The Hauser and Edinburgh softball teams have met in the Class A regional final each of the last two years, with the Lancers getting the better of it last spring.
In the first of what could again be three meetings between the two Mid-Hoosier Conference rivals in 2018, the Class A No. 9 Jets were able to gain some measure of payback with a 5-1 road win Thursday.
Hauser (2-1, 1-0) will host the fifth-ranked Lancers when the teams face off again today.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“We did enough,” Hauser coach Craig Sims said after the win. “That’s a team that we could play 10 times and we’re probably going to win five. It’s just who shows up to play the best seven innings.”
Hauser pitcher Tessa Sims scattered just four hits while striking out six. Edinburgh’s Maddi Clark fanned 12 and was nearly as stingy for much of the day, but the Jets got five of their seven hits as they put the game away in the sixth and seventh innings.
Shelby Fugate drove a 2-0 pitch out over the fence in center field with one out in the sixth, stretching Hauser’s lead to 3-1. Hunter Crain later added a two-out single that plated Sydney Schoen.
Katie Taylor then delivered an RBI single in the seventh, scoring Mykenzie Ault to provide Sims with plenty of insurance.
“I had five kids that continually put the ball in play,” Craig Sims said. “That’s the key to beating good pitching — put the ball in play.
The Jets got on the board in the top of the first when Sims drew a one-out walk, went to third on a base hit up the middle by Fugate and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Schoen.
A Hauser miscue helped Edinburgh pull even in the third after Sidney Beier was intentionally walked with two out. Beier stole second, then wound up coming all the way home when the throw rolled through to center field.
In the fourth, the Jets regained the upper hand on another RBI sacrifice. Fugate led off by reaching on a two-base error, then took third on a Schoen single and scored on a well-placed bunt by Crain.
Hauser got two hits apiece from Fugate and Schoen, while Emma Wade had a pair of singles for the Lancers (1-1, 0-1), who just weren’t able to get as many timely hits as the Jets did.
“That was the difference,” Edinburgh coach Stephen Clark said. “We had some runners in scoring position and we didn’t get a hit here or there. … They strung together two or three hits and got the run. That was the difference in the game.”
