BUCYRUS — Junior Hannah Allen carried the biggest bat of the night and powered her team to its third win of the season as Colonel Crawford topped Bucyrus 13-4 in Northern 10 Athletic Conference softball action Tuesday afternoon.
Allen drilled 3 home runs and drove in 6 runs for the Lady Eagles (3-1, 3-0 N10).
“This is finally the first game we put a full 7-inning offensive game together,” Lady Eagles head coach Sarah Fraser said.
“The last three games we’d start out hot and end cold, or vice versa. We’d have a good inning in the middle of a game but not put a full offensive game together and today we really did.”
Allen drove the ball over the fence in the first, fourth and sixth innings. The first blast put Crawford ahead 3-0 after a single run resulted from an Allison Weithman double and a fielding error.
The third one struck the scoreboard at Jack Hewitt Field.
“She’s always been a good hitter. With her it’s more of a mental game. She’s in a great mental place this year,” Fraser said. “In the batter’s box you can tell.
“We worked a lot on her timing too, and that had a lot to do with last year. She needed to get in a better mental space, and she did.”
The visitors led 4-3 after 3 innings before tallying 5 in the fourth, thanks to the second round-tripper from Allen. Hits by Madison Cobb and Weithman and a double by Hanna Perry to open a 9-3 lead.
Bucyrus (1-2, 1-2 N10) had just 4 hits, two by Addy Rister. The senior shortstop singled in the first inning to drive in a run and doubled to right center field in the third.
“They’re a good team. They played well today. They can hit,” Lady Red head coach Jerry “Pudge” Hargis said.
“We’ve gotten better. Today we had a bit of a setback in this whole thing. We’re not going to give up anything. We’re going to go right back to work and get better.
“We’ll find out down the road who’s good and who isn’t. It’s a learning experience.”
Fraser has new faces on this year’s team after last year’s successful season that saw the Lady Eagles go 20-5 and make it to the Division III district final.
Sophomore Aubrey Zizzo struck out 7 and got the win in the circle.
“Aubrey is a battler. She gets herself in situations sometimes and defensively we struggle to make plays a little bit early. She just goes to work, and she has almost the best attitude of anyone I’ve ever coached.”
Zizzo was injured last season.
“This is her pitching for the first time in over a year and a half,” Fraser said. “It’s a work in progress and she’s working very well.”
Bucyrus used a trio of pitchers, Kendra Blizzard, Isabella Bruss, and freshman Haylee Stratton.
Bruss laced a triple to center in the sixth inning.
“We don’t have a pitcher back from last year. I got a junior, a sophomore and two freshmen who are all pitching. We’re going to be all right down the road a little bit,” Hargis said.
“We just gotta hit the ball. We just got to get better at the game. They work at the game, and this is not drudgery; this is fun. As the season goes, we’ll get better and better.”
Colonel Crawford is also dealing with new faces in its lineup.
“Tonight, we started a freshman in center (Rylie Hoepf) and a sophomore in right (Madison Gray). Hanna Perry at second base is a junior and she didn’t play much defense for us last year,” Fraser said.
“We graduated three very key players at key positions last year. So, filling those has been a tandem. We’re just trying to find the right combination depending on who’s pitching.”
Weithman will also pitch, along with Zizzo.
“The young kids are stepping up well. We’re 3-1 and that’s a good start to build on and hopefully we’ll only go up,” she said.
Box score
Colonel Crawford 301 503 1 13 10 1
Bucyrus 111 010 0 4 4 3
WP: Aubrey Zizzo (7 SO, 2 W)
LP: Kendra Blizzard (0 SO, 0 W)
HR: (CC) Hannah Allen 3.
Triples: Hanna Perry; (B) Isabella Bruss.
Doubles: (CC) Allison Weithman 2, Hanna Perry; (B) Addy Rister.
Multiple hits: (CC) Allison Weithman 4, Hanna Perry 3, Hannah Allen 3; (B) Addy Rister.
Records: Colonel Crawford 3-1, 3-0 N10; Bucyrus 1-2, 1-2 N10.
Next: Bucyrus at Colonel Crawford, Thursday.