Indian River began their softball season 2-0 with a commanding 21-1 in their opener against St. Mark’s last Thursday. Indian River catcher Lizzy Handy sent her first pitch of the game past the fence, bringing in three runs for a lead that set the pace for the Indians’ win.
Coastal Point • RUSLANA LAMBERT:
Second-baseman Abi Buchler fields a ball in Indian River’s loss on Tuesday against Sussex Central. The 14-0 defeat was the Indian’s first setback of the season.
The Indian River team followed that victory last Friday with an impressive 8-1 win at Seaford, whose team had contributed athletes to Nanticoke’s Senior League softball team, representing Delaware’s District III in last year’s Little League World Series.
“I anticipated a very strong Seaford team,” Indian River head coach Mark Browne said. “They are returning just about everybody. They played us very tough last year — both in the regular season and in the state tournament — so I was surprised to come out with such a convincing win.”
Indian River’s extraordinary streak came to an unexpected halt on Tuesday, though, as the Golden Knights of Sussex Central shut out the Indians, 14-0.
The game seemed to be over before it began, as shortstop Christin Headley, Central’s first at-bat, sent one over the fence for an early 1-0 lead. In her next at-bat, Headley contributed an RBI to bring the lead to two.
Then, three batters later, right fielder Kristin Tomlinson sent an Indian River pitch out of the park for a grand slam, brining their lead to 6-0. The Indians were unable to answer back, letting up 21 hits and failing to get more than four batters in an inning up to the plate during the entire game. Sussex Central’s victory was led by pitcher Brandy Jester.
“We came into this game giving Indian River a lot of respect,” said Sussex Central head coach John Wells. “They’ve got a great coaching staff; as good as any in the state, and great ball players. They were hit hard by graduation last year, but they have a lot of strength in their returning players. We had girls here today who can play real well. We have a lot of power on the team.”
Browne was disappointed with the game, which was called early to a mercy rule (10-or-more-run lead by the fifth inning), a situation that the Indians were on the favoring side of in their first game against St. Mark’s.
“We’re a young team,” Browne said. “We’ve got freshmen who’ve never seen the mound before. We’ll get better.” Despite the loss, Browne said he’s proud of where the team is with their 2-1 record. Positive thinking is among his top priorities before his next game at Woodbridge on Thursday, March 29.
“I believe that what we do in practice,” he said, “even though this game [against Sussex Central] didn’t quite show it, will really help us improve.”
Browne had rotated positions in the Sussex Central match-up. “I was trying to give everybody a different look,” he said, after Tuesday’s game. “[Freshman pitcher] Katelyn Null has done a tremendous job at throwing strikes and getting us our first two wins of the season, but she hasn’t seen this kind of hitting. Today was a great learning experience for her. She also got to learn from Brandy Jester, too, who is probably one of the best pitchers in the state.”
Indian River will host Newark on Friday, March 30; Dover on Monday; and Smyrna on Wednesday.