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ELLETTSVILLE — As far as opening days go, this one had a bit of everything.
A lot of strikeouts and walks, errors and miscommunication on defense, and 19 runners left on base. It took nearly an hour and 95 pitches to work out the kinks in the first two innings of play.
It concluded after a crazy sixth inning in which Edgewood head coach Mick Hammett was booted for arguing a non-call that led to Bloomington North scoring the go-ahead runs in the top half and the unfazed Mustangs coming up with a three-run rally in the bottom half for a 7-5 win.
While it wasn't pretty, it was a good sign for Hammett that his team, with veterans and new players alike in new positions and new roles, found a way behind star pitcher Ally Bland to plod through it and get the win.
"She's a warrior," Hammett said. "Knocking the rust off for some of them and getting used to the speed of it. If you look at our infield, outside of the pitcher of the five spots, four people are either in a new spot or a spot they haven't played at the varsity level.
"We did OK and hopefully, we'll make strides after that."
The junior who shared last year's H-T Player of the Year honors, had as much adversity as anyone to work through. Ally struck out 12, walked just two, and hit a batter. She had only two 1-2-3 innings while working around five errors.
"Definitely rusty," Bland said. "I think it was a combination of nerves and learning new positions because we've got to adjust with the three seniors (graduating) and Madi, so it's just getting back into the flow of things."
Bland also runs cross country in the fall and starts for the basketball team in the winter, but finds the time to squeeze in workouts with her pitching coach starting in December, adding sessions when hoops are done. During the summer, she worked on a new change-up and a rise ball and better location on her outside pitches.
Madi's new role is now calling Ally's pitches from the dugout entrance and once again, Ally came through in several clutch situations, stranding nine Cougars.
"You've got to trust the pitches that are called," Ally said. "Madi calls those and I know she knows me better than anyone on the team, especially pitching. She's taught me forever. So it's trusting her and making sure I'm breathing and trust my teammates and knowing we had more at-bats to get the runs back and we're very capable of that."
Edgewood batted around in the bottom of the sixth. Pinch hitter Kailyr Nichols sliced a ball under the second baseman's glove, then Bland's liner to left was dropped and the rally was on. A ground out moved the runners over before Jayden Stephens' single scored both for a 6-5 lead.
Then Olivia McPherson, who slugged a solo homer in the third, singled. Addison Yearby walked to load the bases and DP Brylee Moore drew her third walk to add an insurance run.
"We knew we had to buckle down," Bland said. "Just one hit and one walk got us going and gave us confidence and the rally kept going."
The top half started with a single then an infield single and an error on a play in which North's runner coming off first and Edgewood second baseman Addison Yearby ran into each other on the play and a bad throw afterward left runners at second and third.
Hammett was ticked interference wasn't called and fumed further when Grayson Gill followed with a two-run double for a 5-4 lead, getting himself ejected.
Bland gathered herself and got a strikeout, fly out to left, and then made a terrific diving grab on a popped-up bunt to get out of trouble. She made quick work of the Cougars in the top of the seventh.
"First game and we actually had more newbies out there than we have had," Hammett said. "And it showed. Not only newbies but a couple of people playing new positions and that's a different deal. We gave up a couple of runs there early and they got some momentum and did a nice job putting pressure on us.
"But I was real proud the way we hung in there and battled back and able to get the win."
North struggled to find hits and score runs last year but showed it might be different this year, collecting seven hits and making plenty of contact as Bland has to toss over 100 pitches to complete her task. Just putting the ball in play paid off on several occasions.
"I think that's one of my biggest positives from today's game is just our sticks came alive for a few of them," North coach Kat Edmonds said. "I feel like we were making some good contact. A lot of them got RBIs or were moving runners. That's what we needed different from last year.
"We got a little bit older team. We were young, so I think just that maturity. We spent a lot of the off-season hitting a lot. A lot of reps."
Gill and Kendon Galligher each went 2-for-4 while Jillian Parrish was a pest in the No. 7 hole, forcing Bland to toss her 29 pitches in four at-bats, a dozen of them fouled off.
More: Catch these 22: Here are the top baseball players back in the Bloomington area
More: Softball's back: Here are the top 18 Bloomington area players back for the 2025 season
"I love to see it," Edmonds said. "She is one in the off-season I've really seen her hitting come alive a little bit and I was super-excited to see her aggressive."
Kendyl Feutz got the pitching start, but struggled with her control, walking five in just 1⅓ innings before Molly Klein took over and settled the ship until the sixth. But picking each other up in the circle is nothing new for the senior duo or their teammates with every starter back from last year.
"That's what's nice about last year to this year is most of our team is the same," Edmonds said. "They have that camaraderie and they don't feel nervous about pumping up an upperclassman."
EDGEWOOD 7, BLOOMINGTON NORTH 5
Bloomington North (0-1) 011 | 012 | 0 — 5 | 7 | 2
Edgewood (1-0) 031 | 003 | x — 7 | 6 | 5
W: Ally Bland. L: Molly Klein. 2B: Grayson Gill (BN), Kendyl Feutz (BN), Addison Yearby (E). HR: Olivia McPherson (E).
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IHSAA softball: Ally Bland, 'rusty' Edgewood squeak by North in opener
Continue reading...
