NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC – The Bay College Softball Team (1-5) started their season on their southern trip and picked up their first win on Monday afternoon, a 13-11 extra inning victory over Bryant and Stratton (OH).
The season started on Saturday, March 4 with a game against Patrick & Henry Community College. The Norse fell behind early when Leanna Mills (SO, Concord, NC) blasted a grand slam in the top of the first to give the Patriots a lead they would not surrender.
The Norse got their lone run in the third when Diane Salinas (FR, Rancho Cordova, CA) singled to drive in Madyson Rothe (SO, Green Bay, WI).
Patrick & Henry sealed the game with a six-run fifth inning, allowing them to take a 12-1 victory.
Salinas led the offense with a three for three effort. Rachael Winkel (SO, Silvas, IL) took the loss, going four and two-thirds and giving up eight earned runs while walking two and striking out five.
Bay followed that with a tough matchup against Kaskaskia College. The Norse took the lead in the top of the first with another Salinas RBI hit.
The Blue Angles took control in the bottom half. Their first five hitters reached base safely and Kaskaskia sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring nine runs in the frame. They then broke the game wide open in the third with 14 hits and 12 runs. The Blue Angels cruised to a 22-2 win.
Avery Sorochan (SO, Two Hills, AB) had a pair of hits in two at bats. Ellie Miller (SO, Ishpeming, MI) went two for three with an RBI.
Salinas was tagged with the loss.
On Sunday the Norse started the day with Northampton Community College. Two Spartan pitchers would combine to toss a three-hit shutout. Sierra Klingle (SO, East Bangor, PA) picked up the win in five innings of work and gave up three hits, walked two, and struck out three. Theresa Luongo (FR, Phillipsburg, NJ) finished the game and walked one.
Natalie Belanger (SO, Rapid River, MI) took the loss in four innings of work. She gave five earned runs, three walks, and struck out two.
Desiree Bender (FR, Sandusky, MI) collected two hits in three at bats.
The Spartans won by a final of 7-0.
The Norse found themselves in a back-and-forth battle against Olney Central College.
Fast forward to the fourth inning when Allison Podhainuk (SO, Stony Plain, AB) hit a two-out solo home run to tie the game at two. The Blue Knights responded with run in the bottom of the fourth, only for Bay to tie it back up in the fifth. Sierra Jones (FR, Calgary, AB) drove in Sorochan, sending the game into the bottom half tied at three.
Olney Central got a big two-out RBI from Bailey Springmeyer (SO, Greensburg, IN) as she roped a double to give her team the lead once again. Bay's response came in the seventh when Winkel singled home a run, tying the game at four, but Bay left a runner on and the bottom of the seventh belonged to the Blue Knights.
Jaylin Balliss (SO, Newburgh, IN) led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. She wound up walking it off by scoring on a wild pitch, as Bay lost a heart-breaker by a score of 5-4.
Sorochan had a double and a triple in two at bats. Winkel took the tough luck loss in a complete game effort.
Bay went into Monday with an afternoon matchup against Bryant & Stratton (OH). The offense was clicking as the Norse built a 10-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh.
Bay was not able to close out the game however. After a pair of singles to start the inning, a couple of errors gave the Bobcats a run. Two more singles pulled Bryant & Stratton to within two runs before they recorded an out.
Winkel being called in to go to the pitcher's circle seemed to give the Norse the shot in the arm they needed. She picked up two quick outs on strikeouts, but Kamia Pou lined a triple into right-center, putting herself on third as the tying run. Winkel would secure a strike out on the very next batter, but an errant throw to seal the out at first allowed the run to score and send the game into extra innings.
Bay wasted no time in grabbing back the lead in the eighth. Podhainuk singled to lead off the inning and drive in the runner placed at second to start the inning. Lizzy Sliva (FR, Escanaba, MI) followed that with a double to bring Podhainuk home, and would score two batters later on Lexi Kacalo's (SO, Marinette, WI) single into right.
The Bobcats got a one-out single to plate their extra runner, but were stopped in their tracks, as Bay would close out the game and earn their first victory of the season by a final of 13-11.
Jones, Sliva, and Kacalo led the Norse with three hits apiece. Miller drove in three runs. Winkel picked up the win in relief.
In the nightcap the Norse fell behind early to Southeastern Illinois College. The Falcons got a home run from Brylee Anderson in the first to go up by three runs. They would extend their lead in the third, fourth, and fifth before Bay finally got on the board in the bottom half of inning number five. Sliva lined a single to drive in two runs, but it was too little, too late, as the Falcons closed out an 11-2 win in five innings.
Miller slugged two doubles in three at bats, but the Norse were held to seven hits.
Winkel started and took the loss for the Norse.
The Norse are at the halfway point of their trip and will have six more games over the next three days. They begin that stretch with a morning game against Penn State Altoona on Tuesday, followed by a matchup with Gaston College.