COLUMBUS
When Edinburgh gave up four runs in the second inning to fall behind Columbus East 5-3 on Tuesday evening, Shelby Graham and the Lancers didn’t panic.
Graham settled down, allowing only one run after that, and the Edinburgh bats took over at the plate. Sidney Beier belted a game-tying two-run homer in the fifth, and Graham and Beier hit back-to-back homers in the sixth, allowing the Lancers to claim a 10-7 victory.
"That’s one thing that we really preach and that we’ve harped on this year — to stay calm and stay focused," first-year Edinburgh coach Ben Taylor said. "They’re long games that we play here. It’s just about keeping their heads in, keeping them relaxed and playing their game. In this case, we were able to get back up and get on top, and they stayed relaxed with their game plan."
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
The Lancers (2-1) took advantage of two walks, a hit and an error to score three times off East starter Brooke Valles in the first. The Olympians, who were playing their season opener, capitalized on a walk and two Edinburgh errors to get a run back in the bottom of the first.
The Olympians then reached Graham for four runs in the second. Katie Taylor led off with a single and scored on a triple to right center by Jenna Robbins. Robbins scored when Kerigan Greathouse reached on an error. Julia Sitterding then laid down a bunt, and Greathouse and Sitterding came all the way around to score when the throw to first went into the right field corner.
Meanwhile, Valles settled down, allowing only one hit in innings 2 through 4. East coach Rusty Brummett then brought on Jordan Johnston in the fifth, and the Lancers reached her for four runs on four hits in the inning to regain the lead.
"Kind of my thought process with our pitching staff is, I like to get our starter to get two, three, four innings in, and then when the batters are starting to get their third view of the pitcher, we kind of want to maybe give them a different look," Brummett said. "Obviously, it backfired today a little bit. Both pitchers struggled to hit their spots. Edinburgh has a nice hitting team, and they punished us when we didn’t hit our spots."
Carly Cowan reached on an error to lead off the Lancer fourth. Graham then reached on a fielder’s choice and Beier followed with her first home run of the year to tie the game at 5-5. Catey Streeval then singled and went to third on a double by Paige Burton. A two-out double by Grace Joiner brought them home.
"We just really needed to focus in and work hard and come back," Beier said. "Just seeing the ball better helped a lot."
Edinburgh added to its lead in the sixth. Kaitlin Bailey led off with a single, but was cut down at third when Cowan reached on an infield single. Graham then smacked a two-run homer, and Beier followed with a solo shot to give the Lancers a 10-5 lead.
"It was exciting," Graham said. "This is my first year of high school ball, and coming out and getting that big hit just pumped me up after being in a slump earlier in the game. I just took deep breaths and listed to my coach and listened to my teammates, and my teammates out in the field supported me."