A lot of strikeouts and walks, errors and miscommunication on defense, and 19 runners left on base. It took nearly an hour and 95 pitches to work out the kinks in the first two innings of play.
It concluded after a crazy sixth inning in which Edgewood head coach Mick Hammett was booted for arguing a non-call that led to Bloomington North scoring the go-ahead runs in the top half and the unfazed Mustangs coming up with a three-run rally in the bottom half for a 7-5 win.
While it wasn't pretty, it was a good sign for Hammett that his team, with veterans and new players alike in new positions and new roles, found a way behind star pitcher Ally Bland to plod through it and get the win.
"She's a warrior," Hammett said. "Knocking the rust off for some of them and getting used to the speed of it. If you look at our infield, outside of the pitcher of the five spots, four people are either in a new spot or a spot they haven't played at the varsity level.
"We did OK and hopefully, we'll make strides after that."
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The junior who shared last year's H-T Player of the Year honors, had as much adversity as anyone to work through. Ally struck out 12, walked just two, and hit a batter. She had only two 1-2-3 innings while working around five errors.
"Definitely rusty," Bland said. "I think it was a combination of nerves and learning new positions because we've got to adjust with the three seniors (graduating) and Madi, so it's just getting back into the flow of things."
Bland also runs cross country in the fall and starts for the basketball team in the winter, but finds the time to squeeze in workouts with her pitching coach starting in December, adding sessions when hoops are done. During the summer, she worked on a new change-up and a rise ball and better location on her outside pitches.
Madi's new role is now calling Ally's pitches from the dugout entrance and once again, Ally came through in several clutch situations, stranding nine Cougars.
"You've got to trust the pitches that are called," Ally said. "Madi calls those and I know she knows me better than anyone on the team, especially pitching. She's taught me forever. So it's trusting her and making sure I'm breathing and trust my teammates and knowing we had more at-bats to get the runs back and we're very capable of that."
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Sixth-inning swing for Edgewood
Edgewood batted around in the bottom of the sixth. Pinch hitter Kailyr Nichols sliced a ball under the second baseman's glove, then Bland's liner to left was dropped and the rally was on. A ground out moved the runners over before Jayden Stephens' single scored both for a 6-5 lead.
Then Olivia McPherson, who slugged a solo homer in the third, singled. Addison Yearby walked to load the bases and DP Brylee Moore drew her third walk to add an insurance run.
"We knew we had to buckle down," Bland said. "Just one hit and one walk got us going and gave us confidence and the rally kept going."
The top half started with a single then an infield single and an error on a play in which North's runner coming off first and Edgewood second baseman Addison Yearby ran into each other on the play and a bad throw afterward left runners at second and third.
Hammett was ticked interference wasn't called and fumed further when Grayson Gill followed with a two-run double for a 5-4 lead, getting himself ejected.
Bland gathered herself and got a strikeout, fly out to left, and then made a terrific diving grab on a popped-up bunt to get out of trouble. She made quick work of the Cougars in the top of the seventh.
"First game and we actually had more newbies out there than we have had," Hammett said. "And it showed. Not only newbies but a couple of people playing new positions and that's a different deal. We gave up a couple of runs there early and they got some momentum and did a nice job putting pressure on us.
"But I was real proud the way we hung in there and battled back and able to get the win."
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Mixed bag for North in Game 1
North struggled to find hits and score runs last year but showed it might be different this year, collecting seven hits and making plenty of contact as Bland has to toss over 100 pitches to complete her task. Just putting the ball in play paid off on several occasions.
"I think that's one of my biggest positives from today's game is just our sticks came alive for a few of them," North coach Kat Edmonds said. "I feel like we were making some good contact. A lot of them got RBIs or were moving runners. That's what we needed different from last year.
"We got a little bit older team. We were young, so I think just that maturity. We spent a lot of the off-season hitting a lot. A lot of reps."
Gill and Kendon Galligher each went 2-for-4 while Jillian Parrish was a pest in the No. 7 hole, forcing Bland to toss her 29 pitches in four at-bats, a dozen of them fouled off.
More: Catch these 22: Here are the top baseball players back in the Bloomington area
More: Softball's back: Here are the top 18 Bloomington area players back for the 2025 season
"I love to see it," Edmonds said. "She is one in the off-season I've really seen her hitting come alive a little bit and I was super-excited to see her aggressive."
Kendyl Feutz got the pitching start, but struggled with her control, walking five in just 1⅓ innings before Molly Klein took over and settled the ship until the sixth. But picking each other up in the circle is nothing new for the senior duo or their teammates with every starter back from last year.
"That's what's nice about last year to this year is most of our team is the same," Edmonds said. "They have that camaraderie and they don't feel nervous about pumping up an upperclassman."
EDGEWOOD 7, BLOOMINGTON NORTH 5
Bloomington North (0-1) 011 | 012 | 0 — 5 | 7 | 2
Edgewood (1-0) 031 | 003 | x — 7 | 6 | 5
W: Ally Bland. L: Molly Klein. 2B: Grayson Gill (BN), Kendyl Feutz (BN), Addison Yearby (E). HR: Olivia McPherson (E).
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IHSAA softball: Ally Bland, 'rusty' Edgewood squeak by North in opener
Continue reading...
