Lady Cards score early, score often to rout Eastern 16-0

Haley England slides into second to steal a base for Bloomfield while Eastern shortstop Chloe Kirkman fields the throw.

By Andrew Bowen

BLOOMFIELD -- This time the Lady Cardinals did better than getting close.

Bloomfield scored in every inning Thursday night to clobber visiting Eastern 16-0 in softball. The victory improved Bloomfield’s record to 2-5, 1-2 in the Southwest Indiana Athletic Conference while Eastern fell to 1-5, 0-3.

The Lady Cards needed the win, said coach Aaron Morris, especially since they have come so close to victory in several previous games. He noted Bloomfield lost 12-4 at Sullivan Wednesday, but banged out one less hit than the Lady Arrows, losing by such a large margin because Sullivan scored six runs in the sixth.

Bloomfield second baseman Sydney Query gets ready to throw a runner out at first.

By Andrew Bowen

“They woke up the bats,” Morris said. “They played well tonight. They’ve been so close. We had a good game last night.”

The coach added he hopes the game is a harbinger of things to come for the Lady Cards.

“I hope they keep playing like that. They’ve been so close. They’ve been in every game pretty much. Hopefully, it will continue.”

Eastern pitcher Lynnly Kirkman delivers one to the plate in the fourth inning.

By Andrew Bowen

Eastern coach Mike Prince said there are no positives the Lady Thunderbirds can take away from the loss. He said they have lost confidence in themselves; furthermore the losses are making them get down on each other.

“There’s no harmony in the team right now,” he said.

Kenzie Morris and Malea Ramsey combined to pitch a two-hitter for Bloomfield, Morris hurling the first three innings and Ramsey taking the mound in the fourth. Coach Morris said he put Ramsey in “just to give her some work.

Bloomfield left fielder Malea Ramsey dodges a wild pitch.

By Andrew Bowen

“She’s a freshman. We’re going to need her next week because we’ve got six games,” he added.

Those two hits are a symptom of the Lady Thunderbirds’ problems, Prince said. He said they were hitting the ball better earlier in the season.

“We’ve not been having any good days at hitting,” he said. “We started off playing much better than we are now.”

Lilly Prince takes a swing at the ball.

By Andrew Bowen

By contrast, the Lady Cards hit the ball well. They put up four runs in the second inning as Hayley England and Becky Riggs smacked RBI singles and Kelsey Moody drove in two runs with a double.

Cheyanne Richardson opened the third with an infield single, stole second and third, and scored on a wild pitch. Autumn Smith drilled an RBI double and a dropped fly ball helped them score two more runs.

The fourth inning was more of the same as Ramsey and Mackenzie Bean stroked RBI singles England drove in two runs with a single up the middle, and two more runs came home on an error.

Haley England makes contact on an RBI single in the fifth inning

By Andrew Bowen

“They’re getting there,” Morris said. “They’re starting to believe in themselves. They’re staring to have some fun.”