Knights use big innings to see off Clovers

CLOVERDALE – The Cloverdale Clovers hosted the Northview Knights in a Western Indiana Conference softball game on Thursday night and a couple of big innings boosted the Knights to a 17-6 victory over the Clovers.

The Knights scored in five of the six innings but broke through with two big five-run innings to take the victory and improve 7-4 overall, remaining undefeated at 3-0 in conference play. Cloverdale dropped to 4-6 and 1-4 in the WIC.

The Clovers led after one inning but a big five-run second inning gave the Knights the lead and they would not look back as they slowly pulled away for the six-inning victory.

Jaelyn Thompson went the distance for the Knights giving up five runs and recording her first victory of the season.

“Jaelyn pitched well; this is her first win of the year. She has a few things to work on, but pitched pretty well,” Northview head coach Kathy Vossmer said.

The Knights took a quick 2-0 lead after the bottom of the first as Kyanna Gardner and Chloe Batchelor led off with bunt singles. Karigan Krider brought one run home with a sacrifice fly while Callie Shepard had a run-scoring single.

Cloverdale would answer with the big bat of Keelie Price. A single by Erin Johnson and a Paisley Meyerrose walk set the stage for Price to drive a three-run bomb to left field and give the Clovers a 3-2 lead after one inning.

“She (Price) has been up and down a little, but we put her in that position to give her a chance to drive in runs. She really did what we wanted,” Cloverdale head coach Jamie Steffy said.

Northview would retake the lead quickly in the second inning. Grace Jones and Gardner notched singles, followed by a Batchelor walk while Krider reached on an error, driving in runs. Mianah Thompson and Shepard were hit by pitches and Thompson scored on a Jenna Thompson hit.

When the smoke cleared, Northview led 7-3.

“We have talked about it. It comes down to one inning, we get a couple of outs and can’t seem to get that third one. That second inning was like that,” Steffy said.

Northview kept the pressure up with Mianah Thompson belting a two-run homer in the third a two-run double from Gardner in the fourth as they extended the lead to 12-3 after four innings.

“I told the girls they needed to bring their energy tonight. They did that and it was good to see,” Vossmer said.

Cloverdale would cut into the lead in the bottom of the fifth as they scored two runs with the big blow coming from Price again with an RBI double.

Northview answered with another big inning. The Knights would score five more in the top of the sixth as they parlayed three walks and three singles into five runs.

Cloverdale would get another run in the sixth, but not enough and set the final score at 17-6.

“I am glad to see we hit the ball tonight when we needed to. We did some things well and worked on some things. We got a lot of girls some time in,” Vossmer said.

Northview had Gardner lead the way with four hits on the night while Jones and Jenna Thompson had a pair of hits. Gardner had a double, while Mianah Thompson had a home run.

Cloverdale’s Price had a double and a home run, while Johnson had three hits on the night.

“We are just an inch or so away a lot of times. We had a ball in that second inning, just go off the top of Paisley’s glove and a few balls we just couldn’t get to. We are getting better and I am proud we just kept working hard and doing things right,” Steffy said.

Northview 252 305 — 17 13 1

Cloverdale 300 021 — 6 5 4

WP – Ja. Thompson 6

LP – Smith 2.2, Caulkins 2.1, Meyerrose 1

2B – Gardner (NV), Price (CHS)

HR – M. Thompson (NV), Price (CHS)

RBI – Krider 3, Gardner 2, M. Thompson 2, Batchelor, Shepard, Je. Thompson, Jones, Rhea (NV), Price 4, Caulkins, Johnson (CHS)