back every time they came back. We dug ourselves a 4-0 hole and came back, and we just pounded the ball all night long, and I was really proud of the way we played. … We had been struggling a little with our bats, and they really came alive tonight.”
Due to injuries to Tiara Denny and Shaylee Goings, Pioneer has had to incorporate inexperienced pitchers Blickenstaff, Sells and Cripe in the circle. Denny is out for the season with a wrist injury, and Goings is out with a ribcage injury.
“They want to do what’s best for the team,” Pioneer coach Gabby Thomas said. “They came in, and they were like, ‘OK, Coach, I’m just going to do a job, and if they start getting really hit, Belle, in the second inning, she kind of looked over at me like, ‘Yeah, it’s time, Coach. They’re hitting me hard.’ … Just being a former pitcher, knowing you’ve got to pitch hours upon hours upon hours … not one of them is going to pitch a full seven-inning game … they’re building the endurance. I’m not saying they couldn’t eventually, but right now, it’s got to be multiple persons.”
Valley 14, Pioneer 10
Valley 040 233 2 – 14 12 3
Pioneer 400 213 0 – 10 13 3
WP – Abby Bowers (3 ⅔ IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 3 K)
LP – Emma Sells (2 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 K)
2B – Corinna Stiles (TV), Dalynne Bussard (TV), Casey Webb (PIO)
HR – Mackaylie Costello (TV), Brittany Benn (TV), Casey Webb (PIO)
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