Colby/Abby drops pair of Cloverbelt-East games

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Colby/Abbotsford softball team suffered two conference losses over the past week, losing at home to Columbus Catholic last Friday before falling on the road to Loyal/Greenwood on Monday. The losses dropped the co-op to 2-6 in Cloverbelt-East play and 2-12 overall.

Loyal/Greenwood, 16-1

Free bases were the biggest source of offense on Monday afternoon, where the hosting Loyal/Greenwood squad was able to end the contest in three innings, 16-1.

The home team drew 15 walks and had three batters hit by a pitch in a game where Colby/Abby did not have their top pitcher, Tatum Bargender, available. Despite only having six hits, Loyal/Greenwood was able to put up 16 runs with the plethora of extra base runners.

The visiting co-op squad was able to strike first as a single and stolen bases by Kylie Orth to lead off the game paid off when Josie Higley hit a single of her own two at-bats later to drive in Colby/Abby’s only run. The visitors’ lead turned out to be short lived as the situation changed drastically in the bottom half of the frame.

Seventeen batters came to the plate for Loyal/Greenwood in the first inning as the home team quickly took control over the contest. Thirteen of the first 14 batters to come to the plate reached safely and all but one would come around to score as Loyal/Greenwood put up 12 runs in the opening frame.

Three early hits began the home team’s offensive efforts, but it turned into a game of patience as the inning wore on, with seven straight batters reaching base either via walk or by getting hit by a pitch.

Colby/Abby had runners in scoring position in both the second and third innings but were unable to find the clutch hits to bring those runners in.

Orth went 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored and Higley had the only other hit for the visitors in the loss.

Columbus Catholic, 19-0

The Cloverbelt-East leading Dons used a 10-run second inning and a no hit shutout of the hosting Colby/Abby squad to sweep the co-op in the season series, ending the game 19-0 in three innings.

Despite only having six hits, Columbus Catholic used 10 walks, four hit batters and two errors committed by the Colby/Abby defense to put up nearly 20 runs on Friday. While Colby/Abby was able to hold them somewhat in check in the first, the Dons put the game out of reach in the second.

The closest the co-op came to getting on the board came in the third inning, when Audrey Fleischmann was able to reach on an error. She then stole second base and another error by the Dons allowed her to reach third with no outs. Columbus’ defense clamped down following their second mishap of the inning, recording three straight outs and leaving Fleischmann stranded at third.

Josie Higley walked in the first and also stole a base in the loss.

CREATING SOME OFFENSE - Audrey Fleischmann, left, hustles down the lline while Josie Higley, right, makes contact in the loss to Columbus. Higley batted in the co-op’s sole run of the week. STAFF PHOTOS/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD