Bedford North Lawrence’s baseball team collected 13 hits and scored runs in four different innings to defeat Trinity Lutheran 11-2 Thursday at Alf Snyder Field.
Cougars coach Matt VonDielingen said the game was closer than the final score might indicate because of the five unearned runs the Stars scored.
“Our breakdowns on defense always seem to cause a big inning,” he said. “This has been all year long, we’ll make a mistake, and then instead of shutting it down and coming right back, they’ll get a little hit, they’ll get another little hit and the next thing you know it turns into a five- or six-run inning where it should have been capped after that initial error.”
Blake Fisher led off the game for the Stars with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly to give BNL a 1-0 lead.
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The Cougars came right back in the bottom of the inning when Jake VonDielingen doubled into left-center field, he stole third and scored on an infield out by Jack Marskberry.
BNL took advantage of a Trinity error in the second to score two unearned runs to lead 4-1, then was helped by another Cougar error in the third inning that let in two more unearned runs for a 6-1 lead.
Trinity’s Brayden Wilson singled with one out in the fourth inning, and was replaced by courtesy runner Sam Flint who advanced to second when Chandler Reynolds’ ground ball was errant, and Flint scored when Reid Kruse singled past the shortstop.
The scored remained 6-1 until the sixth when the Stars sent 10 batters to the plate and combined six hits to score five runs.
BNL’s designated hitter, Trevyn Stiles, went 4-for-4 with three singles and a double, he had two RBIs and scored two runs.
Kruse led Trinity’s offense with two hits and one RBI. Reynolds reached first base safely on a hit and a BNL error. VonDielingen’s double was Trinity’s only extra base hit.
Trinity had six hits, the Cougars struck out seven times and didn’t walk any.
Coach VonDielingen said his younger players, especially the four freshmen starters, haved trouble timing the pitchers.
“Part of our problem is, with the schedule we play, we’ll go from facing someone that throws 80 mph to someone who throws 65 mph,” he said. “It takes a little bit for the boys to adjust. I think that is something that is never going to change for us because we’ll play 1A teams and we’ll play 4A teams.
“We’ll go back-and-forth. We just have to get better at making the adjustments. It’s the first year for (the freshmen) to see somebody throw like the first pitcher (Garrett Watson) from Bedford did. They’ve only seen that this year so trying to make that adjustment, going back-and-forth, it makes it difficult. But we still made some good contact throughout the game and the made their plays. They had one error.
The Cougars (7-7-1) will travel to Springs Valley Saturday for a doubleheader.
“We’re young, we’ll learn, we’ve gotten better,” coach VonDielingen said. “I think we’ve got better since our first game. It’ still frustrating to play somebody with the quality of Bedford, if we make a couple of plays it should have been a very tight game. Instead it looks like a lopsided game.”