Edinburgh’s softball team wants to be tested in preparation for what it hopes is a deep state tournament run this spring.
So far, there haven’t been any challenges to speak of — unless you count adjusting to pitching that’s too slow to time properly.
Catey Streeval had four RBIs and Mackenzie Whetstine and Kaitlyn Bailey drove in three apiece as the host Lancers cruised to a 16-1 victory over Morristown, their third five-inning win over the Yellow Jackets this season.
Edinburgh (15-10) plays Indianapolis Lutheran today, shooting for its first sectional title since the 2017 team made a run to semistate.
“These games are hard on the girls,” Edinburgh coach Ben Taylor said. “We go from games where we’ve seen Center Grove, we’ve seen Columbus North, we’ve seen North Decatur and Hauser along the way; it’s just hard to adjust back down a little bit.”
Morristown hurler Rhylee Moran was throwing at a much slower speed than the Edinburgh hitters were used to, which made timing pitches irritatingly difficult at times. Foul balls just wide of third base and pop-ups on the infield were more commonplace than the Lancers would have liked.
“It was pretty frustrating,” sophomore Gracie Crawhorn said. “You feel like you don’t get certain pitches that you want; they’re really slow and they’re not getting there as fast as you’re used to.”
The home team jumped on top for good Wednesday with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Kyah Streeval set it off with a double off the left-field wall, then came in to score on a two-out single up the middle by Crawhorn. After MacKenzie Bieker drew a walk, Catey Streeval plated Crawhorn with a base hit.
Edinburgh kept the carousel moving in the second inning, plating six to essentially put the game away. Whetstine was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 3-0 before Bailey dropped a two-run hit into shallow left field. Another walk to Bieker filled the bases for Catey Streeval, who promptly cleared them with a three-run single off the wall in left.
After the Yellow Jackets scraped their lone run together in the top of the third via a walk, a hit batter and an infield single, Edinburgh got two back on a Morristown error in the bottom of the frame and then crossed into mercy-rule territory in the fourth with RBI single by Angel Carman, a two-run single from Whetstine, a run-scoring double from Bailey and a two-run two-bagger from Bieker.
Gracie Long came on to pitch the fifth for Edinburgh after Bieker and Crawhorn worked two innings apiece, each allowing one hit. Bieker struck out five of the seven batters she faced.
Kyah Streeval scored four runs for the Lancers, while Whetstine, Bailey and Long each had two.
Next up is a battle with the Saints, who have won 13 consecutive sectional championships, the last two since moving into Edinburgh’s bracket. The Lancers won the regular-season meeting, 16-7, on April 24 — but as eager as they might be to host a regional against rival Hauser, they’re not looking past today’s game.
“It gives us confidence,” Crawhorn said of the previous win against Lutheran, “but we don’t need to have a big head going in there, because they just came off a really good game against GCA.”
Taylor is embracing the idea of a challenge in the title contest.
“Tomorrow, the pitching will be, speed-wise and accuracy, a little bit better that what we saw tonight,” he said. “So we’re looking forward to that game, because as we go through the tournament … you’re progressively stepping up.”
